A PICTORIAL GUIDE TO

SITE SAFETY INSPECTION

IN CIVIL CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS

Abdulla J. Al-Kuwaiti

1
 Copyrights (c) 2014 by Abdulla J. Alkuwaiti

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of

this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the author

This book expresses the authors views

and opinions. The information contained in
this book is provided without any express,
statutory, or implied warranties. The author
will not be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused, either
directly or indirectly, by this book.

Pictures are for examples only. No

association with any organization, individual
or project is intended or should be inferred.

2
3
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ....................... 11

Chapter 2: Risk Management 29
Chapter 3: Misconceptions .......................................... 51
Chapter 4: Site Inspection ............................................ 71
Chapter 5: Categorization ............................................... 325
Chapter 6: Good Practices .......................................... 353
Chapter 7: A Framework to Manage Safety in Civil Construction
Projects ............................................. 403

4
5
 About the author:

6
 Abdulla attained his BSc in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona in
2000. He started his career as an HSE Engineer in Das Island in Abu Dhabi. He
worked his way up in the company and was exposed to the latest technology and
training in the field. In 2007 he achieved his masters in Project Management and is
currently working as a Project Management Consultant.

You can contact him through:

alk.books@gmail.com
www.kuwaitat.net

Other Books by Abdulla:

STUDY GUIDE
FOR THE PMI

STUDY GUIDE
FOR THE PMI

RISK
MANAGEMENT
PROFESSIONAL
PROFESSIONAL EXAM
RISK MANAGEMENT

First Book on the Subject EXAM

Second Edition

Abdulla J. Alkuwaiti
RMP, PMP
Abdulla J. Al Kuwaiti

Pass on Your Many Carefully Selected Unique Framework Helps

First Attempt and Analyzed Questions You to Study More Efficiently

7
 Why I am writing this book?

At one point in my career I was responsible for the

Safety of more than 35 civil construction projects.
Of course, I had a big team of safety engineers to
help me. The team was very effective and kept
me updated with lots of emails every week.

These emails really helped me monitor the

projects safety. However, they took so much
time to read and made my eyes hurt. It wasnt
only reading, but I had to convert text into mental
images in my head so that I understand some of
the technicalities.

You can imagine that I wasnt very excited to log

into my computer every day. However, there
was one exception. A safety engineers sent me
pictures to support his reports. He wrote a brief
comment on every picture indicating what was
wrong with it. With time I found that I didnt need

8
to read his reports. All I had to do was glance
at the pictures and in a couple of minutes I will
have a good idea about the safety condition at
that particular project. I decided to collect these
pictures in a book. I want to share my experience
of fast and easy learning using pictures. The book
will require minimum reading while providing high
quality information. It can be used by people
who are short on time like managers. In addition,
it will give new comers to civil construction some
practical information about site safety. I hope that
you like the idea behind this book and get real
benefit from it.

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 Chapter_1

10
 Introduction

Chapter 1:
Introduction

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 Chapter_1

If you want to discourage someone from learning about safety, you can do something
like this

Hear read this

There is even no manual.
pictures inside There are more

I dont want this book to be another safety manual. I dont want you to go through
hundreds and hundreds of pages filled with technical information. This is not to
undermine the value of safety manuals, but they (like all professional manuals) are
intended for specific people. People who decided on their careers and are ready to
invest time and effort in studying it.

12
 Introduction

However, the thing with safety is that we all need to know about it. Why? Because
safety in a construction project can affect the lifes of all working in (and out) of the
projects. Fatalities, Injuries, Environmental pollutions and property loss can result if
safety is not implemented.

Safety must be part of every ones career. But, can we minimize time and effort in
learning about it? This is what I am planning to achieve in this book. I want this book
to take you through an EASY journey to become better at safety site inspection. To
do that I am using pictures.

Pictures are the core of this book. The most important thing with pictures is that
there is nothing to read. Just a glance and you will understand the situation. Pictures
can be informative and fun. To know more, read the section why I am writing this
book at the beginning of the book.

How this book is organized?

First: You need to know (accept) why safety is important.

Second: I will discuss the concept of risk management which is the fundamental of
safety management.

Third: I will discuss some misconceptions often associated with Safety. This should
pave the way for faster learning.

Forth: You will see hundreds of pictures. Real pictures from real site inspections.
You will learn why a situation is unsafe and what can be done about it. This is the
core of this book.

Fifth: I will try to categories the pictures. I want to create a short list of the main
causes for unsafe conditions and practices at civil construction projects.

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 Chapter_1

Sixth: I will show you some good practices in civil construction projects.

Seventh: I will provide a framework for managing safety in construction projects.

This framework is tested and based on real life experience.

Important Notes:
All the pictures in this book are from real construction projects. They were not
fabricated for the purpose of this book, rather from daily site inspection conducted
by professional Safety Engineers. As a result, please accept that the quality of
some pictures might not be the best.

This Book is written for civil construction. Safety is only limited by the number of
available professions. If you are a nuclear engineer, there is nuclear safety, if you
are a housewife there is house safety, if you are a fisherman, there is fishing safety.

Pictures in this book represent a fraction of the possible unsafe conditions at a

construction site. But dont worry; you are not here to remember every possible
unsafe situation. No one can do that. Your goal should be to understand how site
inspection work. Then you can apply your knowledge on any situation.

Make sure you know the purpose of this book. My purpose is to make it fun and
easy to understand. My target audience excluded experienced safety engineers
and thus I didnt provide much detail. I hope that after reading through this book
you will get interested in further studies in construction safety.

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 Introduction

Why bother with Safety

Let me make something clear from the beginning: Safety WILL interfere with work
and cost money. You will need to do site inspections, meetings and training, which
requires effort and time. In addition, money is needed to buy safety equipment and
hire safety professionals.

The protection cover is

damaged, you need to
replace it Why are you always
bothering me?

In short, implementing safety will not be easy. But, why bother? The answer is
simple. The pay back is worth it. The construction community has enough data and
examples showing that implementing proper safety programs can reduce accidents.
Accidents are the REAL interference to a construction project. If repairing a faulty
electrical grinder can delay work by half an hour, then an accident caused by that
grinder can delay work for hours and even days.

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 Chapter_1

Following are pictures of how accidents can interfere with your life and your
construction project. Spend few seconds on each picture and think: can this
happen to me?

I didnt want to put graphic pictures of injuries in this book. Not because there are
lack of such pictures, but because we got used to seeing them in movies. As a result
many think they will never happen to us (more of a fiction than a reality). Instead, lets
consider an injury that is real to all of us. A tiny paper cut. I think we all had it before.
How did it feel? I can speak for my self and say that it hurts. Besides the pain, my life
gets affected. I will not be comfortable doing normal things like holding a pen and
peeling an orange.

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 Introduction

If you get an injury at a construction work site I assure you it will be more than a tiny
cut. It will defiantly hurt and your life can be affected big time.

What if you caused an accident to another worker? Can you handle the feeling of
guilt? People, who do so, even by mistake have difficult time sleeping and enjoying
food. Many cases were reported of people committing suicide because they were
in the drivers seat in car accidents. They couldnt live with the fact that they survived
and some of their passengers died.

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 Chapter_1

Your loved ones can get injured in civil construction. Your loved ones deserve to be
protected, dont you agree? They deserve a safe workplace. The thing to consider
is that every worker in a civil construction project is a loved one of some body.

18
 Introduction

Accidents can cause death. Preventing accidents will not prevent death, but at least
you can go peacefully.

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 Chapter_1

Becoming disabled can take many things away from you. It can take some of your
freedom, some of your income and even some of your enjoyment of life. Ultimately
people will forget about accidents, try not to carry a daily reminder of it.

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 Introduction

Accidents can put a stop to your civil project.

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 Chapter_1

People do go to jail if they caused accidents. Managers and laborers, no one is

protected. Law is increasingly standing beside safety.

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 Introduction

Consider this scenario:

You work for 30 years in construction. You make hundreds of thousands of dollars.
After you retire you find it more and more difficult to breath. The Doctor says that this
was probably caused by your work. Maybe from chemicals or concrete dust. You
wish you used a face mask. But its too late.

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 Chapter_1

Construction projects are big. However, the bigger they are the bigger their ability
will be to damage the environment.

24
 Introduction

Accidents can damage your reputation.

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 Chapter_1

Accident can eat your project alive.

26
 Introduction

Accidents can bring financial hardships. You can loose assets, go to court or get
injured. All will reduce your earnings.

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 Chapter_2

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 Risk Management

Chapter 2:
Risk Management

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 Chapter_2

If you worked in civil construction then you must have heard about safety. You will
know about wearing helmets and safety shoes. In addition you might heard that
safety in number 1 in some meetings. However, there is much more to safety than
wearing a helmet and hanging safety posters. Safety is a full science with many
concepts and tools. The most important is risk management which is a logical way
of dealing with unsafe conditions and situations that can lead to accidents.

Talking Safety
Some people might refer to a situation as unsafe, others use the words risky
or dangerous. What do they mean? Obviously, they mean: something bad can
happen. Lets explore this definition more. There are two key words: Bad and Can.

When we refer to something as bad we know its something we dont want (i.e.
some kind of damage). In civil construction projects this can be injury, delay to work,
pollution to the environment, damage to equipment etc. The term we will use to
refer to bad is Severity.

Severity refers to a negative outcome. It can be high or low. You can use it to
compare between two events. For example, the event of losing 10 dollars is less
severe than losing 15 dollars . Severity can refer to physical event like an injury or
to a none-physical like loss of reputation.

The other keyword is can. If something can happen then it can also not happen!.
So we are talking about something we are not 100% sure that it will happen or not (i.e.
we are talking about the future). The term we will use to refer to can is Likelihood
or Chance.

Likelihood refers to the chance or probability of something to happen in the

future. This can be high or low. For example, you know from experience that the
likelihood of winning the lottery is very low.

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 Risk Management

Summary: unsafe is same as risky. They depend on likelihood and severity.

Other words are Hazards, dangers etc.

When we talk risk we talk about the future.

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 Chapter_2

Opinions and Experience

From now on , I will use the term Risk to refer to unsafe conditions and practices.
Now, consider the following example: if you have two people and ask them what
is the risk of slipping in the bathtub and breaking a bone? The first might say it is
very small and the other might say it is high. Why did we get different answers? The
reason is each one used his/her own experience to judge the situation. The first
person might not remember that he ever slipped in the bathtub. The other might had
his elderly uncle broke a leg in the bathtub few months ago.

What I am trying to say is that safety can be subjective (i.e. individual experiences
and opinions affect the way we judge it). These differences in opinions can cause
conflicts between people.

How can we avoid conflicts in judging risks? Completely avoiding differences in

opinions is impossible, but we can reduce it by having a clear and systematic way of
scoring risks. Using a risk formula or a risk matrix can do this.

The Risk Formula

We know that risk depends on likelihood and severity. This can be represented as

Risk = likelihood * Severity

The above is called the risk formula. This will be our main tool to determine how risky
a situation is.

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 Risk Management

Safety is two-dimensional. It doesnt make sense

to describe safety based on severity or likelihood
alone. It will be like going to a hardware store to
buy a piece of wood and asking for a 2 inch piece
of wood. The sales person will tell you to specify
both length and width.

Mathematics of the Risk Formula

Since we have a formula we can use numbers. For example, if likelihood is 3 and
severity is 5, then 3*5 will give a risk of 15. Such calculation will be very helpful in
comparing risks, which is one of the fundamentals of risk management.

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 Chapter_2

Lets go back to the example above. From where did we get a severity score of 5 ?.
Who decide that a small cut in your finger will get a severity score of 1, 2 or more?.
Actually there is no standard. This must be decided (agreed on) by each company
or project and documented in a risk matrix.

How to Score Risks?

How can we assign values to severity and likelihood? Lets start from scratch. How
do we describe likelihood in real life? For example, the chance of passing an exam.
From experience you know that if you study good, then the chance will be high. If,
however, you dont, the chance is low. Notice that we used two words: low and
high to classify likelihood. We can also use variation of that classification like:

- Low, medium and high

- Very low, low, medium, high and very high

We can also use numbers and colors like:

- 1 for low, 2 for medium and 3 for high

- Green for low, Yellow for medium and Red for high

Very good, now we can classify (i.e. score) likelihood. Scoring severity is exactly the
same. But how can we multiply them. For example, if likelihood is low and severity
is high what will be the risk result? (low * high = ??). Again, there is no standard way
of doing that. What we can do is agree (logically) on a score. For example, we can
decide that (low* high) is medium.

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 Risk Management

The Risk Matrix

The risk matrix is the risk formula made in the form of a table. In a risk matrix ; columns
represent severity and rows represent probability (or vice versa, you can make it the
way you like).

Lets take a simple risk matrix where both severity and likelihood have the values: low,
medium and high. It will look like this:

High

Probability

Medium

Low
High Medium Low

Severity

The above is called a 3 by 3 matrix. Lets consider the table from the outside. I
put probability on the left of the table beside the rows. There are 3 rows meaning
that probability have three possible values (low, medium and high). As for severity
you can see it under the columns. There are 3 columns, meaning that there are 3
possible values for severity (low, medium and high).

Now lets move to the inside of the table. The inside is the result (i.e. risk score).
There are 9 cells and thus 9 possible scores for risks in this matrix.

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 Chapter_2

Note: the risk matrix can be of different sizes. It can be 4*4, 5*5 or more. The bigger
it is the more accurate your assessment will be (like the resolution in a mobile screen,
the more pixels you have, the sharper the image will be).

How to use a risk matrix?

If the likelihood of an event is medium and severity is medium, what is the risk?. We
draw a straight line coming out of medium severity and another one from medium
likelihood. The intersection will be the risk score.

Probability
High

Medium

Low
High Medium Low

Severity

Now, what to do with the risk score? The score will be used to see how big is the risk
and how to respond to it. The bigger the risk the more you need to spend. More on
this under risk management

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 Risk Management

There are different types of risk matrices. We can use numbers and colors for
example

2 2 3 Yellow Yellow Red

2 2 2 Yellow Yellow Yellow
1 2 2 Green Yellow Yellow

The risk matrix is the filter you use to determine which risks will be responded to.
Some risks might be very small that you dont need to worry about. This filter
can be designed for your specific needs. For example, it can be made strict
to increase the number of risks that will be responded to. It can also be made
more relaxed. To know more, you can search on risk tolerance.

Analyzing the risk formula

Risk = likelihood * Severity

You will use the risk formula as a concept more than a way to calculate numbers.
Consider the following conclusions:

To eliminate risks, we need to either eliminate likelihood or severity

( risk is zero if likelihood is zero and/or severity is zero)

To reduce risk, we need to reduce likelihood, severity or both

If likelihood or severity or both increases, then risk will increase

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 Chapter_2

We can fight risks on two fronts. The first front is likelihood. The second is severity.
First work on likelihood and try to make an event close to impossible to happen.
Then work on severity, where if an accident happens then at least it will not make big
damages.

Example_1:

Using the risk formula how can you reduce the risk of injury due to a car accident?

First, lets try to reduce the chance of the accident happening. You can do one of
the following:

1- The best thing to totally eliminate that risk is to stay home, but this might not be an
option
2- You can take a taxi
3- You can drive.

Now, lets on severity. Things that will not prevent an accident but, if it happen at
least it will not cause big damage.

1- Wearing a seat belt

2- We can use a car that has a high safety rating (for example, if you have two cars
one of them is a Volvo, then use it)

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 Risk Management

Example_2:

Consider two groups of workers. The first group work on top of a building doing
some block work. The other group doing plastering work at the ground level. How
can we protect the workers below from falling materials from above?

