Working With Hazardous Chemicals and Demolition

There is one aspect of construction sites and demolition, which we have only really touched on with this blog and that, is working with hazardous chemicals. Some chemicals can have an effect on employees health if they not are suitably protected so imagine the damage that it can cause to members of the public who will not be aware of the dangers and therefore will not be suitably protected.

The main areas that people need protecting from are dust and asbestos. Both of these can have long term effects, which might need the person to make a personal injury claim to deal with the financial restraints of not working or a lower quality of life.

In some cases, depending on the age of the structure that is being demolished there may be chemicals or contamination from that was not cleared up properly and these can range from;

• Acids from previous industrial processes
• Paints that might have been used for decorating
• Any potential flammable liquids
• Drums that are not identifiable. These could contain anything from chemicals to water, but without examining the contents first, this is unclear.
• Old buildings, such as the older hospital buildings may even have microbiological hazards that were not cleaned or sanitized properly. 

Dismantling a pipe and knocking it into smaller pieces can release asbestos if the pipe work is old, as it might be asbestos lined. This will cause problems as asbestos getting into the atmosphere can cause problems, but if the person is too close they may inhale some of the asbestos and this could lead to medical problems later on, which might lead to a compensation claims.

Connected Services and Demolition

All buildings that are in use will have utilities and other connected services. In order to ensure a safe demolition, these need to isolated or disconnected. A gas leak can cause untold damage and problems that might result in construction workers or members of the public getting hurt and making a personal injury claim.

In situations where utilities cannot be cut off, they need to be labelled clearly to make sure the pipes are not disturbed. This also applies to cables to make sure these are not cut through either. When workers start knocking walls down and creating dust these cables need to be labelled so that they can be seen.

This is the reason only competent people and employees should be working on a demolition project.

Falling Materials During Demoliton

Aswell as working at height, there is the potential for workers and pedestrians being injured by premature and uncontrolled collapse of structures as well as flying debris as a result of the collapse.

The risk of any demolition work is that is can cause a premature collapse of the structure. This is why the safe way of working to reduce the risks of accidents and any compensation claims from the public

• Exclusion zones and hard hat areas are essential to protect the public and workers. The exclusion zones need to be clearly signposted and marked.
• Any walkways need to be covered?
• Ensuring the use of high-tech machines
• And finally…making sure that all employees are trained and supervised to reduce the risk of an injury, which might lead to a personal injury claim.

Demolition and Falling From Heights

The same principle applies to working at height aswell as falls from height, which can occur when demolition work is being carried out. Imagine that the working at height is dangerous enough (have a look over our previous blog posts on this) but accidents can always occur when demolition work is being carried out as edges and partially demolished floors are also present.

There is a potential for a personal injury claim when working at height as a fall can be fatal and cause problems. This is where the duty holder has the responsibility to assess, eliminate and control the risks of workers falling from height.

Surfaces that were once secure and solid may be damaged and become fragile, during demolition. It is essential for this to be assessed and confirmed so workers can confidently walk around the construction site.

Construction Signs Revealed

Did You Guess Correctly?

 

These signs are essential on a building or construction site to reduce injury that might lead to a personal injury claim 

Demolition Tasks On A Construction Site

Any demolition tasks that are carried out on a construction site need a lot of people who all have their own responsibilities and tasks. This part of a construction site is very much a team effort to ensure safety of everyone working on the demolition to prevent a personal injury claim.

• Clients that are having any demolition work must appoint dutyholders who are competent and adequately resourced.
• Structural engineers then survey the site and assess the stability of any nearby structures, the risks of uncontrolled collapse, the risks from hazardous materials. This needs to be done before the work is carried out and not left for the main contractor as any early findings might prevent or stop any work being started.
• CDM coordinators then plan effective site management that will keep people (site workers and the general public) as far as possible from any potential risks.
• Principle contractors manage and co-ordinate health and safety issues during the demolition project
• Site Managers then supervise workers and ensure that they are following safe working practices
• Sub Contractors and any site workers must then understand and follow the precautions and then ensure that their colleagues also follow them.

The Different Dumper Trucks On A Construction Site

The dumper truck is often used on a construction site, so these next few posts are in honour of the dumper truck as at sometime we’re sure everyone has played with a miniature version in the sandpit, although the potential for accidents are not as severe as on a construction site.

A great child's dumper truck - although not good for a construction site

A typical dumper truck is equipped and uses a hydraulically operated open-box which has a hinge at the rear of the truck. This allows the contents to be deposited as the box lifts away from the truck. The UK term for dumper truck tends to be a tipper or tipper lorry.

A Standard Dump Truck
This truck chassis has a dump body mounted to the frame. The bed is raised a hydraulic ram that is mounted under the front of the dumper. There are several configurations for a dumper which include the six wheeler, the ten wheeler, quad and tri-axle. However, the common truck is often referred to as the centipede and this has seven axels. There is a short wheelbase on a standard dump truck which makes it more manoeuvrable than the higher capacity semi-trailer dump trucks.

