Source: E-mail dt. 7 December 2011
Safety
Management Training Study with special reference to Construction Industry in Hong
Kong
Dr. R. Karuppasamy M.Com., MBA. M.Phil.,
Ph.D
Director, SNS
and
C. Arul Venkadesh MBA, PGDPM,
(Ph.D)
Assistant Professor, Coimbatore Institute of Engineering and
Technology, Coimbatore, India.
ABSTRACT
The risks associated with the Construction industry are commensurate with their rapid growth and development. Apart from their utility, Constructions have their own inherent properties and hazards. Some of them can be flammable, explosive, toxic or corrosive etc. The whole lifecycle of a Construction should be considered when assessing its dangers and benefits. Though many of Construction accidents have a limited effect, occasionally there are disasters like the one in Bhopal, India, in 1984, where lakhs of people were affected and LPG explosion in Vizag refinery where huge property damage in addition to 60 deaths was experienced. Therefore Constructions have the potential to affect the nearby environment also.
This paper describes the current
trend of safety management training in
The author will generally account on
statutory requirements on safety officers, training of safety officers in
The intent of this document is to
assist organizations in achieving their desired safety performance objectives
while allowing them to choose the best way to reach that outcome. This is
commonly known as a “performance based approach,” and encourages organizations
to choose the solution that best suits their needs and ensures they meet their
performance objectives. The toolkit helps the organization determine their
level of compliance and develop an action plan to include the necessary
components.
INTRODUCTION
Beside designing, planning or
construction of buildings, some other major application fields of civil
engineering industry are safety management of residential and commercial
buildings, transportation system, fields regarding water supplying activities,
and environmental fields, which is basically studied for the maintenance and
enhancement of quality of life. Civil engineering industry specifically deals
with the activities of designing and construction of structures like bridges,
dams, harbours, canals, roads, tunnels, and water-supply systems. Civil
engineering industry activities also include structures like power plants,
aircraft, water-treatment plants etc.
The economic success in Hong Kong in
the past decades is undeniable, the achievement of the construction industry
have been impressive, it contributes on average 5% of Hong Kong’s GDP from 1984
to 1993 (Ref. 1). However, the safety
performance in the construction industry was unsatisfactory among the
industries in
The new strategy is to place
emphasis on self-regulation policy and new legislation will be enacted safety
management issues. No matter by legislative or non-legislative routes,
management of course would play more vital roles in different levels to
safeguard health and safety in workplaces. The new challenge strive an imminent
demand on knowledge of safety management on not only the existing safety
practitioners but also the engineering professionals. This paper provides a
general review on the safety management training for the safety officers and
construction students in
Registered Safety
Officers (RSO)
It is a legal requirement that the
proprietor of a construction company or a shipyard with 100 or more employees
has to employ a registered safety officer to promote health and safety of
persons employed. A registered safety officer should at least holds a
certificate in industrial safety or occupational hygiene with not less than 2
years relevant experience or a degree or diploma in industrial safety,
occupational hygiene of specified subjects with not less than 1 year relevant
experience.
From a recent report on “Review of
the Role and Training of Safety Officers and Proposed Amendments to the
F&IU (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations prepared by the
Labour Department of Hong Kong, there are about 1,147 RSO and 88% of them are
currently engaged in the profession (Ref. 3). The traditional duties of a
safety officer are mainly on inspecting the industrial undertaking and advise
the proprietors as to take safety measures in the interest of the safety and
health of the persons employed. In this respect, the preceding curricula for
training the safety officers are primarily safety technology oriented. Take
example of the Certificate Course in Industrial Safety organised by the
Industrial Centre of the
Safety Management
Training for Safety Professionals
It is a consensus that safety would be an integral part of management, safety officer would be getting more involved and bear more duties in safety management activities. Safety management becomes an indispensable training for safety officers. In view of the growing demand of safety professionals and safety management knowledge in the industry, the HKPolyU took active approach to develop suitable teaching programmes to meet the requirement. In this session of the paper, new syllabus of the safety course and further education for safety officers are revealed. A new safety programme designed for the construction students will be discussed in the later part.