The first thing is reducing the likelihood of a material falling on the worker.

1- Make the worker work in another place

2- Make the worker wait until the people working on top of him finish
3- Provide training (talk to the people on the top) to take care not to drop anything

Now, lets move to severity. If an item (for example a hammer) fell from the top how
can reduce the harm to the worker below?

1- provide a net to catch (reduce the speed of) falling items

2- provide the worker with a helmet

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 Chapter_2

Risk Management

Very good, now we know about risks and how to control them. Now, how can
we apply this to a construction site with many potential risks? This is done through
a systematic process called Risk Management. Risk management includes the
following steps:

1- Identify risks: to control risks, you first need to be aware that they exist. You need
to spot them.

2- Assess the risks you identified: not all risks will need to be controlled. Some are
very small where it is not worth it to respond to all of them. This is especially true
if you did good risk identification and was able to discover hundreds of risks

3- Respond to risks: put measures and controls to reduce likelihood and severity

Risk management can be summarized in the following example:

Risk Identification Risk Assessment Risk Control

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 Risk Management

Following are some of the tools and techniques used to implement each of the risk
management steps:

- Tools to identify risks: You can use checklists, ask experts, review document,
brainstorm with other people, discuss in meetings etc.

- Tools to assess risks: you can use the risk matrix.

- Tools for risk response: you can use the following strategies: eliminate the risk,
reduce it, transfer it or accept it. More on this next

Risk Management is what we will be doing in site inspection. We will need to

first identify a risk. Second, we need to assess the risk and figure out how big
it is. Finally we need to put a solution to prevent the risk from happening or
reduce the damage it can cause.

Strategies for Risk Response

To control a risk you can choose from the following options:

1- Eliminate the risk by making it impossible to happen. This usually involves changing
the way you do something or not doing it at all. This option will eliminate the risk
completely but it can also remove benefits you will get from doing the task.

2- Reduce the risk by either reducing the likelihood or severity. This is the most
common strategy because it balances between the risk and things you need to
achieve. Reducing a risk will require some effort from your side. You can come
up with clever solutions here, solutions that will decrease the risks while requiring
minimum effort and cost.
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 Chapter_2

3- Transfer the risk. Here you make another person or company do the risky activity.
Not because you want to trick them, but because they have better training and
capabilities to handle the risk. For example, you might be able to fix your broken
refrigerator, but chose to pay for a certified technician to avoid the risk of an
electrical shock.

4- Accepting the risk. If you cannot use any of the above options then you will
accept the risk. That mean the only thing you will do is to hope that the risk will
not happen and become an accident.

Note: in accepting a risk you need to still be ready to deal with an accident if it
happens. You need to have Emergency Procedures available. For example, you
accept that you might have a flat tire. An emergency procedure is to have a spare
tire ready in your car.

Following are examples of how to apply the options. Sometimes you will be able to
choose from among all of them, other times, you will be able to select only one:

Example: 1- Controlling the risk of skin disease from using special paint

Option Control
Eliminate Try to find another chemical that is not dangerous

Reduce Use less amount of paint as possible. Wear protective equipment. Provide
good ventilation. Get training on the safest way to apply the paint

Transfer Hire a specialized company that is experienced in applying this paint

Accept Be prepared with a chemical emergency kit to treat any possible contami-
nation with the paint

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 Risk Management

Example : 2 - Controlling the risk of noise from working close to a noisy compressor

Option Control
Eliminate Shutdown the compressor while work is being done (if practical)

Reduce Provide a shed around the compressor to reduce the noise. Wear ear
protection. Reduce exposure by working in shifts

Transfer -

Accept -

Balancing between Risk Management and Cost

Remember that when we talk about risks we talk about the future. Risks may or may
not happen. However, In Eliminating, Reducing and Transferring a risk, we might
need to spend money NOW.

The risk Why do I

may or need to
may not pay now?
happen

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 Chapter_2

You need to balance between risk management and cost because nobody have
unlimited time and money. To do that you need to make sure that:

1- The people who identified and ranked the risks did a good job. If a risk is
actually small and was put as high by mistake, then you might waste your effort
in responding to an insignificant risk. To ensure good quality of risk identification
and assessment, training must be provided to those who will do it. Also a team of
experienced people can better rank the different risks.

2- You need to choose the best option to control a risk. An option that will balance
between how much you will control the risk and how much you need to pay for
that. For example, using elimination or risk transfer will control risks better than
risk reduction. However, the cost will be higher. Of course when things involve
people safety, we need to eliminate the risk regardless of cost, but for other risks
we should balance it with the cost.

Risk management is a balance between fear

and greed. you want to spend minimum (or
nothing) to control a risk, but at the same time
you don't want the risk to happen. This is a fact
of human nature

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 Risk Management

You need to spend time and think of the best risk control option to select. If
the wrong control option is selected it can cost unnecessary time and money.
Also, a wrong option might not adequately control a risk. There is no formula to
select the right option. However, your goal should be to maximize risk control
while keeping cost at minimum.

Risks, Accidents and damages

What about accidents? How accidents relate to risks?

To put it simply, an accident is a risk that actually happened. For example, if the risk
is: a girl can cut her finger while making a salad, the accident will be a girl cut her
finger while making salad. So, the risk can happen but the accident did happen.

Accidents will cause damages. Damages can be tangible (to people, environment,
equipment, financial etc.) or intangible (like to reputation).

From the above we know that a damage result from an accident which result from a
risk. This can be presented in the following model:

Risk Accident Damage

45
 Chapter_2

An event (i.e. action). This is a brief moment

in time where the thing you was afraid of
(the risk) happens.

Risk Accident Damage

Unsafe situation that can
happen (i.e. it didnt happen yet)
Damages result from accidents. Examples are:
Damage to humans (i.e. death, injury or illness)
Damage to equipment
Damage to the environment (i.e. pollution)
Damage to reputation ( how other people look at you)

Example:
The following sequence of events illustrates how a risk of a worker falling from a
ladder turns to the worker having a broken leg:

The worker loose balance and falls to the ground

Risk Accident damage

A worker is using a ladder to paint a

wall. The ladder seams unstable and
The worker breaks his leg
you are afraid he will fall down

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 Risk Management

Three Opportunities to Control Damages?

I will start using the word control more and more. By it I mean to eliminate or
reduce one or both of the following

1- The chance that a risk becomes an accident

2- The amount of damage resulting from an accident

We have three opportunities where we can control damage: before an accident

happens, while it is happening and after it had happened. Consider the example of
what can be done in a car accident? :

1- Before the car accident happens: you can take safe driving course to help you
avoid a crash
2- While the car accident is happening: a seat belt can reduce the injury to the driver
3- After the accident had happened: having a good system to take injured people to
hospital quickly

Lets explain these opportunities more:

First is before an accident happens: (using the concept of Likelihood): We try to do

things that decrease the chance of an accident.

Second is while an accident is happening: (using the concept of severity). We try to

do things that reduce the damage of the accident (like an airbag)

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 Chapter_2

Third is emergency procedures: which starts after the accidents has happened.
In doing emergency procedures we try to control (deal with) the damages that
happened to prevent further escalation. Examples of emergency procedures are
evacuation plans, firefighting and rescue activities.

Example: lets work on the example of the worker falling from a ladder and breaking
his leg. How can we control that?

While the accident is After the accident had

Before the accident
happening happen

Worker on a ladder Worker falls from the ladder Worker breaks a leg

Limit the height of the Call the site nurse immediately.

Use good ladder without
painting area so if the Take the worker to hospital.
defects. The ladder to
worker fall he will not Secure the accident scene with
be on level ground
fall from very high. warning tape

In this book, we will concentrate on the first two opportunities of controlling risks.
The likelihood and severity. Emergency response is very important but is outside the
scope of this book.

Note: After damages are dealt with, accident investigation will start.

48
Risk Management

49
 Chapter_3

50
 Misconceptions

Chapter 3:
Misconceptions

51
 Chapter_3

In my career I saw many people who held wrong ideas about safety. These ideas
can lead to the belief that safety is both expensive and a waste of time. I want to
discuss some of them and hopefully clear them before I start with site inspection
in the next chapter.

Site Safety is the Responsibility of the Safety

Officer
Every one is responsible for his/her own safety. If you injured your self or damaged
some equipment, do you know who is to be blamed? You. Blaming the safety
officer for accidents is like blaming the traffic police when you make a car accident.

Like I said in the beginning of this book, Safety is part of every ones career. All
people working in the construction project must know their responsibilities toward
safety. I am not attempting to take responsibilities away from the safety officer. The
safety officer has more responsibilities toward site safety. He needs to put safety
procedures and monitor their implementation by the workforce. In addition, he
needs to train workers, do inspections, provide safety advice, monitor work etc. But
the safety officer is not superman.

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 Misconceptions

Even if you hire a big team of safety officer, they will not be able to cover all the
project site. A better solution (and more economical) is to train every worker to
follow the safety regulations.

My words above might have been a bit strong. But I hate it when people dont take
responsibilities of their actions and blame it on others.

Note: The safety office will act more like a facilitator. He monitors the site and make
sure workers do their job as per the safety regulations. But who is the ultimate
person responsible for safety in a construction project? The answer is simple: The
Project Manager.

From management and legal point of view, the project manager have the Authority to
enforce safety procedures in the project, thus he is responsible. The safety officer
in most projects has an advisory role.

It does make sense because the project manager will be the first one to get the
thank you if the project was successful. Similarly, if an accident happened he
will be the first to take the blame.

From a management and legal point of view, the project manager have the Authority
to enforce safety procedures in the project, thus he is responsible. The safety officer
in most projects has an advisory role.

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 Chapter_3

The role of the safety officer is an advisory

one. The project manager is the final decision
maker in the project site. But that also makes
the project manager the most responsible
person for the site safety.

Zero Accidents
Even with the best safety system and a full team of experienced safety officers,
accidents can still happen. There are many reasons why we cannot completely
prevent accidents:

- With new technologies, new risks emerge. Risks that no one had thought of
before
- Humans do mistake. It is in our nature. Risks can slip undetected and control
measure can fail
- The law of probability. Even if the chance of an accident is 0.000000000000001;
there will come a day when it happens.

I am not saying the above to give an excuse for accidents. An accident is an indication
of failure, and no one wants to fail. However, I saw some project manager who is so
afraid of accidents that they created a blame Culture in their projects.

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 Misconceptions

Blame Culture describes a situation when people are so afraid of punishments if

they make a mistake . For example, if a worker damaged a hammer, his supervisor
will give him hard time and might cut from his salary, even if the hammer is already
old. Such blame culture is bad because workers will try to hide unsafe situations
and even accidents because they are afraid from punishment. That is very unsafe
situations , because if risks are kept hidden how they will be responded to?

Senior management should encourage open communication and a no blame culture

approach.

Safety Officers/Department dont Care about

the Project Progress
Safety officers are part of the project team. They get their salary from the project and
thus want the project to finish on time and budget. However, their job is to enforce
safety requirements even if it meant the project progress can be affected. After all
safety officers in the project team are trying to prevent the project from total failure,
which can happen due to accidents.

However, I can understand why this misconception is present. Many safety officers
are following safety regulations to the letter. They dont understand that many of the
safety regulations are guidelines that must be interpreted in accordance with the
project environment. I am not saying that they should be relaxed if a risk is very clear,
but to have an open mind that safety can be flexible and actually help the project
progress. More on safety flexibility in the next section.

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Safety officers are part of the project team.

They also want to finish on time and budget.
They dont want to increase cost or delay
work. The only thing they want is to make
the work site safe.

You Have Only One Option to Control a Risk

In chapter 2 we learned about four ways to control a risk: Elimination, Reduction,
Transfer and Accept. But these are only general categories of the options. For
example, you can implement risk reduction in many ways. The ways to implement
any control is limited only by the ideas you can generate. Consider the following real
life example:

Example:

The civil defense refused to certify the site caravan because the wood used to
construct is not fire resistance.

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 Misconceptions

This is a major problem. Without a civil defense certificate work can not start in the
construction site. The obvious solution is to buy another caravan:

That solution will be very costly, but there is another cheaper option that can be
as effective in protecting against fire. The caravan can be painted with special fire
resistance paint and save thousands of dollars.

The point is: if you gave it enough thought you might be able to find solutions that are
less expensive and will still control the risk

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Implementing Safety is flexible. You can

control a risk using different methods. In
many cases you can come up with solutions
that are less expensive while providing a good
risk control. But it requires deep thinking.

Safety Will Only Cost You Money and Delay Your

Work
At the surface it might be true that safety is expensive but under the surface you are
actually preventing losses. The example that most of us can relate to is regarding
preventative maintenance to cars. You might identify a small leak in your engine but
dont fix it because it will cost you 500$. With time however, the entire engine can fail
and you end up paying 2000$.

But its not only preventing accidents that will save you money. Safety can cut cost by

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 Misconceptions

- Speeding the work. Proper safety will require that you prepare all necessary
equipment (and professional people) before work start. If you do so, work should
go smoothly
- If workers see their company taking care about their safety, they should feel
better. If workers feel better they will perform better.
- Speeding the attaining of governmental licensing.

Safe and Save, very similar words.

Safety is Optional
Safety is not optional. Nowadays, laws in most countries around the world enforce
implementing safety in civil construction. Many people (senior management) went
to jail because they intentionally violated safety laws. You need to be aware of the
laws concerned with implementing safety laws in your country and to follow them.
Having laws to back up safety is very useful in site inspection. You can refer to the
law if some workers are not cooperating with you to implement risk controls.
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Safety only Looks after people

Protecting people from injuries is at the highest priorities of Safety. However, people
are not the only thing. Safety is also very concerned about protecting assets and
equipment from damages.

Safety also looks after the health of people from diseases that can be caused from
work (occupational health). Diseases like hearing loss due to working in a noisy
environment for many years. Also back injuries due to lifting heavy materials over
the years.

In addition, safety is concerned about protecting the environment from pollution. For
example, protecting the soil from diesel contamination and wildlife from noise and
dust while construction is ongoing

Due to the importance of Health and Environment, many organizations separated

them from safety. The term HSE is now widely used to refer the protection of people,
equipment, environment and health.

Safety Controls can only be Physical

Risks can be controlled by stuff like barriers, PPE and guards. However, many
useful controls are not physical (i.e. soft). Things like training and procedures are
very effective and must be on the list of options to control a risk.

Example is protecting workers from the risk of noise. A physical control can be an
earplug. A procedural control is limiting the exposure time where a worker will
not be allowed to work in a noisy environment for more than a few hours. Another
example is protecting the workers from the risk of electrical shocks caused by using
an electrical grinding machine. Physical control is to provide an electrical breaker
to cut electricity in case of a malfunction. A soft control is to train the worker to
inspect the equipment prior to use.
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 Misconceptions

PPE is the First Safety Control

PPE stands for Personnel Protective Equipment. You know, things like helmets, gloves
and safety shoes. PPE is very important, but they are the last line of defense against
a risk becoming an accident. By last line of defense, I mean that you need to think
of other ways to control a risk. For example, a safety helmet should not come to
your mind as the first solution to protecting workers from falling materials. We should
think of putting controls like safety nets and hard barriers made of scaffolding. That
is because if a 5 kilos steel pipe fell from a height of 5 stories on a workers head, then
a safety helmet will not do very much.

Wearing PPE in your site should be the norm. For example, not wearing a safety
shoes should be a taboo just like going to a shopping mall bare feet.