However, regardless of the size of the truck, wheelbase or how many axles a dumper truck still needs to be operated by a competent and trained person to avoid an accident that might lead to a personal injury claim.

Important Inspection and Maintenance

As with all machinery on a construction site, warehouse or even the family car there is a need for regular servicing and maintenance. Construction site maintenance is essential as employees are using the machinery on a regular day to day basis.

There are several measures to make sure dumpers and any piece of machinery are safe to use. These include daily visual checks, regular inspection and servicing schedules in accordance with any manufacturer's instructions.

Any defects should be reported immediately to avoid any personal injury that might lead to a personal injury claim. That vehicle should be taken out of service until it is fixed and sorted.

Reduce Accident Claim With Dumper Trucks

Due to level of accidents and personal injury that can occur with dumper truck accidents there is a huge emphasis on controlling the risk and making sure hazards are reduced as much as possible to avoid an accident claim.

Gradients: Check and plan out the work so that dumpers are used only on gradients that are within their safe working capacity. It is important to check this with the manufacturer of the dumper to clarify the safe gradient levels.

Competence: Arrange for the dumpers to only be driven by competent and trained operators.

Safety: It is important that the dumpers are provided with the rollover protection and that drivers must wear seatbelts when operating the machinery.

Loading: Loads must be evenly distributed

Vision and views: The driver operating the dumper must have clear vision and that the load does not obstruct the drivers view

Edges and existing holes: Make sure that the dumper can stop at a safe distance from excavation pits and any spoil heaps to prevent the dumper falling when tipping into the pits. This can be done with wheel stops to make sure the dumper can stop and reduce any potential accident claim.

Dumper Trucks On A Building Site

Dumpers are an essential part of a construction site or building project. Unfortunately they are pieces of machinery that if not handled or operated correctly can cause several problems or even more severe injury that might lead to a personal injury claim. The whole point to using a dumper is that they can move a lot of ground and ‘dump’ building materials such as sand and cement close to the area it is needed.

The most fatal injuries occur as a result of dumpers overturning or collisions. This is collisions with pedestrians when the vehicle is reversing or going forwards on site.

There are procedures and practices in place that control and reduce the risk of injury caused from the dumper truck overturning and these are implemented on every construction site, to reduce these risks.

Controlling The Risks of Excavation

As we have seen in the previous post there is potential for an accident to happen on a construction site when excavations are happening.  Thankfully to avoid a personal injury claim on site there are ways in which the risks can be minimised and controlled.

Exclusion – Sounds an obvious one but people should be kept away from areas where excavations are in operation. This can be done by using barriers. A pedestrian exclusion zone should be created with barriers and tape to make sure pedestrians are kept away.

Visibility – When carrying out any excavation work the excavator needs the best view around them and the driver needs to have as much clear vision as possible when operating the excavator.

Clearance area – When slewing in a confined area a minimum tail swing should be used and is preferred. Clearance needs to be over 0.5m between any part of the machine.

Signaller – This is an important job which can minimise risk. The signaller should be in a safe place to direct the excavator operations and be aware and notify pedestrians in time for them to vacate the area.

Attachments and Bucket attachments – these need to be secured as a number of deaths have occurred when the bucket has fallen from the machine.

All of these are potential risks and can be easily implemented to ensure safety on a construction site or anywhere when excavations are taking place and avoid a personal injury claim.

Construction Sites and Excavations

Another element of a construction site is the use of mobile plant and vehicles. Construction sites have a lot of machinery and employees.  Those vehicles perform various tasks and the operator needs to be concentrating on the job as well as safety for those around him to avoid a personal injury claim being made by himself or a fellow co-worker.

As we have mentioned before, some construction sites are also situated close to pedestrian areas and therefore also need to be made secure. The safety of pedestrians is just as important as employees.

When any building work takes place there is a need to make sure the relevant excavations have been carried out to check the foundations and footings. There are several elements of excavations that need to be taken into consideration.

Plan Effectively For Crane Lifting Operations

If you are using a crane for lifting operations make sure the operative knows how to use the crane and is qualified to do so. There should be a full risk assessment carried out beforehand. There are specific regulations set out to manage lifting operations using cranes on construction projects.

The risk assessment will highlight any potential problems and reduce the risk of a personal injury claim being made. Imagine the weight of the load that is being lifted, there is a significant need for authorised personnel only to operate cranes.

Avoid Personal Injury Claim Using Cranes

We can identify from the previous post that cranes, although essential can also be a very dangerous piece of machinery if not use correctly and efficiently. There are four main areas which are observed and considered before any crane is used. All persons must be trained in using cranes as the machine basically involved slinging loads and directing lifting operations to avoid a personal injury claim.

1. The main areas involve the planning of using the crane for lifting operations
2. Ensuring there are safe systems of using the cranes is essential
3. Ensuring there is supervision of lifting and lifting equipment
4. Thorough examination and notifications

The main two areas of using a crane look at the collapse of the crane and the potential for the load falling from the crane. Other incidents that involve crane accidents and potential for a personal injury claim include persons being hit by the load, cranes that have collided with each other or hit overhead cabling like electricity cables.