Safety Training for Construction Students
It is a wish in the whole society to
create culture of safety in the industry. Building a
safety culture is an ultimate goal to be achieved across the whole construction
sector in
Proposed Curriculum
for Construction Students
In response to the invitation of the
Construction Advisory Board to give emphasis to education on safety management
in tertiary institutions, construction related departments of the HKPolyU have made commitments incorporating safety
components in their course curriculum. A working group of the Construction
Faculty discussed with the Industrial Centre in 1966; my colleagues and I
initiated and designed two modules of safety training programmes, Construction
Safety I and Construction Safety II. Construction Safety I will take 35 student
effort hours to complete and students will gain 1 credit while he/she can gain
2 credits in completion of Construction Safety II. The Industrial Centre with
its safety training background and experience will be responsible for of the
programmes commencing in 1988. Currently, during their training time in the
Industrial Centre, every engineering/construction students already have to
undertake 15 hours industrial safety training. It provides students with only
basic knowledge on health and safety at work
Curriculum of
“Construction Safety I & II”
Certainly, curricula of
“Construction Safety I & II” are designed to meet the prospective trend of
the industry. Its emphasis is placed
upon safety awareness and the engineering / management issues associated with
construction safety (Ref. 5).
The proposed curriculum of
“Construction Safety II” module includes i to VI
below, while “Construction Safety I” is consists of i,
iii and VI only:
i.
Overview
- Introduction to construction safety. Professional responsibility. Historical
background and current perspective. Construction safety practices in other
developed countries. Government’s policy in industrial safety. Safety and health law in
ii. Occupational Health Practice - Related statutory requirements and
regulations. Dust hazards and control. Noise assessment and control measures.
Hearing conservation. Respiratory protection.
iii. Construction Safety - Construction sites (Safety)
Regulations. Codes of practice.
Potential hazards and risks associated with construction sites. Working in
confined space, at height and in high-risk construction activities. Case
studies.
iv. Safety Technology - Principles of risk & loss control.
Engineering control measures. First aids. Housekeeping. Manual lifting. Fire
safety. Electrical hazards. Machinery safety. Personal protection equipment
(PPE). Machine guarding. Needs for preventive maintenance. Case studies.
v. Accident Prevention - Principles of accident prevention -
e.g. Causation models. Job safety analysis. Fault tree analysis. Accident
reporting procedures. Follow-up actions.
vi. Construction Safety Management
Issues - Management and employee
responsibilities. Safety policy and safety plans. Safety committee. Safety
officers. Safety inspection. Safety audits. Safety operation procedures. Safety
training for employees. Selection and control of subcontractor. Emergency plan.
Risk Management Training
Specialized and focused training, if imparted
effectively, can contribute significantly to Risk Management. Expert faculty, carefully selected training module, interactive and
participate approach, useful training material, case studies and syndicate
exercises could help in having effective risk management system in place. The
training topics for bulk drug industry could be:
·
Chemical
Safety
·
Safety with
Compressed gases
·
Solvent
Safety
·
Hazard
Identification Techniques
·
Industrial
Risk Management
·
Fire
Prevention and Protection
·
Electrical
Risk Management
·
Emergency
Preparedness
·
Safety
Management system
·
Accident
Prevention
·
Personal
Protective Equipment
MAJOR DISASTERS IN INDIA
|