When I say that PPE is the last line of defense I dont mean you need to stop enforcing
its usage. This is particular important in companies just starting to implement safety

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in its construction projects. A safety helmet or safety shoes are very uncomfortable
and workers might tend to not use the. Just try working while you wear a full body
safety harness and you will understand how uncomfortable some PPE can be.

An important thing to consider about PPE, is that it needs to be enforced on every

one. Senior management including the project manager and VIP visitors must wear
PPE. This is to show workers that no one is above safety and it applies to all.

You are Not That Strong

Remember this picture

Its such a tiny cut, but believe you me, its going to HURT. No matter how strong
you are, your body is not a match for steel and concrete. Understanding this fact
should make you humble and respect the tools and materials you are working with.

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 Misconceptions

Working in construction is difficult, challenging and requires muscles. People working

in construction are known to be strong. However, some people might take that
strong` image too far. They might think they dont need to follow safety rules. That
is wrong. A strong body needs a strong mind to control it. Dont make fool of your
self by testing your body against steel.

Safety is Done During Project Execution Only

The best place (time) to implement safety is during the design stage. For example,
your construction project might require lifting a very heavy AC Chiller to the top of
the building. In that case you need to get with a group of experienced people from
your project team and do a risk assessment. In the assessment you will think of
potential risks and how to control them. In addition, you will make the equipment
selection and placement not only based on technical requirements, but also on
safety requirements (for example, the crane should be placed on a firm ground with
excellent visibility to the crane operator).

Note: The lack of thinking of how to make an activity safe is causing many unfortunate
accidents. I worked in one hospital that it had a glass roof in one of its sections. There
was no safe method available to clean the glass, which got dirty very fast. Cleaning
workers had to walk on the GLASS to clean it. Such examples are common and
providing solutions to them is usually expensive which unfortunately help to advertise
the idea that safety is expensive.

The Goal of Safety is Preparing Fancy Reports

Of course we need good safety reports. Reports in which risks are deeply analyzed
and clever responses are suggested. However, the goal of safety, the essence of
safety is to control risks at site. Safety reports, work permits; audits and certificates
are only valuable if they are implemented on site.

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Safety Management must be conducted as a complete cycle. Starting with risk

identification and finishing with real controls being implemented on site. Actually,
safety management will not finish after putting safety controls. The effectiveness of
such controls must be also verified and checked.

I saw many excellent risk assessments reports. Reports where excellent control
measure were suggested. The only problem was : the control measures were not
implemented! Reasons for not implementing control measures can be:

- Not believing in safety. This is especially true with people who have strong ego.
Because they never had accidents before such people think that safety doesnt
apply to them. In their mind they are too good to follow safety laws. However,
since there are laws that mandate the use of safety in construction site, they act
that they believe in safety. They only do the paper exercise just to satisfy any legal
requirements.

- Underestimating the effort needed to implement safety. Safety is like other

technical components of a civil construction project. Like quality and quantity
surveying. Safety will take effort and commitment. For example, similar to the fact
that an electrical supervisor will take the time to implement quality requirements
he needs to be ready to also spend time to implement safety requirements.

The best thing to make workers commit to implementing safety is education and
awareness. However, if senior management dont believe in safety that is a big
problem. Eventually every one will believe in the importance of implementing safety.
Unfortunately, some will believe only after an accident.

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 Misconceptions

Another important reason why risk controls dont leave

the papers to the real word is gold plating. Gold
Plating is when a bigger than needed risk controls are
suggested. For example, using a flags man mitigates
the risk of heavy vehicles movement in a construction
site. Now what if someone suggested to use 2 flags
men. One in the front and one in the back? Certainly
this is safer. But it is really not required and will make
people view safety as a waste of resources.

Buildings Under Construction cannot Burn

Some people might think that while a building is being constructed the chances
of fire is very slim. That is because at that stage the building is mostly steel and
concrete, which dont burn. But thats not correct. They can burn. As a proof look
at the following picture.

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A fire in a construction project is one of the most dangerous things that can happen.
It can kill people and put a stop to the whole project. To prevent fire in your project
you should separate things that can burn easily (like wood and paper) from fire
sources (like welding and smoking)

Other things you can do are:

- Prohibit smoking from the construction site

- Provide fire extinguishers at site
- Train workers on how to use fire extinguishers
- Install fire alarms in offices and storage areas.
- Store materials that can burn in a proper manner (such materials shouldnt be
scattered here and there)
- Require a permit for work that generates ignition sources like welding and grinding

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 Misconceptions

Housekeeping is Cleaning
This is a picture of poor housekeeping:

Materials on top of each other without segregation. People can trip on these
materials, fire is more easily to start with such a mix of stuff and rodents can find a
good place to live there.

In safety, Housekeeping refers to every thing must be in its right place. Like in the
following picture:

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But we shouldnt gold plate housekeeping. In construction site, things can get
misplaced and little dirty. Thats fine within limits. Dont expect workers to wipe their
tools clean at the end of each day.

I am talking specifically about housekeeping because it is the most common safety

finding during site inspection. It is very important, but dont confuse it with cleanness.

Note: some times cleanness is important. For example in electrical equipment if dust
gets inside them they might malfunction.

You Can Take Short Cut

In safety, the term short cut is used when you skip something in order to finish fast.
Taking short cuts can take many forms, but what distinguishes it, is that it is done
intentional. When you take a short cut, you know that you are doing something

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 Misconceptions

wrong but the temptation of finishing fast overcomes you. It is like driving over the
speed limit which you know is wrong but you do it any way to reach your destination
faster.

Some examples are:

Using a chair to change a light bulb instead of a ladder because you dont want to
go to the store to bring it.
Trying to jump over an excavation because you dont want to walk around it
Skip filling the checklist for using mobile crane because it will take you 10 minutes

The reason (justification) for taking short cuts is one of the most used reasons against
safety. It is:

I did it hundreds of times and nothing had ever happened

People who use this argument are among the most difficult people to reason with.
Usually they are senior management personal in the project (even project managers).
From my experience I found it very difficult to convince them that even if you did it for
that long, still it is unsafe and an accident will eventually happen. The method I use
is law. I remind them that what they are doing (short cut) is against safety regulation,
which is against the law. I tell them they were reminded and they will be responsible
if any thing happens.

Once you implement a Risk Control your job is

Done
I am sorry to say that this is another misconception. When you implement a risk
control, you indeed did a big part of safety management. But controls can fail, or
might prove not suitable.
For example, to control the risk of heat stress during summer you might put a control
of increasing water stations at the site. But the risk of heat stress might prove to be
bigger and people might still be affected. You need to monitor the control and see
if it can be improved. In this case, water should be supplemented with dehydration
solutions that contain salts and minerals.

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 Site Inspection

Chapter 4:
Site Inspection

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This chapter is the core of this book. In it you will find hundreds of pictures. Pictures
from real site inspections in real civil construction projects. My intention here is to
provide a lot of information without straining your eyes with much reading (after all,
the saying is: a picture worth a thousand word).

To get the most benefit out of this chapter do the following:

- Look at each picture and try to identify whats wrong with it (i.e. risks)
- Try to come with a solution (how to prevent the risk from happening)
- Read the comments under the pictures and compare them with your conclusions.

Note: Dont treat this as a textbook. Take it easy. Leave it on your desk and
whenever you have time just flick through few pictures. Try to make it interesting
by quizzing your friends on the picture. See if they can identify whats wrong
with them. Discuss alternatives to control the risks.

Before you start looking at the pictures consider the following points:

What is Safety Site Inspection?

It is an activity where an individual or group of people WALK in a construction site
with the clear goal of identifying conditions and practices that are unsafe (risks) AND
controlling them.

During site inspection you will apply risk management. You will identify, assess and
control risks. In addition, you will need to make sure that the risk controls are actually
implemented on site.

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 Site Inspection

Whats Special about site inspection?

In site inspection you are not setting in a meeting room brainstorming with others
about the best way to control a risk. You will be in the middle of the work and need to
take fast actions. Following are some of the challenges while doing site inspections:

1 It must be done fast: For example, what are you going to do if you see a worker
using electrical equipment with exposed wiring? Are you going to go back to your
office and use a risk matrix to rank the risk, and then hold a meeting to find the
best control? Of course not, you need to take fast action and stop the worker
from using that equipment and get it repaired. Actions need to be fast because
a risk can turn into an accident any time.

2- There are many things to distract you. For example, noise coming from heavy
equipment will make it more difficult to communicate with workers at site. In
addition, if it is hot and humid at site your thinking and judgment will not be as
good as if you were in a nice meeting room. The biggest distraction however, is
the large number of workers doing different activities at the same time. Seeing
through them to identify whats wrong is not easy but can be learned by doing
more and more site inspections.

3 Direct contact with people. In many cases you will need to tell people to stop
what they are doing because its unsafe. This will require courage from you and
might cause conflicts. For example, you night notice a worker using a jackhammer
without earplugs. The worker might be soaked in sweat and if you tell him to stop
and go to the store to bring some earplugs he might not be welling to cooperate.

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Talking with people During Site Inspection

Chances are you will find some workers not following some safety rules. You need
to tell them that what they are doing is wrong. However, Telling someone that he/she
is wrong is difficult on that person even if it was for his own good.

Delivering the message that a worker is doing something wrong can be done in many
ways. Nice ways. For start, dont shout at the worker. Explain to him why what he is
doing is wrong. Try to make him come with the control measure by himself through
him logically to what can happen if he works unsafely.

If you are a supervisor or from senior management you can use your authority to force
the workers to follow the safety regulations. However, its much better if workers are
convinced. If they are convinced, they will be less likely to repeat the unsafe situation

Important Tools

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 Site Inspection

The following tools will help you do a better site inspection:

- Carry a camera to take pictures of unsafe conditions and practices. Pictures will
document any finding and can be used for sharing information and communication.
Make sure however, that there is no restriction in the construction site regarding
photography.
- Mobile phone to communicate risks immediately as required. For example, if you
found that electricians are working without a work permit, then you can call the
electrical engineer to come to the site and investigate. Your mobile phone should be
updated with the numbers of key personnel on the construction site.

- A labeled vest indicating your job title. For example if you are a mechanical engineer,
you can type this title on the back of your safety vest. This is particularly important at
the beginning of the project where workers might not recognize you. Workers at site
will tend to cooperate with you more when they know your position in the project.

- Warning tape to isolate unsafe areas. For example, you might discover that there is
a scaffolding platform without a safety inspection tag. You can put the warning tape
around the platform to tell people not to use it until you speak with the scaffolding
supervisor.

- Safety checklists. Checklists can help you be more thorough during site inspection.
Checklists contain a list of key risks expected in construction sites. There are many
examples of checklist in the Internet that you can download and use.

- Technical information. Here we are talking about construction, so you need to

know something about civil construction. A key point here (if you are a fresh graduate
for example) is to know the terminology. For example, it will make a big difference
to use the term tower crane instead of the crane that is mounted on a long steal
structure. Workers will cooperate with you more if you speak their language.

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- A Team. It is a good idea to do a joint site inspection with people from different
disciplines. For example, people from safety, civil, mechanical and electrical
departments. Having a team of people will bring diverse experience to the inspection
and more risks could be identified and controlled.

Risk of what
During site inspection if you say that something is unsafe, or risky you should explain
why. This is important to:

1- Avoid confusion.

2- When you mention the reason, like walking in the site without safety shoes is
dangerous because a nail can cut into your feet people will start to think. When
you use logic you will stimulate workers to also use logic and hopefully agree with
you and try to control the risk.
3- When others feel that you know what you are talking about they will respect what
you are saying. This is important, because many managers and supervisors use
their authority to label a situation as unsafe (which might or might not be). Using
authority (only) to implement safety is not the best way. A good manager needs
to use authority, but balance it with communication and persuasion.

4- When you give the reason of why something is unsafe, the solution usually comes
very fast (automatically).

5- It will help you avoid getting into arguments.

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Escalation and stopping the work

In some cases you might discover a big risk that you are unable to solve immediately.
For example, one time I saw people working at height without safety lines and
harnesses. They were from a subcontracting company. I told their supervisor to
provide fall protection for his team but he gave excuses that: I forgot them at the
camp. He added that this is delaying work and no one from his team will fall down.

When I couldnt reason with him I stopped the work. And told his team to come down.
The supervisor was upset of course and went to complain to the project manager.
The project manager supported me and the supervisor had to BUY harnesses for his
team.

The above story is an example of conflicts that can happen when people disagree
on control measures. In such a case, the matter must be escalated to senior
management until it reaches the project manager who should take the final decision.
No risk must be left without a solution, either control it or accept it.

Other uses for Site Inspection

Site inspections are not only to find mistakes. They should be used to find good
practices. Such good practices can be documented (using a camera) and discussed
in safety meeting.

In addition, you can use site inspection to build relationships with the workers. Use
site inspection as an opportunity to talk with the workers and discuss how the work
is going. With time you will build trust with them. And if workers feel comfortable with
you they will be the one to point the risks for you.

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Dont Underestimate what you are doing

Dont underestimate what you are doing in site inspection. Even if you have less
experience than the people who are working, you still can add value. The fact that
you are observing work (and not doing it) gives you a big advantage. That is because
people can get very focused on what they are doing and overlook things that can
cause harm to them. For example, workers doing painting on the ground level might
be focused on finishing and dont notice that other people started to work directly
above them. Your job is to make them aware of that fact.

Notes:

1- In the pictures you will see some small risks. However You dont have the time or
the money to respond to all of them. Your effort must go toward controlling risks
that have higher chance of creating accidents. However, you need to monitor
small risks to prevent them from becoming bigger. For example, few drops of
oil on the ground will have a small effect on the environment. But if this is not
monitored, then more and more oil can spill in the future.

Remember, in site inspection you need to identify ALL risks, and then select the
ones to respond to. The risks that you will not respond to will be the ones that you
intentionally accepted.

2- I didnt attempt to categorize the pictures in this chapter ( I will do that in chapter
5). The benefit of mixing the pictures is to reduce boredom. I also want to mimic
real life. When you do site inspection in real life you will see risks randomly.

3- There might be more risks than the ones I mention in the comments. Try to find
them out. Also try to come with alternative controls.

4- You will see many pictures on the same subject. For example, many pictures will
show the risk of electrical cables on the ground. I could have put only one picture

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 Site Inspection

to illustrate that risk, but seeing different pictures on the same topic will serve the
following:

- Train your eyes to discover whats wrong from different angles

- Have a feeling for the things that repeat in the work site
- Mimic real life

Now, Lets Start with the Pictures

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Can You Bring Something

From The Back?
If I am your supervisor and old you to get me
something from here, what will happen? Chances
are you will trip and hurt yourself.

There is No access way and the materials are not

organized. Poor Housekeeping

Whats Inside?
Look at the bottle of water. The
re is pink
liquid inside. What is it? Is the wat
er bottle
suitable for storing it? We don
t know
and such lack of knowledge can
cause
accidents like fire or spillage

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 Site Inspection

Soil Contamination

In the picture you can see some

concrete is dumped on the ground.
The source is usually from concrete
mixers. Such contamination is bad
for the soil and must be controlled. A
good control is to tell workers to be
more careful while pouring concrete.

Full Or Empty?
The gauge on the cylinder is
broken. It needs to be replaced
to prevent leaks and to be able
to know how much gas is inside.

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Whats Up?
The fire detector is open. Why?
is it working or damaged? A
technician must be called to
investigate.

Open
Look at the clasp, It doesnt
close. There is a risk that the
fire extinguisher falls and get
damaged.

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 Site Inspection

Y o u r
r e A re
Whe v es?
G l o

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 Chapter_4

Fireworks
Putting aluminum foil in the microwave can create sparks. You can see demos on you tube

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 Site Inspection

Short
In the top there is one short piece of wood. It is not secured by the ropes and can fall
down.

