ASSOCIATIONS
Taking responsibility
Bester believes that government has done as much as it can to address
health and safety in construction. “We need to start at the top and ensure
that management has ownership of health and safety on site and that
health and safety processes and procedures are in place,” he says.
Government has introduced stringent legislation through the
Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) as well as Construction
Regulations. For Bester, the Construction Regulations have been written
in a self-governing manner.
“There are numerous parties involved in any construction project and
each party is tasked with specific duties. Also, there are sufficient checks
and balances required by the regulations to ensure that all parties are
doing what is required of them. The process that must be followed
involves the client ensuring that the principal contractor is compliant,
and the principal contractor ensures that all other contractors on-site
are compliant.”
He continues, “Ultimately, health and safety remain the responsibility
of the employer, as well as all employees and there is very little, if
anything, that government can do to address behaviour on a
construction site.”
To this effect, he says that it is the supervisors on site who need to
manage and enforce health and safety on site as stipulated by law.
“Workers must understand their roles and responsibilities regarding
health and safety in the workplace. Furthermore, their behaviour needs
to be addressed and there must be consequences for poor behaviour. The
work itself needs to be properly planned by the contractor and sufficient
information and resources must be made available to all on site,”
he advises.
Addressing the issue
Through addressing issues surrounding health and safety on site, Bester
believes that providing information will help reduce the high number of
accidents. “We want to reaffirm the importance of health and safety in
the workplace and provide information from experts to help employers
achieve a higher standard of health and safety in construction. The
construction industry needs to understand that there are effective ways to
reduce accidents,” he advises.
COMMON CAUSES OF
SITE ACCIDENTS
• The use of relatively unskilled and untrained labour to
perform construction work.
• Poor supervision of workers on site.
• Inadequate planning of tasks, such as not ensuring
that the right tools and equipment are available prior
to work commencing.
• People take shortcuts when performing tasks and do
not adhere to proper procedures and processes.
• The workforce in the construction industry seemingly
disregard their own safety and that of others
around them.
RISK PREVENTION TIPS
• Proper personal protective equipment (PPE) goes a
long way towards preventing some injuries, however
this should only be used as a last resort where an
activity cannot be made safe;
• The use of the correct tools or machinery to perform a
task also contributes to a reduction in accidents;
• Machinery used on site must be well maintained and
ensure all users be properly trained on how to use it;
• Proper fall prevention and fall arrest systems must be
installed and used correctly on site. Users of this
equipment must be properly trained on how to use it;
and
• Workers must be transported in a safe manner to sites,
as motor vehicle accidents are a significant contributor
to fatalities.
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