WORKPLACE SAFETY
? Construction Safety & Railway Safety
?????????????????????????Construction Safety
What is Construction Safety? Construction safety is?a principle adhered to and enforced by construction safety personal. It is the result of safe equipment usage, worker protection from hazards, regular site inspections and risk assessments. A key component of construction safety is compliance with safety and health regulations.
Construction safety aims to ensure that a construction site or the industry as a whole is not the cause of immediate danger to the public around a construction site, or the workers at a construction site, as well as making sure that the finished product of construction meets required safety standards.
The leading safety hazards on construction sites include falls, being caught between objects, electrocutions, and being struck by objects. These hazards have caused injuries and deaths on construction sites throughout the world. Failures in hazard identification are often due to limited or improper training and supervision of workers.
All workers and visitors at the construction site should wear the required PPE to reduce exposure to various hazards on the worksite. Common PPE include goggles, helmets, gloves, hearing Protection, boots, high visibility vests and suits, be mindful and follow signs.
Working at heights ?is defined as the performance of construction work at an elevated height of 2 meters or more. It is one of the biggest causes of preventable work injuries and fatalities around the world. As much as possible, working at heights should be avoided; however, this may not always be possible for most types of construction work. To assist construction safety managers, mitigate the risks of working at heights, here are four digital templates that are free to download and use.
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The following components should always be checked:
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Due to the extensive use of scaffolding in the industry, construction safety managers must ensure that scaffold inspections are performed accurately every 7 days after installation and only by a scaffold-competent person using ladders can be fatal if not correctly inspected and used.?
Closely related with working at heights, falls, slips, and trips are often associated with ladders.
Though scaffolds and ladders are considered to be of high risk, at least some are stationary, reducing their risk of endangering workers who are not using it. Unlike scaffolds and ladders,?construction machinery , moving equipment or equipment used for lifting or lowering loads are greater threats to public safety.
Manual handling is the lifting, lowering, carrying, and moving of objects during work operations.?Aside from hand-arm vibration, the characteristics of high-risk manual handling involve repetitive, sustained, high, or sudden force; repetitive movement; sustained or awkward posture; and whole-body vibration.
Exposure to electricity has long been recognized as a construction safety risk, with electrocutions being the deadliest.
Silica dust is generated from the?blasting , cutting, drilling, grinding, and polishing of common construction materials such as bricks, tiles, concrete, and mortar. Heavy and prolonged exposure to silica dust can cause lung cancer, silicosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.
While the idea of noise as a construction safety risk may be surprising, statistics in the UK show that an estimated?17,000 people annually ?suffer from hearing conditions due to excessive noise at work. Performing?noise risk assessments , especially in the construction industry, can help identify the sources of these risks and how they affect the health and safety of workers.
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??????????????????????????RAILWAY SAFETY
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Safety is an initiative that ties up with the national strategy to mitigate the risk of incidents that include public injuries and fatalities as a consequence of railway operations.?
The railway line runs through towns, farms and communities without any barricades on its sides that would hinder humans and animals from crossing the line anywhere they may wish.?
This poses risk of rail accidents, rail traffic signs for the train driver to operate the trains safely, at 125 meters 2x whistle boards are erected at level crossings, first one at 125m and second one at 375m from the level crossing this is to warn motorists as well as the pedestrians that there is an oncoming train in the section about to cross that particular level crossing.?The whistle is always blown at both these positions as the train approaches the level crossing. The train drivers are trained safety operating procedures and it is compulsory to be in-force by train drivers to warn any obstruction on the railway line to refrain from being on the railway line. This is done to avoid any collision.?The train can’t stop immediately due to the freight as the train brakes are applied gradually to avoid derailment and possible capsizing.
Level Crossing is the points at which roads and the rail track meet. A level crossing represents the single biggest sources of railway accidents.
Do not cross a level crossing if red lights are flashing. Only cross if you are sure there is no oncoming train
Slow down and stop; look left and right before crossing
Don’t use rail tracks as shortcuts-always cross at level crossing
Always obey all the warning signs
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Never park your vehicle on the level crossing. The vehicle must be at least 5 meters away from the line
Road users should always expect a train at a level crossing, never take things for granted
Always reduce the volume of your radio when approaching the level crossing
train always have the right-of-way at all level crossings.
??????????????????Same Safety Different Industries.
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I personally feel that Safety is a core value, the health, safety and well-being of every co-worker, is the number one asset, paramount to upholding this value and it must be practiced and enforced twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
?????????????Safety Practices on Railway
Construction?workers’?safety?is?a?collective?co-operation of all?stakeholders involved?in the
Construction Workers – Safety is a collective co-operation of all stakeholders involved in the construction industry ranging from government, employers, contractors, operatives, supervisors, and the general public.
Educating and training of the stakeholders is important as it provides information on the following:?workplace hazards control, in order to work more safely and be more productive, provides employers, managers, supervisors, and workers with knowledge and skills needed to do their work safely and avoid creating hazards that could place themselves or others at risk.
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?????????????????????????????Common Risks
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TRAIN COLLISIONS
Collisions can occur between two or more trains or between trains and infrastructure. Collisions between passenger trains travelling in opposite directions at speed are very rare but the consequences are usually serious.?
DERAILMENTS
Derailments remain reasonably common although those leading to significant injury or loss of life are increasingly rare. They often involve just one train although further risks arise when a derailed train fouls an adjacent running line. Derailments are often related to technical failures such as poor track geometry, damaged or defective switches and crossings, wear and fatigue in the wheel-rail interface, vehicle suspension faults. Operator errors such as incorrect setting of points, excessive speed and poor driving behaviour can also result in derailments.?
RAILWAY STAFF RISKS
Despite the high level of safety achieved for rail users, railways have traditionally been a relatively high-risk industry for staff both in terms of injuries and fatalities. Track workers are especially vulnerable due to their exposure to moving trains?exposure to?environmental conditions?the industry has implemented a range of measures which have improved worker safety including use of high-visibility clothing, safe-working procedures on track, safety culture interventions, permits to work and various technologies to warn workers of approaching trains. These measures have been successful in lowering accident rates but this remains an area of attention for the railways.
Railway staff (Workers) are also exposed to a range of risks which include slips, trips and falls.
BALLAST
In the case of railroad tracks, “ballast” refers to the piles of gravel and crushed stone you see lying between each railroad tie. The goal of ballast is to help bear the load of the train track, act as drainage, track standards dictate that ballast needs to be set up to the top edge of the railroad tie, but in a lot of cases if the ballast brushes away over time or is set improperly to begin with it can create a tripping hazard for anyone trying to walk down the tracks.
Frequent, regularly scheduled inspections of the ballast along the most commonly-travelled tracks in the area can help reduce the risk of injury?and?help trains run better by giving them a smoother surface to travel.
Track material and equipment
Manufacturers and suppliers of track material and equipment,?such as, rail fastenings, rail welding equipment, rail lifting devices, railway sleepers, rail saws, rail notchers, clipping machines, power wrenches, rail drills, rail pulling devices, grinding and cutting machines, hoisting gears, handheld tampers, rail turners, track baseplates.
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???????????????????????????????Challenges
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Unavoidable environmental hazards
Lack of communication
States of mind
Skewed perception of risk
These are just a few examples of daily challenges, I personally feel like and have experienced working in Railway construction now, coming from working in ‘General’ Construction on a daily basis from a HSE stand point.