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Eye Wash
The eyes emergency wash is
difficult to reach. If we need to use
it we might face difficulty reaching
it. Emergency kits must be in a
visible and easy to access places.

Over Stacking
This is an example of taking
a short cut. Lifting more
water cartons will save time,
but look at what happened?

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 Site Inspection

One By One
Some small wires are broken. There is a risk that the entire
wire will break with time. This needs to be maintained.

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Small Waste Here And There

Yes, they are only few bottles of water thrown. However, it is still
polluting the environment. But why they were thrown in the first
place? Were the people trained on waste management? Are
waste pins available?

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 Site Inspection

Are You Thirsty?

It did happen in real life. One worker was very thirsty and thought whats inside the water bottle
was juice. He drank it so fast and was admitted to hospital for stomach cleaning. Always store
chemicals in special containers.

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Who Is Using It ?
This battery is being used for electricity. But by whom? and why its in the outside?
Investigate more.

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Color Coding
Lifting equipment are subjected to a lot of stress, For that
reason they are inspected frequently. After they are inspected,
they are painted with a special color ( color coding). In the
picture, the lifting shackle is not colored so we are not sure if
it was tested or not

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Domestic
Waste
Food waste (especially under
the sun) can cause very bad
smell. Also it can attract insects
and rodents and help spreading
diseases. A system must be put in
place to remove waste regularly.

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Electrical
Fittings
The main risk is the wire is not
properly connected. The wire
can get exposed and cause
electrical shock to people.
Electrical cables must be joined
using proper fittings.

On The Ground
See in the back there is a heavy
loader. if it pass on the cable
there is a big chance the cable
will be damaged.

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Cover Is Missing
You can see that sand went inside
the housing of the equipment. It
can cause damage (notice that
radiator is covered with sand).

Hitting Yourself
Now this is an accident because
damage already occurred. The
cabin is slightly damaged. This
needs to be investigated to know
why it happened. Usually there is
a safety device preventing the arm
from hitting the cabin. Why it didnt
work?

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 Site Inspection

Dont Drop Me
Putting a vessel into see while men on
board. As a general rule, avoid lifting
people via cranes. Cranes might fall
and people severely injured. However,
sometimes it is a must to lift people. if
this is the case double check the crane
certificate and daily inspection checklist.
also make sure that the people inside wear
a fall protection harness ( in the picture
people are not wearing the harness).

Cover Me
The cover on the electrical
motor is missing. Also there is
no fence around the machine.

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C u t
hort
n.
ksma y
S b a n
d fet
e an n sa
cran ertai ol
u s ing a u n d er c ety contr
f
done but tant
sa d use
m u st be be used st impor t e e th an . In
g
Liftin tors can mo the kets
v a n e o f the i r e c tly to a t o r buc ected
Exca ures. O he load d v
e exc
a conn
o c ed e c tt d to th e l o ad is
p r on n ld e at t h
ver c s we rly th oppe
d.
is ne oints eye see clea e s t
p an ust b
lifting ure you c w h ich m
ic t t h
the p e tee
c t l y to th
dire

Here we are concerned about equipment safety.

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 Site Inspection

Papers Revenge
One paper might be weightless.
Tens of thousands are very heavy
however. This is an accident
where the shelf racks could not
hold the weight of the documents.
If some one was inside, I thing
there is a big chance he would be
killed.

Location, Location,
Location
The emergency raft is stored in
a difficult to reach place

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I Wish I Was Taller

The operator used a wooden box to
reach the operating controls on the
truck. This is risky due to the chance
of falling down.

Uncovered Hole
Not only your foot can slip inside the

hole, but there are steel bars that can

injure you. Holes must be covered or

barricaded

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 Site Inspection

Something Is
Missing
The fire extinguisher is
missing. If it is not required,
there will not be a place for it.

Spillage
To protect the soil (environment)
from contamination, a metal tray is
put under the drums. This a good
thing, however, in the picture you
can see that the tray is damaged
and there is a chance that diesel
can spill out of it.

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 Chapter_4

Overlapping
The range of motion of the two tower cranes can cross. This causes many accidents
in the construction industry where the cranes hit each others. To prevent this an anti
collision system is installed where one crane can not operate in the space of another. This
picture was taken to test if the system is working which was not. The system was taken for
maintenance and wasnt installed back.
100
 Site Inspection

Any One Inside?

Working in confined spaces is very dangerous. Confined space is any place where access
is limited. When people work in pits they face the risk of poor illumination, difficult access
and low oxygen levels. in the picture you can see there is no ladder available for leaving
the place.

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 Chapter_4

Showing Off
Safety harness is meant to
be worn, not for showing
off. When work is done, the
harness must be taken back
to the store to protect it from
damage from the sun and
dust.

Missing Heads
Can you see the two helmets?
Where are their owners? Are
they moving in the site without
head protection ?

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 Site Inspection

Too Close
The heat from the pump darkened the metal container close to
it. Enough space should be provided. Also the pump should
be barricaded.

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 Chapter_4

Tea Please
Look at the color of the water inside the kettle. There is a risk of diseases if the water is
not clean

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 Site Inspection

Over Due
The inspection on this fire
extinguisher is overdue.
Equipment that are not
inspected can easily fail.

Sharp Edges
There is a risk of injury to people
because there are metal with
sharp edges close to the
access. Poor housekeeping

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 Chapter_4

Parking
Cars parked wrongly. This is violating
the traffic laws and will restrict access
to the site. For example, if a truck is
needed to bring materials to the site,
it might hit one of the cars.

Open Shafts
Open shafts must be closed.
Many accidents happens
because tools and materials
fall through them on workers

106
 Site Inspection

Trip
The wooden blanks are not all at the same level. There is a risk of trip and fall.

107
 Chapter_4

s e c ts
In
ith
r f i l l ed w
t o
d ou mpe
b e pu uito
r mu s t
l i k e mosq
a t e ect s
ant w te ins
Stagn t can invi
. I
sand

108
 Site Inspection

Office Safety
The corridor is blocked with equipments and files. People
access will be restricted. risk of trip and fall.

109
 Chapter_4

Office Safety
Too many materials in the office.
This cause the risk of trips. Also
more materials means more fuel
if fire happens.

In The Open
There are many hazards with this
generator

1- It is not covered, dust can go

inside and damage it
2- It is not barricaded from the
workers (exposed)
3- Waste is thrown in the metal
tray. Ok, this is not a huge
hazard, it is low, but it still should
be noted out.

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 Site Inspection

Close To People
Materials need to be separated
from the public. You can see cars
parked close to the materials.

Before And After

Picture of the same location.
Which one is better?

111
 Chapter_4

Open The Door

The ladder is obstructing the emergency
exit.

** The use of ladders causes many

injuries in civil construction because
people can fall from them. When using
ladders make sure they are not damaged
and sit on a secure ground. Also make
sure that the worker using that ladder
is doing light work where he do not use
heavy materials and do not over reach.

Sleeping
An Accident. The driver didnt
see the slope and fell into it.
A simple warning tape could
have prevented this

112
 Site Inspection

Combustible
Materials
Under a caravan there are
combustible materials thrown.
they can burn ( if some one is
smoking close by). Also insects
and maybe snakes can find it a
good place to stay.

Too High
The corridor is made for people to
pass through, not to store materials.
But even if you had to store materials
in the corridor, you can do it with less
potential risks. Note that the white
files are stored very high on top of
each others. they can fall and injure
some one. If a file fell on your feet
and you were wearing a sandal, you
are sure to be injured.

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 Chapter_4

Good, But
Scaffolding materials are
segregated. However, too
many pipes are stored on top
of each others and can fall
down.

Exposed
People carrying Fiberglass
materials. This is a hazardous
materials and must be carried
in sealed bags

114
 Site Inspection

Breakfast
The worker is eating at the
workplace. Food can get
contaminated and affect the
workers health. There are many
contaminators at site like dust
and chemicals. Workers must be
provided with a special place to
have their food away from dust
and noise

Wooden Chair
The worker is standing on a
wooden chair. The chair is
not designed for this and might
break. The worker might lose
balance and fall down. It is
better to use an approved step
platform.

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 Chapter_4

Not Tied
To The Building
The scaffolding is not tied to the building.
When tall scaffolding is being erected
it must be tied to a fixed structure to
increase stability. Scaffolding can get
very technical. Its always a good idea to
consult with the scaffolding supervisor if
you are in doubt if something is unsafe.

Not Secured
Enough
The two holes are barricaded.
However, the poles used to hold
the tape can fall down. This
fence is OK for short period until
better fencing is made.

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 Site Inspection

Caught
Where are your safety shoes?

117
 Chapter_4

On The Side
Gs cylinders must be stored
upright. Moreover, why is the
cylinder left there ? It must be
stored in a cylinders storage.

Close The Door

Door closing on a cable !!

118
 Site Inspection

On The Floor
Another cable on the floor

Sharp Edge
Electrical cable close to a sharp
edge of a steel pipe. If some
one pulled the cable it could be
damaged

119
 Chapter_4

o l l a pse
C
,
dition
In ad ae
r
se. bars
ollap c e l s
ca n S t e o be
c a v ation t people. d will als
ex n hur an
The rs ca there
l b a a n d
stee here
t t ered le.
s c a
l t t o hand
u
diffic

The Sand is laying very close to

the excavated pit. it can fall back
and then you will need to re-dig it
again. This is risky to your effort.

120
 Site Inspection

Send It Back
The welding/cutting set is just left in the open with waste
materials. If it is no more needed for the day, it must
be sent back to the storage area. Also I can not see an
access to take it out.

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 Chapter_4

Pit
Water is accumulating inside,
hence risk of mosquito breeding

Slippery
Waste materials (debris) on
a working platform. If some
one walk on it, he can slip very
easily. The platform must be
cleaned.

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 Site Inspection

Ac Duct
Workshop
- Housekeeping
- Electrical cables
- Workbench is on steel drums
-PPE

Manhole
Risk of someone falling. Must
be covered and barricaded

123
 Chapter_4

e F l oor of
e O n Th
Cabl
isk
the r
bring they
e g r ound damaged et.
on th they got floor
is w
s l a ying n , i f i f t h e
cabl e ditio
rical In ad cially .
Elect s . k espe or
a n d fa l l
r i c a l sh o c
m t he flo
s o
trip elect evated fr
n c ause e el
c a
s m ust b
e
Cabl

Where Is The
Warning Tape?
The poles holding the warning
tape fell inside the pit.

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 Site Inspection

Steel Bars
People can hit the bars and get
injured.

Wind
Wind can blow the materials in every
direction.

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 Chapter_4

Some
Questions
1- How can the worker go on
the top ?
2- Can the platform handle the
weight of the worker with his
equipment
3- What if the worker looses
his balance. There is nothing
preventing him from falling to
the side.

Overlap
This picture is taken from
below, but you can see that
some wooden boards are
below others. On the top
there will be a tripping hazard
because the walking area will
not be completely flat

126
 Site Inspection

Another One
Another safety harness left up
there.

Single Blanks
At least 3 wooden blanks
must be used to construct
a scaffolding platform. this
is to prevent people from
falling. In the picture you
can see that single blanks
are used.

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 Chapter_4

Side Protection

The work platform on the top

without side protection (i.e. side
pipe to prevent people from
falling from the side)

128
 Site Inspection

Leftovers
After deshuttering some
nails might still be attached
to the concrete. They cause
many injuries to people who
dont see them.

129
 Chapter_4

No Space
In the pictures you can see
people resting in the outside. A
possible reason might be that
there is not enough space inside.
Workers must be provided with
a suitable rest areas that shelter
them from the cold and hot
weather.

Gas Cylinders
Gas cylinders are just laying
under the sun. Gas cylinders
must be stored in a proper
storage.

130
 Site Inspection

Bird Family
Can you see it? A bird made a
nest in some electrical cables
coming out from the sealing.
The risk is on the bird where
it can loose its eggs.

Feast
Some people were eating here.
Again, workers must have a
clean place to take their meal
protected from contamination,
noise and sun

131
 Chapter_4

Too Close
In this picture you can see an
excavation done close to the
foundation of a nearby fence.
There is no proper shoring to
prevent collapse.

Contamination
Large area is contaminated
with concrete. This might be
caused by washing concrete
mixers. There should be a
special place equipped to
wash the concrete mixers and
protect the environment. This
is considered an environmental
violation.

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 Site Inspection

Excavated
Area Not
Protected
It is only a shallow pit. But,
still, people and vehicle can
still fall inside. It must be
barricaded using warning tape
as a temporary solution. The
permanent solution is to fill it
back or use steel pipes around
it to secure it.

Nails
Wood with nails protruding are
left without warning. Even if
you have safety shoes, it can
fail and the nail go inside. Also
nails can injure you from the
side of the shoes.

133
 Chapter_4

Trip
Electrical Cables can be a trip
hazard

Housekeeping

Sharp metal pieces are

scattered here and there. It
can limit access and injure
people walking close by.

134
 Site Inspection

Bridge
See the wooden bridge on
the top. The one conecting
between the columns. It must
be supported. There is a risk
that if some one walk on it he
might fall.

The platform must be cleaned.

Not only people can slip on the
items. Also if items fall on the
ground they can hit workers
below.

135
 Chapter_4

is a
d . There ne
roun e o
o n the g n if som ht be
open inatio al mi
g
a n lying l c o ntam c h emic hemicals
ical c enta e
lso th ire. All c e after
Chem environm round. A af ag
risk
of
o t h e g
a n c ause i c a l stor
tt m
ked i and c o the che .
knoc lammable ck t ite
h l yf n e d ba d i n the s
h i g tu r e
be re need
must o l o nger
are n
they

1- Exposed rotating machinery.

2- Dust can get inside and damage
the equipment
3- Noise level will increase

136
 Site Inspection

There are single wooden blanks on the yellow beams. People were standing
on it to work on the steel bars. There are many risks here:

- The platform, i.e. the single peice of wood is very narrow.

- The wooden blank is not secured ( can shake and fall on other people)
- It is not known if the yellow beams can support the weight of the wood and
people walking on it.

A scaffolding platform or cantilever must be used instead.

137
 Chapter_4

Fooling Your Self

This is an example of a wrongly
executed safety control. This
excavation needs shoring, but
instead a piece of wood is jut put
into place. This is unaccepted and
can be dangerous because it can
give a false sense of safety. Safety
controls must be implemented
correctly.

u n g ry
H
ir
e the
caus
e b e ca s.
l
w o rk sit d c hemi ct
n
in the ith dirt a colle
n o t eat d w a n d s and ovide
ould inate their
h
we p
r
le sh ontam to wash : did in ?
Peop n b e c
l i t ies he r e i s
t oe t
a
c a f a c i t i o n e r s
food is no ques the work
o their t t h e big of
A l s
a s t e. B u
b l e place
the w suita
o u g h and
en

138
 Site Inspection

Can You See

Him?
During site inspection you
need to train your eyes to look
carefully. Its easy to overlook
risks due to the large number
of activities going on the site.

Single Blank
A worker using a single blank
to work on it. The minimum
requirement is 3 blanks
secured together.

139
 Chapter_4

e
Wast
e
i s on th
ris k it
. The s i l y and
d e a
roun reak
o n the g c an b
n foa m
throw white .
s t e is T h e
W a t. t it
v i r o nmen t to collec
en icul
e diff
will b

The amount of waste thrown is not big. Your reaction should match the level of
risk. What i mean, if the risk is small dont go shouting at people. The smaller
the risk, the more gentle you need to be in training the people about it.