Warehouses Can Cause A Personal Injury Claim Birmingham

A factory or warehouse, regardless of being situated in the Midlands or Scotland can be a dangerous place to work. If you imagine that there is a lot of machinery and people working in close proximity. There is potential for someone to suffer a personal injury and need to make a personal injury Birmingham.

A warehouse also has a lot of operations from deliveries being unloaded and stored to pick and pack services that are also part of a warehouse operation.  There is a lot of machinery that is involved in receiving deliveries and unloading so it is important to make sure that health and safety processes are strictly followed.

Warehouses are often noisy areas aswell, so there is not always an option to alert other staff members to a potential danger. Forklift trucks loading and unloading can be dangerous and they need lots of space to manoeuvre. There are health and safety implications for overloading a stacker truck and for not unloading it correctly.

One of the key areas of warehouse management is also applied to the construction industry and this is space awareness and making sure that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities and safe areas of working. The same dangers that apply to a construction site can also happen within a warehouse such as objects falling from height and slips and trips and all of these can result in a personal injury Birmingham.

Excavations and Compensation Claims

Excavations involve digging underground and this can bring another level of accident awareness and precautions that need to be observed.

Avoid Collapse of Excavation
If you are working underground there is an element that you need to be aware of and that is ensuring the excavation does not collapse and cause untold problems and complications. Workers can get trapped underground and therefore the excavation needs to be supported to reduce this risk. This can be done using a temporary supports before any digging work begins or ensuring the sides of the excavation pit are safe and creating a reduced risk of collapse which may result in compensation claims.

Falling Into the Excavation
The area must be guarded off to prevent people falling into the area. If there are no barriers or constraints then people are more likely to fall into the area and this may result in a personal injury claim, as a fall can cause injuries.

Other Buildings
When digging out the trench or excavation pit make sure that any surrounding buildings are not affected. Buildings that are close to each might be reliant on the same footings and if you are investigating and changing footings to one building this might affect others. Dislodging footings can cause subsidance and cause other problems for nearby buildings.

Roofing Work and Working At Height Quiz

Hopefully the construction site signs has got you thinking and looking at signs differently so we are continuing the theme with some more quizzes related to work. There are alot of work related personal injury claim incidents so hopefully these quizzes will make us all more aware:

Which of the following methods are considered a safe access to a roof?

1./ Roof access hatches
2./ Fixed or mobile scaffold towers
3./ Ladders
4./ Stair towers
5./ All of the above

answers to follow in the next few days....

Did You Get These Ones .....

How many did you get correct....

These are signs that would be positioned within the site and near to the potential hazard. Take a look at our Yola site for some other potential hazards on construction sites and how those accident might lead to a personal injury claim.

Slips and Trips On A Construction Site

A construction site that is based in a city centre like Birmingham, Coventry or Nottingham has other considerations to make sure that slips, trips or falls are monitored. Any accidents may well result in a personal injury claim Nottingham.

If this has not been planned effectively, deliveries to a city centre construction site can also cause problems. Supplies like hazardous chemicals, bricks and glass will need to be delivered straight onto the site and not left outside the construction site under any circumstances from a practical, logistical and cost effective angle aswell as health and safety of the public as any items that are loose may run the risk of falling onto the general public. There should be a designated area for deliveries to keep the volume of delivery traffic onsite to a minimum.

Workers that are working on a construction site need to be aware of cabling when using power tools. The preferred option is cordless tools to avoid the risk of tripping over electrical cables that are powering the tools. If you are drilling and generating dust there is a good chance that the dust will cover the floor and then cover the cabling, which is not visible will become a trip hazard and this might result in an accident claim.

Working on A Construction Site: Traffic Management on Site

Construction sites can be in operation anywhere from a busy city centre, a retail park or even a business park. The risks to both workers and the general public are the same regardless of where the construction is happening. There might be less people walking about on a business park than in a busy city centre but the precautions still need to be the same and these need to be managed to avoid a claim for personal injury Leicester.

Vehicle and traffic management on a construction site is made harder as these environments tend to be noisy and there is always lots going on so workers might not hear a truck reversing or unloading as easily as they would within a warehouse.

Construction sites are organised so that vehicles and pedestrians using site routes can move around safely. The main issues to make sure this happens include:

Keeping people and vehicles apart from each other as much as possible - providing separate entrances and exits for workers and the vehicles and the use of walkways and crossings that can easily be seen.

Minimise vehicle movements like keeping personal vehicles away from the main construction site.

Reduce the need for vehicle reversing as much as possible as this is one of the main causes for accidents. If a site can implement one way systems, this should be introduced where possible.

The main and important element of any workplace and definately a construction site is the use of signs for both health and safety and also warning signs. If vehicles are not permitted in a certain area, make sure this is signposted and noted.

Visitors, staff and employees will be able to work on the construction site and traffic management will operate better if simple guidelines are followed and this will reduce the need and potential for a personal injury claim