Construction Archives - Active Safety

Safety of solar plant construction

szbalazs — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 09:16:38 +0000

It is no exaggeration at all to say that solar plants are currently growing like mushrooms, in Hungary.

According to an article of the Energy Club (Energiaklub), in 2016 the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH) issued permits for 1,917 solar power plant constructions (930 MW in total)…that’s not a few.

So there is plenty to build, and if we are building, don’t forget about safety.

What should we pay attention to?

Apart from the fact that, of course, the construction of solar plants must be provided with OSH basics, which are common on any other constructions, like

risk assessment
on-site safety coordinator
medical examination of the employees
personal protective equipment regulation
etc…

it is useful to take into consideration some project-specific safety aspects as well.

WHAT ARE THESE?

When constructing solar plants, the supporting structure is usually not on concrete foundations, but on piles or ground screws, for which a pile-driving machine or a ground screwdriver machine is used. As in our small country there were big battles, you have to make sure that the soil is ammunition-free (which report is usually not cheap) before you start the construction, and you have to get infomred about the routes of the underground public utilities. The fence surrounding the solar plants is often executed by drilling the place of columns with a drilling machine, therefore when designing the fence, public utility routes also have to be taken into account.

Pay particular attention to the protective distances of the electrical cables and the proper marking of underground cables.

Special attention should also be paid to the existence of complete documentation of excavation machinery, pile driving machines, earth-drilling machines and other machinery and the availability of suitable fire extinguishers, based on the weight of the specific machinery.

There are, of course, many professional techniques that can be (and should be) used to make the construction much safer. For example, it is advisable to connect the cables of the solar panels (due to the additive voltages) at the possible latest stage of the construction.

For the leader of a construction company to sleep soundly, the above mentioned activities are not enough. There are loads of other things to pay attention to, such as:

taking care about material and personal conditions of first aid
providing social facilities
shock protection report of on-site facilities/containers
inspection report of used tools, equipments
safety data sheets for hazardous materials (paint, oil, thinner…)
etc, etc…

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Protective equipment policy

szbalazs — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 12:25:45 +0000

Providing workers with individual protective equipment is the obligation and responsibility of the employer. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the employer shall specify the requirements for the personal protective equipment in writing. This document is the personal protective equipment (PPE) policy.

In the personal protective equipment policy, the employer defines the work processes and technologies that justify the use of protective equipment for each workplace and job role, as well as the type of the allocated protective equipment and other requirements related to the use of the equipment.

Selecting the protective equipment and defining the protective equipment policy are occupational safety and health activities.

During the development of the protective equipment policy the nature and level of risks shall be determined, a protective equipment appropriate to the nature and level of risks, the level of physical work performed by the employee and the climatic environment must be provided, which must be selected within the limits of the equipment’s intended use.

The protective equipment policy includes among others, relevant information on:

inspection, storage, replacement of protective equipment,
maintenance,
handling worn-out protective equipment as hazardous waste,
and the conditions of the protective equipment’s use (including the duration of use).

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Construction safety coordination

szbalazs — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 20:58:10 +0000

The
construction is one of the most dangerous areas in terms of occupational safety. Just think of the many dangers that workers face on a construction site. There is e.g. the risk of falling down, working in confined spaces, risk of electric shock, working with chemicals (including carcinogens), risk of cutting, injury, noises … not to talk about things like dangers of working in the wrong posture, and we could go a long way…

Because of the aboves, it is very important to pay particular attention to the safety of the employees on every construction site.

One of the most important things to do, is to employ a safety coordinator (also known as HSE coordinator or OSH coordinator) for both the design and construction phase. Always, for every construction. I mention this as one of the most important things, because a good safety coordinator also provides the right level of professional knowledge on the construction site and can provide useful information on OSH obligations and regulations.

The employment or hiring of the

Safety coordinator

…is a must according to the a common decree 4/2002. (II. 20.) of Ministry of Social and Family Affairs and Ministry of Health.

3. § (1) When preparing the construction design documentation, the designer must work with (employ or assign) a coordinator (…)

(2) The constructor employer must work with (employ or assign) a coordinator during the construction(…)

What are the tasks of the safety coordinator?

For the exact definition I put the legislative text here (can be opened and closed by clicking on the number of the decree below) … and let’s talk only about the construction, as usually the coordination of the designing phase is provided by a designer who is a qualified OSH professional as well.

Common decree 4/2002. (II. 20.) of Ministry of Social and Family Affairs and Ministry of Health 8. §

The tasks of the coordinator in relation to the construction work are:

a) coordination of fulfillment of the specified requirements in order to ensure that the employer and – if necessary for the benefit of the workers – self-employed persons fulfill what’s defined in Article 10 and the requirements laid down in the safety and health plan in accordance with Article 6 (2) (b);

b) where appropriate, making revisions in the safety and health plan and to the documentation specified in Article 7 (c), in order that they shall include, at all times, the requirements of healthy and safe working as the work progresses and circumstances change;

c) coordination between employers operating simultaneously and successively at the construction site, in accordance with the liability rules of Section 40 (2) of the Labor Code;

d) coordinating the control of work processes;

e) taking the necessary measures to ensure that only authorized persons have access to the construction site.

So, what does the OSH coordinator do in practise…

Mostly they check and if they find any deviation from the specifications, will suggest a correction.
I am often asked, what I am working on. I’m a safety coordinator. “Then you make sure everyone on the construction site has a helmet?” It is indeed a task to check the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE), but this is only a small part of the job … there are also problems like, the documentation of the earthmoving machinery is incomplete, the fire extinguishers have expired, the on-site safety documentation (risk assessment, medical certificates, inspection papers of the electrical equipment, etc…) is incomplete, or even those working with hazardous substances do not know that its safety data sheet must be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website and the material must be used / stored accordingly. In addition, things must be checked, like the cover of the grinding machine and other machines has not been removed, the extension cables and other electrical cables are intact, the trenches are properly surrounded, the liftings are carried out safely and properly, and the conditions are appropriate for this (ropes not damaged, etc…), social rooms are provided properly (toilet, hand washing facilities, etc…). I could list a lot of things to check, but the point is, it matters a lot how experienced safety coordinator do you employ for a job, because a good coordinator goes out and catches immediately the things that need to be corrected. And this can also save a lot of money for a constructor, for example in the case of an inspection of authorities.

Coordinates with other company coordinators, project managers and anyone needed to work safely. I am not saying anything new, that in the case of a factory or power plant or any major project, employees of several companies are working at the same place at the same time. Many times they are physically crowded into a very small area. In this case, parallel work is a source of danger as well, just think about what happens when employees of one company are painting (thinner, paint, all flammable material), while the employees of the other company are grinding something and sparks are flying everywhere. Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions to such cases, but the prerequisite for all of them is to have an experienced, well-trained safety coordinator who thinks about these. Of course, this grinding case is just one of many examples.

Provides professional (occupational safety and health) information to the constructor in any case of question.

In addition to the aboves, the safety coordinator is often entrusted with other tasks. For example, many large companies give them the power to take action, e.g. in certain projects, the constructor’s safety coordinator has the power to give “penalty points” on subcontractors’ safety deficiencies, for which the constructor deducts penalties from subcontractors’ contractual price.

So to summarize…

Why do you need a safety coordinator on a construction site?

Because it is required by decree
Because they provide information on safe working conditions
Because they check and coordinate to ensure safe work
Because they provide information on current occupational safety and health legislation

While it is mandatory, what are the attributes of a good safety coordinator?

We think, she/he should be…

Experienced and practical
with appropriate lexical (professional, legal) knowledge
and with great communication skills

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