140
 Site Inspection

Keep Away
Steel bars are stored in a
dedicated place. Thats good,
however, people walking
close can still get injured
or their cloth caught by the
rods. Either the steel should
be pushed away from the
pathway or a hard barrier
installed.

Storage
LIghts are thrown on top of
each other. The risk here is
damaging the lights. ALso the
glass covers can break and
injure people.

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 Chapter_4

Incomplete
Single blanks are used to
worker.

Short Cut
Literally

142
 Site Inspection

Risk of slipping and damaging

your safety shoes.

Not Secured
Only two blanks are used to
make the platform ( minimum
of 3 must be used). Also
the blanks dont look very
secured. In this case i will not
allow any one to work until
the scaffolding inspector/
supervisor come and have a
look.

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 Chapter_4

Can Catch
Fire
Tarpaulin sheets used as sun
shade in an electrical workshop.
The risk is that it can get burnt
if sparks reach it. Metal sheets
should be used instead.

Trip Hazard from the cables

144
 Site Inspection

This way of lifting can damage

the teeth of the loader.
However, if you must do it
then make sure a banks-man
is available and the pathway is
clear during transportation

Side Protection
Handrail is missing. People
can fall from the side

145
 Chapter_4

Can it Carry
the Weight?
There is nothing wrong
with the scaffolding it self.
However, it was constructed
on the roof of a building
under construction. The
safety engineer asked the
contractor for a calculation
that assures the roof can
handle the weight of the
scaffolding.

When you put any structure

make sure the ground
(foundation) can support it.
Structural engineers are able
to do such calculations.

146
 Site Inspection

Poor Housekeeping. Also no

waste segregation

Sharp Metal
Waste
This waste can fly by the wind
and hit someone. Also the
way the waste is scattered can
make it difficult for people to
clean it. Risk of injury.

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 Chapter_4

Suggestion
System Award
A similar picture won the award of
the best idea at the work site in one
competition. The worker made a
clever way to protect himself from
the sun.

I agree, the idea is good, but there is

a risk that the wood fall on the person
while sleeping. The question, is WHY
the worker is resting at the work site.
Dont he have a special location to
do that?

Whats Wrong
Can you guess the risk here?
The white machine is diesel
generator.

148
 Site Inspection

Whats Missing ?
Working with chemicals without a
face mask. Another missing thing is
safety glasses.

Ok, workers are wearing chemical

gloves, but this doesnt mean we
can forget about the mask and
glasses

Paint
Paint is stored under the
stairs. It should be moved to
a dedicated chemical storage
site.

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 Chapter_4

An accident !

Slippery
Steps made from smooth wood.
Workers can slip on them. Small
groves (line scratches) can be
made to provide better grip

150
 Site Inspection

No Shoring !!

Proper Shoring

151
 Chapter_4

Heat
The heat from the exhaust
made the wood turn black.
Risk of fire. Provide a metal
shed at higher elevation

Ignition Source
Another example of ignition
source (exhaust) close to fuel
(wood). Risk of fire

152
 Site Inspection

Can Not Connect It

We can not connect the scaffolding to the adjacent structure in this particular case. You
can see from the picture that side poles are used to provide support. This is not a proper
way to support the platform and it can still fall down. The correct solution will be to make
the base wider and thus the scaffolding can be free standing. The current condition of the
scaffolding must be communicated with the scaffolding supervisor.
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 Chapter_4

Bypassing Safety Devices

The cover on this cutting machine is a safety device. When the cover is raised the electrical
motor will immediately stop, thus limiting the chance of some one accidentally touching
the rotating blade. However, this cover is taped so it doesnt move and stop the motor.
the worker did this to work faster. This is very serious and the worker must be given a
warning.
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 Site Inspection

Be Suspicious
During site inspection you need
to be a little bit suspicious.
Ask questions and test people
knowledge. But dont be
intimidating.

If the cutting activities must be

done in this location, then at least
provide good barrier between
the workers doing this job and
other workers who pass by .

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 Chapter_4

Tunnel
Excavation is done under a
concrete slap. The concrete
is not supported and can start
to crack from the bottom and
ultimately fail.

Helmet
Worker without helmet

156
Site Inspection

157
 Chapter_4

Secured
From Only
One Side

Also, there is a small metal piece

(coupling) left on a platform. The
coupling is not secured and can
easily fall on some one below.

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 Site Inspection

Diesel Stored Under A Caravan

159
 Chapter_4

Shoring
The excavation is not
protected ( by shoring
for example, or making
steps). Risk of the dirt
collapsing. If it collapses
while people inside they
could be buried alive.
Many workers died that
way.

Electrical
Connection
Electrical wires must be
connected using proper
connectors. Here, a tape is
used which can fail ( easier
than a connector ) and
expose the electrical wires

160
 Site Inspection

No Action
We asked the contractor to
replace these extinguishers.
But they were laying here for
many days. Fire equipment
must be replaced immediately
when required.

No Pressure
Gauge
The reason we asked to replace
the extinguisher was the
absence of a pressure gauge.
Without it we can not know if the
extinguisher is full or empty

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 Chapter_4

Pit
The pit is loosely covered. If some one tripped and fell on the wooden blank, he can still fall
into the pit. You can see in the picture that a barrier made of tubes is installed. However,
it is at the edge of the pit. The barrier must be at a good distance to warn people walking
close by.

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 Site Inspection

Falling Barrier ( and a missing piece )

Putting a hard fence around the work site is very good. However, safety controls can fail.
You need to check the safety controls you put and make sure they are still functioning

163
 Chapter_4

Can You
See It ?

A pulley is tied with a rope to

a steel pipes. The pulley must
be secured properly and the
platform strong enough to
carry the weight intended to
be lifted.

164
 Site Inspection

Small Pits
These are small but still people
can trip into them. They are
on a flat surface and might be
difficult to see, especially at
night.

Cantilever At
High Elevation
During site inspections ask many
questions. Who made these
cantilevers and why? Can they
withstand the weight of the
workers? Were they inspected ?

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 Chapter_4

Platform
Worker is using a ladder to work
on a concrete wall with a hammer.
Using hammer will require quick
and fast movements. There is
a chance the worker will loose
balance and fall down.

Door closing on an electrical

cable

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 Site Inspection

Any Body
There ?
We dont know. But i can see a
ladder inside. If no body there,
then the pit must be covered.
Working in confined spaces is
very dangerous and requires
many safety controls that must
be specified in a work permit.

You can see that the manhole

tilted due to the excavation
being very close

167
 Chapter_4

Close To An
Open Pit
People working close to an open
pit. In the middle of the work, some
workers might get distracted and fall
inside. The open pits must be covered
and cordoned off.

Cables Close
To Machine
When the bucket is moved,
the cables can get entangled
and damaged.

168
 Site Inspection

Too Much
You can see more than 10 thick
metal bars that were cut using a
grinder. You can see the grinder
in the back. If you are going to
cut that many bars, then the tool
to use is a steel cutting machine.
The grinder can be used for on/
off cutting jobs only.

Protruding
Metal Bars
In the picture some metal bars
are protruding. If these bars
are not needed they should
be cut. A quick solution until
removing the bars is to tie the
bars with a warning tape to
make them visible.

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 Chapter_4

Nap
Workers get tired and needs to rest. However, a proper rest area must be provided where
proper ventilation and protection from heat and cold is provided. If you look closely you will
see someone is sleeping close to a parked van. The van can hit him.

170
 Site Inspection

Lifting
Lifting area is not barricaded

Send Them
Back
Workers left the cylinders to take
them back to the store at the end
of the day. Unfortunately this
wasnt done and the cylinders
were kept for days laying there.

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 Chapter_4

Caused By
Water !
See the damage. I dont know
why the pipe broke, but it
could be normal deterioration
that wasnt maintained, or
some one might had hit the
pipe by mistake.

Fall Deep
A pit that is not secured and
without warning around it.
Risk of falling. The risk will
increase during night time.
Fast action needs to be taken.

172
 Site Inspection

Why ?
A sample of a kitchen sink was put on the front of the projects office entrance.
I dont know why it was kept in the middle? It was not difficult to put it to the side and
spare people from the chance of hitting it.
173
 Chapter_4

Covering Fire Break-Glass

A tile sample is slightly covering the fire break-glass. The tile can obstruct the view of the
break-glass or injure someone who want to use it.

174
 Site Inspection

e t a l
se dM
Expo ntang
led
et e
s can g
cloth
Your

175
 Chapter_4

Not stable
From the look of it, this work platform looks unstable. Its very
tall compared to its width. This can cause it to fall to the side
especially if people are working on the top.

176
 Site Inspection

Scaffolding pipes are erected on

top of support beams. Can the
beams support the scaffolding?
Discuss with the scaffolding
supervisor.

This is a tall scaffolding

with narrow base. It is not
tied to the building. Again
we need to check with the
scafolding supervosr to
know if this is accepted.

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 Chapter_4

Not Fire Proof

This storage room is made
of normal wood. You can
see there is electrical wiring
and electrical equipment
(AC). In case of a spark
there is higher risk of fire

Bee Hive
Must be removed. Bees can
sting workers. Imagine a
worker on a ladder who gets
stung. What will happen?

178
 Site Inspection

Good, But
Complete It
There is a barrier around the
excavation. Very good. But,
complete it so it goes all the
way around.

Personally, i will not ask for a

working platform for opening
a water tank. I will however,
ask for a way to get up and
down from the tank (like a
ladder). Also i will tell the
worker to be carful

179
 Chapter_4

s?
y violation
ore safet
entify m
Can you id
missing.
PPE is

180
 Site Inspection

Clean It
Algae is growing under
the water drinking
refrigerators. Algy can be
very slippery. Risk of trip

Good And Bad

Electrical cable are routed high.
This is very good. However, the
cable is touching sharp metal.
Some padding can be put to
prevent the cable from scrubbing
against the metal.

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 Chapter_4

A worker was using this can to reach up. Risk of fall

182
 Site Inspection

Open Shaft
This picture is taken from above
looking down. This is an opening
where tools and derbies can fall
through it. Cover it.

Every now and then we

hear stories of people stuck
in wells. Similar things can
also happen hear.

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 Chapter_4

No side rails. Risk of falling from the

side

Sharp metal in the pathway.

Risk of injury to workers
walking close.

184
 Site Inspection

Where are your gloves

and helmets?

PPE
If you look closly you can see a
harness and safety gloves left
here. They can get lost or stolen.

185
 Chapter_4

Blocking Access
Access is blocked. People walking can trip or their cloth get entangled and damaged. This situation is
especially dangerous In case of emergencies when people need to evacuate fast.

186
 Site Inspection

Nails On The Floor.

Safety shoes should prevent nails
from puncturing our feet. But
they may fail, and the nails can Sleeping in the work area
enter from the side.

PPE is the last line of defence and

we should not test them while
people are wearing them. Did
you see crash tests, they dont
test cars while real people are in
the cars even if they are the best
in crash protection.

Nails to be removed.

187
 Chapter_4

the
t o ask
r the
r e m embe ation of
c
Just he lo
e re. h ere t
g h t w ied.
i n g wron site layou is identif
Not h for a .
e etc
o n t r actor es, storag
c n
s, cra
office

188
 Site Inspection

Time To Move
Too much rubbish is accumulating.
The metal fence is tilting from the
weight of the waste.

189
 Chapter_4

Investigate
Some thing was burnt here. Was
somebody smoking? Maybe a pice of
wood close to welding?

Always Check
During site inspection, take a
sample of the PPE and check it for
suitability. Is the filter on this mask
the right one for the job. There
are many filters available. You will
know this from the information
sheet that comes with the filter.

190
 Site Inspection

The Risks With Using

Homemade
Tables Are:
- The construction might be week
and the table breaks while some
one is on it

- The table might shake and the

person slip while on it

Its better to use a secured and

inspected platform.

Materials are not organised

and there is poor access
between the storage shelfs. A
worker passing through can
injure his feet or head.

191
 Chapter_4

Industerial wool not stacked

corectly. The bags can tear
and the wool fly in the air.
Industerial wool is not good
for your lungs.

Opening without protection.

Risk of people not seeing it
and falling inside.

192
 Site Inspection

Scaffolding is erected level

by level. Before going to the
next level, the one below it
must be complete with full
wooden board which is not
the case here

You can see that many

wood blanks are arranged
haphazardly. Make sure this
scaffolding has been inspected

193
 Chapter_4

ti on
Pollu t a
r e t e
conc allowed
mixe
r was
and
th a t be
p i c ture h i s is no
e a s must
e T g ar
m th k site. ashin
c l e ar fro w o r i a l w
It is the Spec
a s h ed in y law.
w b
hable
punis
.
used

194
 Site Inspection

Insulation foam not secured.

Risk of flying and harming
peoples respiration system.

Installing a steel platform in

the path of vehicles. Risk of
cars hitting the structure. This
should be done away from the
pathway.

195
 Chapter_4

Nothing wrong. Just see how

small the workers are compared
to this red beast

Spark
can you see the sparks? When
people are using grinders, the
area around them must be
shielded to prevent sparks from
flying all over the place.

196
 Site Inspection

We need one additional pipe installed at the

knee level of the man to prevent him from
falling if he triped

197
 Chapter_4

way
access
in the
ored
me tal st
Sharp

198
 Site Inspection

Wood is stored in the access

way. It is limiting the pathway.
Also there are nails that can
injure people.

Remove Wood
As much as you can, remove
wood from the inside of the
building. Wood is a good fuel
for fire.

199
 Chapter_4

Deep and wide excavation not

protected. People walking
may overlook it and fall inside.
Vehicles can also fall inside.

Provide a warning tape

around it and immediately tell
the scaffolding supervisor to
install hard barrier around it

Gas cylinders not inside a

dedicated gas cylinders storage

200
 Site Inspection

Rescue
Equipment
Evacuation stretcher is not
stored properly. Hopefully the
time never comes to use this
stretcher. But if it comes, it needs
to be in the best shape. You can
see sand all over it. Sand can
clog the hinges and prevent it
from opening.

Poor housekeeping

201
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If this man lost his balance, can he fall? Yes he can.

202
 Site Inspection

Building materials must be

removed form the access
way of vehicles. Heavy
vehicles such as loaders and
cranes needs every inch of
space to manoeuvre, try
to make it easier for their
operators.

Scrap
Materials
Coroded pipes that were
digged from under the
ground. They are in the
pathway of workers. Workers
(and veicles) can hit them by
mistak. Remove !

203
 Chapter_4

Just a small cigaret can make

a big fire. Cement bags can
ignite very fast.

Water on the floor makes it

more slippery. Try to remove
access water and limit access
as mush as possible.

204
 Site Inspection

This grinder is tampered with. The on/off switch is removed. As soon as you connect
it to power it will go on which can cause injuries to people.
Also, what if it was over heating and needed to be turned off? It will take longer time
to do that without the switch.
205
 Chapter_4

This man is not wearing a

single PPE. He might be
a truck operator who just
brought some materials to
site. But he must be treated
as a visitor, and if he is going
to get out of his truck he must
follow the PPE requirements.

Materials should never be

stacked on a working platform.
It will limit access, also the
materials can fall down on
people.

206
 Site Inspection

The side bar is only at knee level

of the workers. It will not prevent
some one from trembling over.

No side protection against

falling over

207
 Chapter_4

Man without hemet in the

worksite. What if something
fall on his head at this
moment.

Poor
Housekeeping
Housekeeping not necessarily
means cleaning. Just remove
the waste from the pathway

208
 Site Inspection

No PPE
This is most likely to be a
senior supervisor. Some
people think safety doesnt
apply to them.