Origin of accident |
Year |
Date |
Location |
Products involved |
Number of |
||
|
Deaths |
Injured |
Evacuated |
|||||
|
Bulk cargo handling terminal |
1997 |
00.01 |
Mumbai* |
|
|
|
|
|
Explosion |
1983 |
29.09 |
Dhulwari |
Gasoline |
41 |
>100 |
.. |
|
Explosion (warehouse) |
1992 |
29.04 |
|
Chemicals |
43 |
20 |
|
|
Fire |
1983 |
03.11 |
Dhurabari |
Oil |
76 |
>60 |
- |
|
Fire |
1985 |
01.11 |
Padaval |
Gasoline |
>43 |
82 |
.. |
|
Fire at a chemical store |
1994 |
13.11 |
|
Toxic cloud (chemicals) |
|
500 |
|
|
Fire in refinery |
1988 |
09.11 |
|
Oil |
35 |
16 |
.. |
|
Leakage |
1984 |
03.12 |
|
Methyl isocyanate |
2800 |
50 000 |
200 000 |
|
Leakage |
1989 |
05.05 |
Britannia Chowk |
Chlorine |
- |
200 |
.. |
|
Leakage |
1990 |
05.11 |
Nagothane* |
Ethane and propane |
32 |
22 |
|
|
Leakage |
1988 |
22.12 |
Jhurkully |
|
- |
500 |
.. |
|
Leakage |
1987 |
24.06 |
|
Ammonia |
|
|
200 000 |
|
leakage (transport accident) |
1997 |
21.01 |
|
Ammonia |
|
400 |
|
|
Leakage from a pipeline |
1991 |
00.12 |
|
Chlorine |
|
200 |
|
|
Leakage in an Ice Factory |
1990 |
00.07 |
|
Ammonia gas |
|
200 |
|
|
Plant explosion |
1980 |
03.05 |
Mandir Asod |
Explosives |
50 |
.. |
- |
|
Refinery fire |
1997 |
14.09 |
Vishakapatnam |
|
34 |
31 |
150000 |
|
Release |
1985 |
14.05 |
|
Hexacyclo-pentadiene |
- |
200 |
.. |
|
Release |
1985 |
04.12 |
|
Sulphuric acid |
1 |
340 |
>10 |
|
Transport |
1985 |
09 |
Tamil Nadu |
Gasoline |
60 |
.. |
.. |
|
Transport accident |
1994 |
00.01 |
Thane District |
Chlorine gas |
4 |
298 |
|
|
Transport accident |
1991 |
00.01 |
New |
Ammonia gas |
1 |
150 |
|
|
Transport accident |
1995 |
12.03 |
|
Fuel |
~100 |
23 |
|
|
Transport accident |
1995 |
00.12 |
|
Ammonia gas |
|
2 000 |
|
|
Transport accident (leakage) |
1991 |
00.11 |
Medran |
Inflammable liquid |
93 |
25 |
|
|
|
1985 |
|
|
Chlorine |
1 |
150 |
- |
* Disasters involving damage in excess of $10 US
to third parties
Source: OECD, MHIDAS, TNO, SEI, UBA-Handbuch Stoerfaelle, SIGMA,
Press Reports, UNEP, BARPI.
Inclusion Criteria
RECOMMENDATIONS
& CONCLUSION
Self-management will be a worldwide
trend to safeguard health and safety at workplaces. The implementation of new safety policy in
Engineers should participate more
and take active part in minimising site accidents. Most of the construction
professionals agree that management should be responsible for accidents. Safety
at work is an important element of management. Series of safety management
related legislation would be enacted shortly in
REFERENCES
1. A list of guidance and supporting
information can be found on the FAA website.
2. http://pmaparts.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/can-you-implement-a-sms-program
Blog Entry on the SMS ARC Progress: Can You Implement a SMS Program?
3. Safety Management Systems Aviation
Rulemaking Committee, Final Report
4. http://pmaparts.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/a-possible-look-for-sms-regulations/
Draft Part 195 (Safety Management Systems).
5. http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/saso/library/media/SMS_Brochure.pdf
6. Chan W.T., Engineers Towards a Safe
Working Environment, The
7. Secretary for Education and Manpower
of Hong Kong Government, Consultation paper on the Review of Industrial Safety
in Hong Kong, 1995 (Education and Manpower Branch of Hong Kong Government)
8. Report on “Review of the Role and
Training of Safety Officers and Proposed Amendments to the F&IU (Safety
Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations prepared by the Labour Department
of Hong Kong, 1997
9. Kwok W.K., Tang S.L. & Poon S.W., Perception of Construction Professionals on
Construction Safety and Imminent Need of Safety Training in Health and Safety
Training in Hong Kong, International Conference on Construction Training 1996
10. Poon S.K. Kwok W.K., Proposed Syllabus of Industrial Safety for HKPolyU CLU Undergraduates/HD students, 1996
11.
Lee
K.F.,