Can you walk through

without falling ?

209
 Chapter_4

Driving in mud can cause

the truck to slip and fall into
nearby pits. This can be
controlled by trying to remove
the mud, or forcing the truck
to move really slowly at this
location.

Fog
A good construction project ( in
terms of safety) must be ready for
climate changes. Heavy fog can
cause many accidents involving
heavy vehicles movement.
vehicles movement must be
limited during fog.

210
 Site Inspection

Exposed rotating machinery

without protection

The Access way is not clear

towaed the fire extinguisher.

211
 Chapter_4

Welding machine is being lifted

with its cables on the top. The
cables can get loose and fall
down ( they dont seem to be
secured).

This truck driver is walking in the

site without safety shoes. He
might be a visitor but that doesnt
protect his feet from nails.

212
 Site Inspection

Over-stacking. The pipes can

get damaged due to the weight
on them.

Cigarette butts thrown in a No-

Smoking area. You can see that
there is some wood in the area.
Risk of fire.

213
 Chapter_4

Side protection missing Sharp metal unsecured

No side protection against falling

FIre extinguishers missing

214
 Site Inspection

Scaffolding pipes not

arranged properly. They
can fall on some one
while being removed
from the work site.

People at site without

wearing their helmets.

215
 Chapter_4

Sharp metal piece left in the

walkway. People walking nearby
can get in contact with it and get
injured or damage their cloths. It
also obstruct movement.

Walkway is obstructed by
working materials. The materials
must be removed when work
is finished. While working the
area must be barricaded and
alternative walkway identified

216
 Site Inspection

Walkways must be cleared Working without helmets

Glass can fall and break

217
 Chapter_4

People working without using a harness. The harness is available but it is not used.

218
 Site Inspection

I know there are many cables

needed. But the condition we
can see in the picture can be
improved by routing these
ables. Routing means that cables
will be collected into bundles
and put to the side away from
the access as much as possible.

Helmet Sharp metal in the walkway

219
 Chapter_4

Equipment left on the ground to

collect dust. Equipment should
be stored in a relatively clear
area and unplugged while not in
use.

Excavation exposed a concrete

slap and a pipe. The concrete
and pipe should be supported
from below to prevent damages
to them.

220
 Site Inspection

When storing materials you need

to think of the workers who will
remove it later and try to make
their job easy.

Piece of cloth is hidden behind

an electrical panel. This cloth
can easily catch fire and must be
stored away from the site.

221
 Chapter_4

Safety shoes Helmets

Over-stacking

222
 Site Inspection

Too close to the access way.

Warning tape should be put for
identification.

NO protection agains collapse No metal tray to contain any leak

223
 Chapter_4

Window is closing on an
electrical cable. The cable can
get damaged. A piece of wood
should be used to keep the
window frame from touching the
cables.

You need to do two things:

1- Provide a warning (using tape

or pipes) to alert people of the
opening.

2- Cover the opening with strong

metal sheet or wood. The
covering should not move easily.

224
 Site Inspection

Electrical cable on top of the AC.

The ac can get hot and damage
the cable.

Electrical cable on the ground.

The ground is wet ! if there is
damage in the cable electricity
can reach people who are close-
by.

225
 Chapter_4

You can not see it in the picture but the flashing light on the machine is not working.

226
 Site Inspection

A can is put to capture oil

dripping from the pump. But you
can see that the can is not doing
a good job because there is oil
on the ground. It is better to put
the pump on a metal drip tray

You can see in the picture that

the blocks can easily fall on some
one. The hight of the blocks
should be decreased.

227
 Chapter_4

Wood accumulated inside the

building. Notice an electrical light
close-by. If the light fail (i.e. spark
or heat generated) fire can start.
Wood shold be removed from
inside of buildings as much as
possible.

The safest way is to use a mobile

scaffolding

228
 Site Inspection

The platform is not complete. There is no support on the left side (look under the
mans feet)

229
 Chapter_4

Grinder is used to cut steel rods.

A cutting machine should be
used especially for such a large
number of rods.

Air compressor not isolated from

people

230
 Site Inspection

Cutting steel should be done at

the workshop, not in the middle
of the site. Cutting activities
produce dust and noise that
can affect people. If cutting is
necessary at site, then the area
of the cutting should be isolated.

This arrea is used for chemical

(paint) storage. The area should
have a shed to protect against
the heat of the sun

231
 Chapter_4

People welding in the open. The welding area must be covered to protect other people
from radiations generated from the activities ( to protect their eyes).

232
 Site Inspection

Worker not using earmuffs while

using a jack hammer. The noise
generate from the jackhammer is
very high and people must wear
hearing protection.

Another hazard with jackhammers

is the vibration to the worker
body. The work duration should
be limited to protect the worker.

Small Accident !!

233
 Chapter_4

No trip tray

Office equipment is blocking

access to fire extinguishers.
Must be relocated.

234
 Site Inspection

Materials stored very close to

an AC vent. The heat generated
from the vent might accumulate
and damages to the AC.

235
 Chapter_4

236
Site Inspection

237
 Chapter_4

1- No helmet

2- Unstable (small) work platform

238
 Site Inspection

In one accident people hit

a water pipe while doing an
excavation. The water caused
the dirt to become muddy very
fast and one worker got stock
and drowned.

This picture shows a similar

situation.

Over stacking

239
 Chapter_4

These metal sheets can fly

easily due to high winds

Excavating near stored materials.

Theses materials should be
removed a little further to
prevent the risk of them falling
inside or their weight causing the
excavation to collapse.

240
 Site Inspection

AC ducts workshop inside the

basement of a building. You
can see that there is good
illumination, but what about
ventilation?

When working in confined

spaces make sure there is good
ventilation, especially when
working with fine materials like
industrial whole.

241
 Chapter_4

Empty

242
 Site Inspection

Water and electricity must be separated

243
 Chapter_4

Electrical equipment without a certification tag. Equipment used at the site take a lot
of beating and must be regularly certified that they are in good working condition.

244
 Site Inspection

No proper access way.

245
 Chapter_4

Oil spillage

246
 Site Inspection

look carefully

247
 Chapter_4

How did they get up there ?

248
 Site Inspection

Did you see whats wrong? Look

inside the cabin.

249
 Chapter_4

Equipment at site needs to

be covered or isolated from
workers. This machine was just
left in the middle of the working
area. Notice it has moving parts
and there is a chance workers
get in contact with it.

250
 Site Inspection

A good practice is to provide a

whip arrestor to hoses. They
are steel wires preventing the
hose from moving violently if
they get disconnected from the
machine.

251
 Chapter_4

252
Site Inspection

253
 Chapter_4

Lights

254
Site Inspection

255
 Chapter_4

The Sand can collapse on people/cars Sharp object on the road

Chair used as a working platform

256
Site Inspection

257
 Chapter_4

Batteries are hazardous and

must be disposed accordingly.

258
Site Inspection

259
 Chapter_4

Tele handler forks used as working

platform.

260
 Site Inspection

Compressor kept close to vehicle route

261
 Chapter_4

262
 Site Inspection

Look at the bottom.

263
 Chapter_4

264
Site Inspection

265
 Chapter_4

266
 Site Inspection

No number plate

267
 Chapter_4

Corroded Trip hazard

268
 Site Inspection

Expired food

269
 Chapter_4

When you over-stack material,

they can get damaged as in the
picture.

Corroded

270
 Site Inspection

Wrong lifting

271
 Chapter_4

272
 Site Inspection

People are welding on a machine which have grease on it. The grease can get
heated and ignite causing a fire. Grease should be removed before welding. Also fire
extinguishers should be provided.

273
 Chapter_4

Wrong method for transportation

274
Site Inspection

275
 Chapter_4

Sand went inside the engine

compartment because the cover
is missing. Risk of equipment
damage.

Air hose got disconnected from

compressor ( this is an accident but with
damage only to the hose)

276
 Site Inspection

Gloves

A checklist that is not signed.

During site inspections make it

a habit to check on permits and
checklists Ask for the paperwork.

277
 Chapter_4

Missing guard

278
 Site Inspection

I had to look very carefully to find

whats wrong. There is oil in the
water. Can you see that there is
a clear oil film covering the water
surface?

Environmental pollution.

Large plastic sheet left

unsecured. It can fly easily and
cause problems (like getting
stuck inside a compressor). The
plastic sheet must be stored
away.

279
 Chapter_4

This picture shows a metal rod in

the middle of the pathway. The
metal rod is identified by a white
cloth. I think the cloth lost its
color due to exposure to the sun.
This makes the rod less visible
and cars can hit it. The cloth
must be replaced with a brighter
colored one.

This is an example showing that

safety control measures should
be revisited to ensure they are
still effective.

Man-lift basket without load

capacity or colour coding Harness

280
 Site Inspection

Workers doing some kind of

work at hight without a working
platform. See that one worker is
overreaching and can fall down.

Remember: Site inspection

should also be conducted during
night shifts.

There is no crane operator, however,

there is a load suspended.

Safe lifting regulation demands that

a crane operator is always present
inside the crane when there is a load
suspended by the crane

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 Chapter_4

Electrical Equipment left plugged-in after work is finished (without attendance). When
work is finished, electrical equipment should be unplugged. Who knows, a spark
might happen and cause fire

282
 Site Inspection

Diesel is leaking slowly from a drum. It will not only cause a small pollution, but can
also help start a fire more quickly if ignition source is close-by. This leak must be
cleaned and the drum fixed or replaced.

283
 Chapter_4

Cigarette butts near diesel

storage.

Strict actions should be taken on

people violating the No smoking
requirement at site.

Workers personnel items left

unattended at work site. Not
only they can interfere with
machines and equipments, but
they can get stolen.

Many safety standards demands

that each worker is given enough
space to store (and lock) his
personnel items.

284
Site Inspection

285
 Chapter_4

A worker resting on a shovels

bucket. He can slip and get
injured

This truck is overloaded. There

is nothing preventing the rocks
from falling off.

286
 Site Inspection

The activity this worker is doing ( blasting) requires a face shield. He is covering his
face with a scarf, but that is not enough.

287
 Chapter_4

This platform is being lifted via chains that are

routed from below. The chain can move (jerk)
and shake the platform. The chain must be in a
long and stretched condition while lifting

288
 Site Inspection

This container is intended for

chemical spillage cleaning.
However, you can see that
some people used it for normal
garbage. Workers must be
educated on waste segregation

When using a ladder, you need

one free hand to hold on. This
mean that only light work can be
done. This man face the risk of
falling down because he is not
holding on the ladder.

289
 Chapter_4

290
Site Inspection

291
 Chapter_4

Many accidents happen because air hoses get disconnected from air compressors
and hit workers close by. A Whip arrestor is a small cable that prevent a hose from
moving violently if it was disconnected. It is not installed here

292
 Site Inspection

Safety latch is missing from this hook. Safety latches, prevent the lifting ropes from
coming off the hook.

293
 Chapter_4

No Hand Gloves

294
 Site Inspection

PPE

295
 Chapter_4

Waste thrown at site

Overloading. Rocks can fall down

296
 Site Inspection

Waste dump area that is not covered. Materials and dust can affect nearby workers

297
 Chapter_4

Nails

This platform must be cleaned

and the derbies removed.
Materials can fall down on people
and people using the platform
can slip.

298
 Site Inspection

Look at the workers on the top of

the fiberglass. The risks are:

1- They can fall and get injured

2- The fiberglass can get damaged

The man pushing the tank is on

an unstable ground. He is also
very close to the excavator.
There is a big chance he will fall
down. He can guide the tank
from distance by using a rope.

299
 Chapter_4

This machine was about to fall

down because it was working
close to an excavation. The side
protection prevented that.

A cut bottle is used as a funnel to

collect oil. It is a good idea, but
it is much better to use a funnel
with a wide opening.

300
 Site Inspection

The wood is not secured. It can fall down on people

The clamp is open. It must be inspected and

tightened or replaced.

301
 Chapter_4

The hook tip is tied to prevent it from moving while the crane is being driven. This is
a good thing, but it is tied using a small and corroded steel string which can fail easily.
There is a risk that the string get cut and the hook tip moves and hit something. A
stronger tie must be used.

302
Site Inspection

303
 Chapter_4

Materials stored near an opening.

They can easily fall down

304
 Site Inspection

Very congested !!

305
 Chapter_4

Unsafe position to work. The

man can fall down.

Note that even if he was wearing

a safety harness, if he falls he
will get injured by the harness
catching his body wight.

The man on the ladder is over-

stretching to deliver something
to the man on the top. Over-
stretching can cause him to
loose balance. A longer ladder
should be used

306
 Site Inspection

Materials are left to accumulate.

It is making the work site
congested. Needs to be
removed.

307
 Chapter_4

There is a risk that if someone

slipped he will fall down from the
side. An additional side bar at
knee level must be installed

There is no fall protection ( or

at least warning tape) to alert
workers of the opening.

308
 Site Inspection

Loose materials must be lifted inside a metal basket. In the picture, you can see that
there is a risk the steel bars fall while being lifted

309
 Chapter_4

Concrete blocks stored near the edge. Nothing prevents them from falling down on
workers .

310
 Site Inspection

What is the chance that some of

the wooden blanks fall down?
What if wind was blowing? Are
the blanks secured correctly ?
All this needs to be investigated
with the lifting team

The access way is very

congested. Risk of people
slipping and falling.

Access ways must always be

clear of materials

311
 Chapter_4

Whenever there is hot work

make sure there is a work
permit. Make sure the
conditions of the work permit
are implemented (like the
availability of fire extinguishers)

312
Site Inspection

313
 Chapter_4

Open shafts that are not

covered properly. People
and materials can fall through
them.

314
 Site Inspection

Wood needs to be cleared to reduce the

chance of fire

This is a picture of metal

basket used to lift scaffolding
materials. You can see that
the openings are not small
enough to prevent materials
from falling. The openings
must be made smaller.

315
 Chapter_4

They were going to use this

long ladder on a staircase.
There is a big chance it slips
and the person on it falls down.
Ladders must be secured on a
levelled ground.

316
 Site Inspection

One blank is not enough to work on

317
 Chapter_4

318
Site Inspection

319
 Chapter_4

Open shaft

Unfinished platform must not be used

320
 Site Inspection

Using cement bags as a

platform. Risk of falling down

321
 Chapter_4

No side handrails

322
 Site Inspection

The door is blocked by the materials stored in the front.

323
 Chapter_4

No shoring

People carrying heavy load. Risk

of occupational injury ( back
injury).

A car or trolley should be used.

324
 Categorizing

Chapter 5:
Categorizing

325
 Chapter_5

In the previous chapter there were hundreds of pictures. However, if we look closely
we can group them based on common themes. For example, many pictures from
chapter 4 show risky situations due to trenches/pits where people and equipment
can fall inside them. Such risky situations can be grouped under excavations.

By grouping the pictures we can create a small list of the most repeated risks. This
list will be specific to the projects where the pictures were taken from. However, civil
construction projects are more or less very similar. As such, we can use this list to
help us identify risky situations in other projects.

There are thousands and thousands of risks in civil

construction. The trick for a good site inspection is
not to remember all the possible scenarios; but to
understand the basic dangers in that environment.
Then ask your self if the risk can happen.
For example, the basic danger in excavation is either
it collapses or someone (or something) falls into it.
So for any case of excavation, just ask your self: can
it collapses? And: can someone/thing fall into it? By
doing this you can cover unlimited scenarios with
excavation risks.

326
 Categorizing

Risks to Health

If I ask you: what are the dangers facing workers in civil construction? You will
probably list examples of injuries like a broken leg or a cut to a finger. However, there
is another category of risks that we dont usually think about and is as dangerous as
injuries.

In the pictures we saw people working with chemicals, carry heavy items and use noisy
tools. These are some causes of occupational diseases. Occupational diseases
are illnesses workers gets from their job. Occupational diseases are different from
injuries in that they dont happen immediately. They usually take years to happen.
Take for example a worker who tries to lift 4 concrete blocks at once. His back
might snap, and this will be considered an injury. On the other hand, if he lift only 2
blocks at a time, nothing might happen to him. But if he keep doing this what do you
think will happen to him after one month? His back will start to hurt him, and if he
continued he might get a disk problem.

Due to the fact that occupational diseases can take long time to happen, workers
usually dont take notice of them. Your duty during site inspection is to make them
aware of this fact. Look for workers doing activities that can affect their:

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 Chapter_5

- Hearing: like using a jackhammer or working near an air compressor.

- Bones and muscles: Like lifting heavy materials, over stretching or using a machine
that vibrates.
- Sight: like welding
- Skin: like working with chemicals
- Respiratory System: like working with insulation wool or cutting concrete tiles

The best safety control is education. Workers need to know that their health can be
affected over the long run. If they know that, they will take care of themselves. Then
try to implement the normal risk control strategies as follows:

- Eliminate: try to take away the possible source of the illness. If workers are lifting
heavy materials, use a forklift instead. If there is a hazardous chemical try to find a
nontoxic alternative in the market.

- Reduce: for example, if a worker must use a jackhammer (which is noisy), try to
limit the time by making two workers work on a shift basis. Also provide hearing
protection.

It is very important to know the laws regarding protecting workers from occupational
illnesses. For example, in some laws, workers cannot work for more than 8 hours in
a location where the noise level is above 85 decibels.

328
 Categorizing

Gas Cylinders

The gas inside gas cylinders is stored at a very high compression. If they get damaged,
they can explode or the cylinder valve can fly like a rocket and hit someone. Also,
some of the gases are toxic and can harm people if they leaked out. During site
inspection make sure that:

- Cylinders are stored in a dedicated storage yard with good ventilation and
protection from the sun. The storage must be also controlled (i.e. with a lock)
- Cylinders are returned to the storage when they are no longer needed at site
- Cylinders are in good physical condition and stored up right
- Hoses and pressure gauge attached to cylinders are in good condition.
- Cylinders are transported with care in special trolleys

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 Chapter_5

Risks to the Environment

There were many pictures of oil and concrete contaminating project soil. Other
pictures showed waste thrown on the ground. Many project hires a dedicated
environmental engineer and carry an environmental impact assessment in order
to control pollution. This book is about safety, but still you need to consider the
environment. During a site inspection make sure tat:

- Chemical and fuel containers are in good condition and are not leaking
- Chemical and fuel containers are placed in a metal try to prevent any spillage from
reaching the soil
- Concrete mixers are not washed any where
- Equipment like generators are in good condition and placed on drip trays to
capture any leaking oil.
- Waste is collected and segregated

330
 Categorizing

Lifting Operations

Lifting operations should attract the attention of anyone doing site inspection. That
is because they have many risks. Many accidents that happen in civil construction
are caused by lifting operations. Make sure that:

- The area around the lifting operation (the crane and materials being lifted) is
barricaded.
- Many construction sites require a daily inspection list for the condition of the
crane. Ask to see it and make sure it is filled correctly.
- Ask to see the cranes operator license. Ask him questions like: is the over limit
switch working properly
- Make sure there are banks men helping the crane operator on the ground
- In high wind lifting should stop. It depends on the situation and the load being
lifted, but many safety regulations set a wind speed limit of 25 knots.
- Make sure the crane is firmly supported on a stable ground.
- The lifting slings and ropes must be in good condition. Talk to the supervisor and
ask him if he did inspect them and if they are certified.
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 Chapter_5

Heavy Vehicles

The thing with heavy vehicles is they are senseless. If you get into their way they will
not stop. They will just cut into you. The work site is usually noisy and workers might
not hear vehicles moving and thus get into their way. In addition, the drivers view on
many vehicles is limited and they might not see workers close bye. A very good idea
is to separate vehicles from workers as much as possible. During site inspection look
at these vehicles and:

- Talk to the driver and make sure he have a license to operate.

- Make sure that vehicles are in good working condition (like the tires and reverse
alarm)
- Make sure the vehicle is not used for purposes other than what it is intended for.
For example, a loader is not a crane.
- Make sure vehicles are not overloaded. For example, a crane should only operate
within its weight limits.
- Make sure vehicles are stopped during adverse weather conditions like heavy fog.
- You need also to protect the vehicles, so make sure any excavation is well
protected.
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Not Wearing PPE

Personal Protective equipment are not comfortable to wear. For that reason some
workers might not wear them, especially in areas where no one is looking. During
the inspection

- Check that every one (including visitors) are wearing the minimum required PPE
- There are signs at the entrance mentioning what is the minimum PPE to wear
before entering the site
- Signs are available for areas where additional PPE are required (like noisy areas)
- Look at the workers PPE. Make sure they are not defective
- Make sure that the workers know how to use the PPE correctly. For example, do
they know how to wear earmuffs and use a double hooked harness?
- Make sure no PPE is left unattended at site

Note: Make sure you set the example and wear the required PPE every time you go
to the site.
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Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a big risk in construction. It can collapse and people and materials can
fall from it. Every year there are hundreds of injuries worldwide caused in relation to
scaffolding (even fatalities).

Identifying risks in scaffolding can be difficult because you need to know its
components and how it is constructed. Many things might seem normal (or risky) to
an untrained eye. When in doubt always refer to the scaffolding inspector for advice.
However, you can identify risks by keeping in your mind that you need to control any
thing that can fall or cause something to fall. Following are some of the things to look
for regarding scaffolding:

- Missing scafftag. The scafftag is a small plastic paper signed by the scaffolding
inspector to certify that the scaffolding is safe. Make sure that EVERY scaffolding
has this tag and it is signed and dated.

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- Make sure there are no wooden blanks or pipes missing

- Make sure there is no opening in the wooden blanks
- Ask the scaffolding inspector about the types of connection used and if they are
appropriate
- While people are constructing the scaffolding they must be wearing a safety
harness
- If the scaffolding is high, make sure it is connected to an adjacent building for
support. Ask help from the scaffolding inspector
- Make sure wooden blanks are leveled (i.e. there is not risk of trips)
- Make sure there is no unfinished platform available for people to work on.

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Welfare

You saw pictures of workers eating in the site. Even sleeping there. Eating at site
might contaminate workers food and make them ill. However, this shouldnt be the
reason why we need to care. We need to care because they are humans, thats
enough. Dont look after workers welfare to show them that you care and to build
good relationship with them. This will come automatically. Care because you care.
During site inspection:

- Visit the workers canteen, make sure it is clean, have good ventilation and lighting.
- Visit the canteen again during lunchtime. Make sure there is enough space for
every one to sit inside. Taste the food and make sure it is accepted.
- Make sure waste is not compiling near workers eating and resting areas
- Make sure there are enough toilets at the site and that they are maintained.
- Make sure there are water stations at site where clean drinking water is available
- Check the workers overalls, are they washed on regular bases? Does their
company issue them enough clothing?

The list on workers welfare is very big. A good idea is to schedule routine site visits
to the workers camps to check on their living conditions. Also committee meetings
between representatives of the workers and contractors management should be
established and monitored. In these meetings contractors management should
take workers concerns at camps and try to solve them.

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Openings

Unprotected Openings (in the ground or in scaffolding or in the building like elevator
shafts) have the risk that people and equipment can fall through them. Even if the
opening is small (like few inches in a scaffolding platform) it can still cause injuries.
Hammers and other tools an fall and injure people working or passing below. Try to
identify such opening in your inspection and:

- Make sure any opening is clearly identified to alert people it is there. A warning
tape might be used as a short-term solution until physical side protection is there
- Make sure there is protection against falling inside pits
- Make sure there are no loose materials available that can fall down
- Try to cover opening as much as possible (in addition to side protection)
- If people are working at night provide safety-flashing lights

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Some times people will be working inside pits. Take note of that and:

- Make sure they have a confined space entry permit

- Make sure there is good ventilation, lighting and easy access and exit to their work
inside the pit
- There must be one worker in attendance to observe and communicate with any
people working inside.

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Excavation

There are two main dangers involving excavation. People and cars can fall inside it
(like open pits). Also It can collapse. During site inspections go to where excavation
is and make sure:

- There is protection around the excavation to warn people it is there. The warning
must be in bright colors
- The above point is not enough. In addition to visible warning there must be hard
protection around the excavation. This can be made using scaffolding pipes or
big and heavy plastic barriers. During the inspection round go and try to shake the
side protection to make sure it is solid.
- Make sure there is protection against scaffolding collapse. This can be done
using shoring (which is supporting the sides of the excavation with wood and
metal jacks). Also the sides of the excavation can be made into steps (like an
inverted pyramid).
- If excavation is on the path of heavy vehicles, make sure that vehicles pass the
furthest possible away from it.

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Fire

For fire to happen you need an ignition source to meet with fuel. Thus make it your
goal in site inspection to separate the two from each other.

- Make sure that no one is smoking at the site. Look for cigarette butts on the floor
- Work that can produce spark and flame (called hot work) must be under control.
For example, welding and grinding must be done away from combustible materials.
- When hot work is being carried out, fire extinguishers must be available close by.
Also the area should be free from unnecessary combustibles ( like grease )
- During inspection make sure that the fire extinguishers are spread all over the site
and are in good condition
- Remove any combustible materials from hidden places inside the site. That is
because some workers might hide there and smoke
- Electricity is a big source of spark, make sure all electrical equipment and wiring is
in good condition
- Equipment exhausts can become very hot. Keep it away from combustible
materials.
- Prevent workers from cooking their own food at site
- Conduct frequent tests on fire alarms
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Housekeeping

Throwing materials here and there is bad housekeeping. It can cause people to trip
on them. Also some materials can fly all over the place. Issues with housekeeping are
something to expect in all civil construction because it is the nature of work to move
things around. One good idea is to assign few workers to make a Housekeeping
Team. This team will do nothing but organize materials and equipments.

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Access

Poor access ways can cause people to trip and fall. It can also effect the movement
of vehicles. In case of emergency, poor access can delay people from evacuating
the site. During site inspection make sure:

- Materials are stored away from the access ways

- Access ways are clearly identified to workers and vehicles
- If materials are stored temporarily make sure they dont obstruct the movement of
people and vehicles and that they are barricaded.
- Entrances and exists must be fully clear from materials
- Access to the building under construction must be protected from falling objects
via a solid platform
- Try to create a safe zone around buildings under construction to protect people
from falling objects

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Chemicals

The basic risks with chemicals are that they can be dangerous to workers health, can
pollute the environment and can ignite causing fires. During inspection:

- Make sure chemicals are stored in a chemical storage. Visit the storage and see
that it has fire alarm and fire extinguishers
- Make sure that the chemical storage is controlled (i.e. not that any body can take
any thing as he wishes). There must be a log documenting what chemicals are
available and the names of the people who used them.
- Make sure the chemical store has an MSDS for all the chemicals
- Empty chemical cans must be separated from other waste and stored in a shaded
place. It must be removed immediately from the site as per the recommendations
in the MSDS
- Make sure people working with chemicals are wearing the appropriate PPE. Talk
with them and check if they know the dangers of the chemical they are using. If
they know the dangers they will be more cautious.
- Check that chemical containers are in good condition and are not leaking.
- Make sure that chemicals are stored in special containers ( not water bottles) with
clear indication of the type of the chemical inside.
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Electricity

With electricity the main dangers are electrical shock to people and starting a fire.
There is also the danger of damaging electrical equipment if it receives very high
current. In the pictures you saw many examples of electrical cables on the floor
which can get damaged or cause people to trip. During site inspection:

- Make sure electrical equipment are inspected. Look at some tools ( a grinder for
example) and see that it has a sticker showing that it was inspected.
- Make sure electrical equipment are connected to power through circuit breakers.
The breaker will cut electricity if the current increases for some reason.
- Inspect electrical distribution boards (DB). Make sure they are well constructed
and are controlled by a lock and key.
- Make sure electrical wires dont cause a trip hazard
- Try to left electrical cables on hangers to avoid them being laid on the floor
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- Make sure electrical cables are away from water and from heavy vehicles
movement
- Connecting electrical wires must be made via connectors and not electrical tapes
- If you feel any equipment or situation is dangerous but not sure, call the electrical
supervisor for help
- Look for overloading (using many electrical tools from one outlet) and stop it.

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Defective Tools

All tools and equipment can fail. During site inspection check the physical condition
of these tools and make sure they are fit to work. Use experts ( like electrical or
mechanical supervisors ) to help you in determining if a tool should be replaced soon.
Look at everything being used at site. For example, tires on vehicles, scaffolding
materials, generators, grinders, lifting materials (ropes and slings), electrical materials
and hand tools etc.

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Storage

Many workers will try to store too much material in one place. Doing so might save
time but can damage people and the stored materials if they fall down. When storing
materials make sure it is segregated with enough access between them to make it
easy when they are needed at site. Make sure materials are stored in a place that
protects them from the weather and from getting stolen. Also, materials should be
stored away from the walkways and exits.

Note: teach workers that when they store materials, they need to store it in a way that
does not make its removal dangerous (i.e. they need to consider other workers who
will remove them out of the store)

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Not Following Procedures

Civil construction is People Heavy. You can find workers in the hundreds and
thousands working on a single building. Of course not all workers will follow the
safety regulations. During site inspection, observe how people are working and try
to identify any unsafe practice like:

- Not wearing PPE

- Working too fast (shortcuts)
- Using wrong equipment for the job
- Using defective equipment
- Not obtaining permits (approvals) for their work
- Smoking at site
- Fooling around ( like riding on a forklift)

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Ladders and Platforms

There were many pictures of people facing the risk of falling from ladders and
platforms. During your site inspection pay particular attention to people working
at height and think of the chance of them falling down and how to minimize it. By
working at height i mean an elevation of half a meter and above ( if you fell while
standing on a chair you can still be injured, correct?). Things to look at/consider
during site inspection:

- Make sure that the ladders or mobile scaffolding are in good shape
- As a general rule always use working platforms (scaffolding or mobile scaffolding)
instead of ladders. It is not advisable to work on a ladder because you have only
two hands, are you going to use them to hold on the ladder or do the work?
- People working at height must wear a safety harness.
- The working platform must be constructed to prevent falling through it or from the
sides
- Any ladder/platform must be solid (not shaking)

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Note: What I discussed in this chapter doesnt cover all the risks/controls in civil
construction. It is a guideline (checklist) intended to the non-safety professional
to help him do a better site inspection. Safety is a very deep subject and you
should always read more to learn about it.

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 Good Practices

Chapter 6:
Good Practices

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In addition to risks, there will be good practices in a

constructing site. These good practices should be noted
and encouraged. Following are some examples:

Good companies take care

of its workers. In the picture
you see workers getting
free medical checkups to
identify any desease

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Opening is protected by
hard barriers. Also warning
tape is provided for easy
identification.

Workers are evacuating the

site during an evacuation drill.

Frequent evacuation drills

should be conducted to train
workers on what to do in
case of emergency. Also to
show them the location of
the assembly points.

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Work in a Confined Space

- Good ventilation
- Warning tape
- Worker in attendance
- Permit

After an evacuation drill,

workers are assembled and
briefed on the importance
of conducting drills and what
actions they need to take.

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Drinking water provided in a

clean and shaded area.

Training

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Safety Awards
To encourage good safety
performance it is a good idea to
give certificates and presents to
workers with good achievements.

Ambulance is dedicated to the

work site.

In the contract it must be specified

that an ambulance to be provided.

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The path of the two tower cranes

does not overlap

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Fire blankets available in

the kitchen area.

Fire blankets are used in

case of fire in cooking oil (
we can not through water
on oil because it will splash
every where)

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Electrical cables is elevated

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 Good Practices

Entrance protected from

falling materials and safety
signs posted.

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On Site Training

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 Good Practices

Electrical Box is locked

with a key to prevent
unauthorized use.

Fire department involved

in evacuation drills

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Information about heat stress

is posted at the workers
restaurant. The information is
provided in different languages.

Scaffolder using his safety

harness

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Electrical cables up

Training on how to evacuate

injured people from site.

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 Good Practices

A worker is using face shield and earplugs while working

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Cleaning up activities

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Good Practices

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Toolbox meeting. The supervisor

induct workers on the work to
be done and safety precautions
to be taken.

Fall Deep

Record
keeping
A sign sheet recording the people
who attended a training session

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 Good Practices

Sanitary work (cleaning the

bathrooms)

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Drinking water

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Good Practices

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Resturant kept clean and tidy.

Proper scafolding

1- complete
2- Connected to the building for
support

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Protected access provided for

workers to protect them from
falling materials

Scaffolding Tag

The tag is provided even for this

small platform

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Clinic at site and camp

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Good Practices

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Dedicated smoking area provided

in the workers camp

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Good Practices

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Dedicated pedestrian access

provided (separated from
vehicles access)

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Good Practices

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Tidy workshop. Excellent

housekeeping

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Good Practices

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The scaffolding looks nice

and complete. Also green
mesh is installed to reduce
the chance of tools and
derbies falling from the sides.

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 Good Practices

Proper shoring is provided.

This will help prevent earth
from collapse

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Clear and wide access way

for heavy vehicles.

Covered entrance to the

building

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 Good Practices

Gate at the entrance to

prrevent unauthorised
people/vehicles fro entering.

Dedicated area provided for

washing concrete mixers.

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Dedicated smoking area at

site

Electrical distribution panel

protected from the sun

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 Good Practices

Proper PPE (Gloves also in

the picture).

Safeguard on cutting
machine. Notice also the
inspection stickers on it.

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Evacuation exersice is also

conducted at the camp

Mobile scaffolding that

is complete and has a
scaffolding inspection tag.

Using mobile scaffolding is

better than ladders because
it allows workers to use both
hands. It also provide side
protection against falling.

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Electrical cable elevated from

the ground. This will protect
the cable from damage and
also protect people from
trips.

To prevent against traffic

accidents, workers are told
to assemble in a straight line
to embark the bus.

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Chemicals are kept in a

dedicated area while in use
(away from the access).
Also the safety data sheet
are available ( also fire
extinguishers).

Electrical cables elevated.

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 Good Practices

Good Safety signs and

protection.

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Good Practices

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 Good Practices

Flag-man

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 Good Practices

Empty and full cylinders are separated.

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 A Framework to Manage Safety

Chapter 7:
A Framework to
Manage Safety in Civil
Construction Projects

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Site inspection is just one tool in safety management. To properly manage safety
in Civil Construction projects you need many more tools. Its outside the scope of
this book to go deeply through all of them. However, I think it will be beneficial to
the reader to see a full Safety framework that includes different tools. Thus I will
present a framework that I used to manage safety in civil construction projects. This
framework is tested in real life and I found it to be very effective in controlling risks. If
your construction projects dont have a similar framework, then I highly recommend
that you adopt it or at least parts of it.

It is important to note that civil construction projects are very complex. For that
reason it is often conducted by more than one company. Normally it is done
through the use of a consultancy and contracting companies. Thus there are 3 main
parties in a construction project:

1- Client: an individual or company that want the building and will pay for it. The
client should be the one pushing for safety implementation because accidents
can delay the project and cause bad publicity.

2- Consultant: a company hired by the client to design the building and monitor the
construction work.

3- Contractor: a construction company hired by the client to build the building.

From a project management point of view there will be three layers of management
(3 project managers: one from the client, one from the consultant and one from the
contractor). The framework you will see here is based on this setup where the client
will manage the consultant and the consultant will manage the contractor.

Explaining the framework in full details will require a separate book. I will go through
it briefly using the following case study. A civil construction project has two main
phases: design and construction. I will focus on the construction phase because
physical construction tis done there.

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The Case Study:

Due to increase in business, Company XYZ decided to build a new headquarter. XYZ
assigned a project manager with an internal team to manage the project.

After the Project is approved in the Company

Incorporate Safety in the Project Objectives

In any construction project, the most important objectives is to finish on time, budget
and with the desired quality. Top management of XYZ should also include safety
in these top objectives. For example they can add To finish the project with Zero
fatality and no major injury. Including safety requirements with the main objectives
will give the message that safety is equally important to time and money. So, in
theory, the project shouldnt overlook safety just to save money or finish fast.

Preparing the Consultancy Contract

Constructing a building is a complex task. XYZ Company cannot handle all the
activities required by itself. As such, it will need to hire a consultancy company that
will manage the project on its behalf. The consultant will do the design of the building
and hire different engineers to monitor the construction company.

To select the consultant, XYZ will prepare a contract specifying its requirements in
terms of design and final product. Safety should be mentioned at this early stage.
XYZ can tell the potential consultant that design and construction must be as per
the local and international safety laws. In addition, XYZ can specify that a dedicated
safety engineer must be hired to look after the project safety.

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Selecting the Consultancy Company

The normal criteria for selecting a consultancy company are things like experience,
resources and price. However, You should add safety to the selection criteria. The
consultant will basically manage the project in your behalf, so if it doesnt care about
safety, you can expect some trouble with safety. You can know if the consultant is
committed to safety from many things like:

- The organization structure: does the consultant have dedicated, full time safety
professionals in its structure?
- Certificates in Safety like OHSAS18001 and ISO 14001
- HSE management system. Does the consultant have a documented HSE
management system

If the consultant has any of the above then it is a good indication that it cares about
safety.

Note: the design of the building must satisfy safety requirements like
fire exits, smoke detectors and wheelchair access. Such issues will be
taken care off by the designers who must follow the safety codes in each
country (usually issued by municipalities and civil defense or international
codes)

Hiring a Dedicated Safety Engineer through the Consulting Firm

After it is selected, the consultant will start hiring people to manage the project like
mechanical engineers, construction supervisors and electrical engineers. Among
these people, XYZ must ask for a safety engineer. This of course must be indicated
in the contract, as it will add the cost of the safety engineers salary.

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The safety engineer will be they eyes of the XYZ to ensure safety procedures are
implemented during project construction. He must have good experience and
communication skills.

Note: I am assuming that XYZ doesnt have a safety department. As

such it will depend fully on the safety engineer hired by the consultant.
If however, it has a safety department, then the safety engineer must
communicate with it for advice and guidance

After The Building Design is completed

After the design is completed, the focus (from a safety point of view) will move toward
the contractor (construction company). The goal will be to monitor the contractors
activities and make sure that safety regulations are implemented at site.

Preparing the Contract for the Construction Company

The construction contract is a big document specifying the relationship between
the client and the construction company (contractor). It will have many sections on
materials, quality, payment, etc.

In this document there must be a section dedicated to safety. This section should
specify what is required from the contracting company in terms of safety during
construction.

This section is very important in case there is conflict with the contractor on some
safety aspects. For example, the contractor might use a mobile caravan as an office
that doesnt have a certificate from the civil defense (in order to save the fees on the
certification). In that case you can use the safety section in the contract to OFFICIALY
tell the contractor that it must follow the local safety laws without charging the client
extra cost.

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The Safety section of the contract can also have templates that the construction
company must use like accident reports and safety meetings forms. The consultant
on behalf of the client usually prepares this section. The more experienced the
consultant is in safety, the better information will be put in this section. For that
reason it is important to select a consulting company that is committed in safety.

Following is an example of what can be included in the safety section of the contract:

- Contractor must comply with the local HSEMS issued by the department of
Municipality
- Contractor must submit a specific Safety Plan after the awarding. The plan
must cover all aspects of site safety
-All Equipments used at site must be certified by a third party
-In case of accident, client must be informed officially within 24 hours.
-All accidents must be investigated using the attached templates
-Welfare requirement of the workers must be implemented.
-Inspection/audit requirement
-The client or its representative (i.e. the consultant) can stop unsafe work.
-All subcontractors must follow the HSE MS
-
-
-

Selecting the Contracting Company

If you select a contractor that is not committed to safety then you (the client) will
face difficult time. Such a contractor will take short cuts in safety and the likelihood
of accidents will increase. You dont want to get in a game of cat and mouse where
you dont trust that the contractor is applying proper safety regulations.

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The way to avoid that is to select a contracting company that can show evidence
of commitment toward safety. Evidence like having certificates like OHSAS 18001
and ISO14001 and a documented HSE management system. You can also ask for
accident statistics in previous projects.

You can design the selection criteria of the contractors where you consider safety
as well as construction ability, quality and price. Following is an example of such
selection criteria where safety is given 10 % of the total scoring. The safety Engineer
should give the scoring for the item on safety.

No. Criteria Weight Contrac- Contrac- Contractor_3 Contractor_4

tor_1 tor_2

1 Experience in Similar 20%

construction projects

Availability of
2 resources (staff and 20%
equipment)

3 Quality Management 10%

System

4 HSE Management 10%

System

5 10%

6 15%

7 15%

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Kickoff Meeting

After a construction company is selected, a kick off meeting is held. During this
meeting the Safety Engineer hired by the consultant must ask the contractor to
prepare a Specific Safety plan and provide CVs for the contractors safety team.

During the kick off meeting phone numbers and contact information must be
exchanged. The safety engineer should have direct communication with the
contractor construction managers.

Selecting the Contractor Safety Team

The contractor will provide safety engineers/officers to manage the safety aspects
of the construction work. CVs of the contractors proposed safety personnel must
be reviewed. The safety engineer must interview the contractors safety team and
ensure they are competent to manage the safety of the project.

Ask for a Specific Safety Plan

The contractor we selected must have a documented HSE management system.

The management system should provide guidelines on how to implement safety
procedures at site. For example, procedures on lifting, scaffolding and excavation. In
addition, it should have information about communication and accident investigation.

However this management system must be customized for the project. This
customized version is called a Safety Plan. By customizing I mean adding any
information specific to the project like:

- Site layout
- Communication plan
- Traffic plan

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- Emergency plan
- Training requirements

It can also include a general risk assessment specifying the risks and control measure
for activities that will take place in the project like excavation, lifting etc.

The safety engineer must review the project plan and put comments as necessary.
The contractor must respond to these comments and submit the plan for a second
review as needed.

After Construction Activities Starts

Start a Weekly Management Site Inspection

The safety engineer should agree a day to conduct a joint site inspection with the
contractors Management. People will gather at a certain time and just walk around
the construction site to identify any risks. Some observations might be recorded and
discussed during the Weekly Safety Meetings.
It is important that senior management from the contractors side attend. Not only
to show their commitment to safety, but because they can take immediate decisions
to control any risks at site.

Start a Weekly Safety Meeting

In my opinion this is the strongest safety control you can use during construction
phase. It should be done every week. The meeting should discuss current safety
issues in addition to future concerns like new hazardous activities and changes in
weather conditions. The following people should attend:

- Project manager from the consultancy company

- The Safety engineer
- Contractors project manager
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- Contractors safety team (they will take the minutes of meetings)

- Representatives from the sub-contractors
- Discipline engineers as required

The meeting should be documented, signed and circulated. Attendance should

be recorded. This meeting will be used to link all the different safety activities and
ensure proper safety communication. The meeting can take about 30-45 minutes
to finish.

Start Collecting Statistics

To measure the performance in Safety, data needs to be recorded. These data

should be reviewed during the weekly Safety meeting and analyzed. Example of
data to be recorded is:

- Number of accidents (this should be broken down to fatality, lost time, first aid
etc.)
- Number of site inspections
- Number of risks identified
- Number of fire drills conducted
- Water consumption
- Diesel consumption

Data should be recorded by the contracting company and reviewed by the safety
engineer to make sure they are correct.

These statistics should be analyzed so that decisions could be based on them. For
example, you might discover that most of the first aid accidents you had are involving
cuts to hands and fingers. Thus you can make a decision to start a hand protection
campaign where you train workers on ways to protect their hands.

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Set a System for Hazard Reporting

We should give the opportunity to every one working in the construction site to
report unsafe situations. This can be done by training people (senior management
as well as laborers) that it is OK to identify and report risks. The best way is to verbally
communicate risks because it ensures faster respond to accidents. A paper system
can also be used where the risk is written in a form and sent to the responsible area
manager. The safety engineer should encourage workers to use this form, collect
it and follow up on the recommendations. Number of these reports should be
recorded in the safety statistics. Following is a good example of a hazard reporting
form:

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Set a System for Accident Reporting and Investigation

We need to investigate accidents. The goal is to identify the causes and prevent
similar accidents from happening again.

Conduct safety training

Training is one of the most important tools you can use to improve site safety. Training
needs should be specified in the safety plan of the project. A training matrix links
every job title in the project to the list of courses that must be taken. There are
different kinds of safety training you need to consider, following are some examples:

- Mandatory Training: Training that everyone should take like general safety
induction and emergency procedures. Of course this must be applied to everyone,
from managers to laborers. Visitors also must be inducted before entering the
work site.

- Specialized Training: For workers using specialized equipment like cranes,

grinders and nail guns. It is better to ask the supplier of such equipment to
provide the training because they know best how to operate their equipment.
People who attend such training must get a signed certificate from the training
providers.

- Emergency Training: Some individuals must be selected and trained on

emergency response like: firefighting and first aid. They will be part of the site
emergency team.

- Refreshing Training: the validity of some training will expire after certain time.
This should be monitored and refreshing training provided. This can be identified
during safety audits

- Training As Required: If new safety laws emerge in the country, then people must
be trained (informed) about them. In addition, after risk identification or accidents
you might identify additional areas that need more training.

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Training should be recorded and audited. Future training must be discussed during
the weekly meeting

Conduct Safety Functions

Safety functions can be used as a reminder of the importance of safety. Example is

Safety Monthly Awards where gifts are given to workers with outstanding performance
in safety. Such functions can take less than 20 minutes, where all the workers are
gathered and project managers give simple gifts to workers who did well in terms of
safety. The selection criteria can be based on things like: following safety standards,
reporting risks, preventing accidents.. etc.

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Safety Audits

In safety audits you will check the documents that are the basis of work at site.
Documents like work procedures, training logs, work permit system, risk assessments
etc. By auditing documents (i.e. making sure they are available and contain correct
information) you can make sure that work is not done haphazardly (without proper
planning), but based on a well foundation.

Safety audits should be done on agreed intervals like every 3 month. However, make
sure that the contract signed with the construction company clearly mention that
such audits will be carried out. That is because audits take time and the contractor
might not be welling to cooperate with you in doing them.

Audits are done on documents to make sure they are available and
are correct. Inspection is done on site. To verify what is written in the
documents is actually implemented

After Construction Activities End

Issue a Project Safety Closeout Report

When the construction activities are finished, safety statistics must be reviewed and
finalized. A safety closeout report should be issued containing the statistics and
highlighting accidents. In the report any lessons learnt must be recorded for future
benefits.

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