ISO 45001 Certification for the Construction Industry and real- estate business, is very much important. Because in the Construction Business, there is a huge potential for Human life Risk and there are several potential Hazards. Which may cause health issues for the worker and Interested Party. So ISO 45001 Certification can be treated as the most important for construction and Real-estate business.
Construction companies are concerned with the construction of buildings, bridges, dams, roads, etc. In general, there are four types of construction projects to be carried out;
- Residential Building.
- Institutional and Commercial Building.
- Specialized Industrial Construction.
- Infrastructure and Heavy Construction.
Civil engineering companies design the project and manage the construction while the construction company will build the project
A general Construction contractor, main contractor, or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of a building project.
Heavy Engg & Construction companies construct roads (Highways, streets) and dams, bridges; utility systems; and other heavy and civil engineering projects, including subdivisions of land.
Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) construction companies, the engineering and construction contractor will carry out the detailed engineering design of the project, procure all the equipment and materials necessary, and then construct to deliver a functioning facility or asset to their clients.
Project Management Consultant or Project Management Contract. Under a project management contract, an engineering contractor will overlook the EPC Contractors’ work to ensure compliance with the client’s scope of work.
Occupational Health Safety Importance to Construction Company
ISO Certification Body in India Providing Occupational Health Safety Certification to Construction Company
ISO 45001 certification for Construction Industry –
The construction industry remains one of the most hazardous to workers that comprises a wide range of activities involving construction, alteration, and/or repair. Construction workers engage in many activities that may expose them to serious hazards, such as falling from rooftops / working at height, unguarded machinery, being struck by heavy construction equipment, electrocutions, silica dust, asbestos, Confined space entry, and vice versa.
It’s important for every organization to manage OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) matters efficiently. Develop a dynamic framework for dealing with health and safety issues in all aspects of operations with the help of Standards.
Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), and their integration with other management systems. Applicable to any organization, regardless of size or type, that is interested in developing, implementing, or improving an OHSMS.
ISO 45001 is the OH&SMS standard i.e. Occupational Health and Safety Management System that enables an organization to provide safe and healthy workplaces and prevent work-related injury and ill health.
Recording workplace injuries is an important part of an OHS system. This Standard includes explanations of the data required. These measures include incidence rate, frequency rate, average time lost rate, time series analysis, and cross tabulations such as
- The protection of eyes from hazards like flying particles, dust, splashing materials and molten metals, harmful gases, vapors and aerosols, and high-intensity radiation.
- The selection, use, and maintenance of occupational protective helmets. Includes head protection in building work, construction, general industry, underground working
- The selection of protective footwear and its use in a wide range of industries.
- use and maintenance of various types of gloves
- Response to Harmful substances that may be inhaled in the form of dusts, mists, fumes, smokes, gases, and vapors
- The selection, safe use, and maintenance of industrial fall arrest systems that are used for work at height. Devices are based on the use of safety harnesses, horizontal lifelines and rails, fall arrest devices, lanyards, connectors, anchorages, and fittings.
- High visibility safety garments were worn by people exposed to moving traffic. Covers garments suitable for day and night.
- Noise control in engineering, construction, maintenance, and demolition works. Covers hearing protection of persons on site, investigation and identification of noise sources, neighborhood nuisance, and measurement of sound
- Scaffolding and the preparation of sites
- Planning, designing, casting, transporting, and erection of tilt-up panels. Tilt-up panels are essentially flat concrete panels cast in a horizontal position and usually on-site
- Electrical installations which supply electricity to equipment on construction and demolition sites.
- people involved in the erection of building steelwork are exposed to physical cuts, scars
- Hot work during manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repairs, demolition, and where plant or equipment has contained flammable, combustible, or explosive material.
- The safe use of chainsaws includes basic tree felling, training of chainsaw operators, and maintenance and sharpening of saw chains.
- persons using powder-actuated (PA) hand-held fastening tools
- Industrial rope access system components. Includes maintenance, inspection, storage, and cleaning practices.
- outlining minimum requirements for the safe use of cranes, hoists, and winches
- Material Handling – Tasks that involve lifting, holding, carrying, lowering, pushing, and pulling materials and material loads can cause hand and vibration syndrome (HAVS), injuries in soft tissues, and lead to permanent disability.
- Unintended collapses – falling in excavations, the area around becomes unstable, Injury from falling materials when the integrity of the excavation collapses, and inadequate protection while working at height
- Asbestos – in ceiling tiles, thermal paper and plasters, insulation, cement siding, and even switchgear and circuit breakers cause respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, etc.
Health and safety is a multi-step process that includes the workers at the site, nearby people, supervisors, managers, etc. Effective management of activities and competent site supervision is essential in maintaining healthy and safe conditions. In construction activities especially, the greater the risk, the greater the degree of hazard control and supervision required.
How OH&SMS standard will help the Construction Industry –
With the help of the OHS framework, standard requirements, and compliance with the requirement, an organization can control or minimize the risk/hazards associated with the activities such as
Before the work starts, the Safety Officer / competent EHS personnel should:
- Identify and categorize the risks and their management strategy
- Ensure site-specific and job-specific training
- Ensure on-site PPE access and know how to use them
- Observe, inspect, and report that agreed safe work methods are implemented, site-wide
Personnel at the site including employees, contractors, and visitors should receive information about the site hazards and steps taken to control those risks. Also, briefing them about the hazards, PPEs, welfare facilities and site rules can ensure that the work in progress is smooth and efficient.
Much of the construction work includes scaffolds, they must be equipped with guardrails, toe boards, and brick guards. Personal prevention such as podium steps can be used to prevent falls while working at height. If the weather seems inappropriate, emergency and rescue procedures should be well-defined in advance to avoid adverse effects on workers. All working platforms must be checked for safe conditions and should be inspected for slip and trip hazards.
Examples of OHS risk control systems:
- Preventative maintenance arrangements
- Permit to work system
- Procedures for dealing with contractors including induction, supervision, monitoring, and review of health and safety performance
- Emergency evacuation procedures
- Procedures for induction training
- Workplace Supervision
- Project management
In order to facilitate the management of occupational health and safety organization, occupational health and safety risks affecting the operations, processes, manages and verifies that fulfill the responsibilities and powers and duties of personnel should be defined, documented, and publicized.
The ultimate responsibility for occupational health and safety, the administration is on top of. Foundation, a member from the upper management, correct application of occupational health and safety management system, and in all areas of the organization’s requirements to ensure each step of the process and appoint a special responsibility.
Document and data control:
Organization, all the documents required by this standard and control the data necessary to ensure the following procedures to establish and maintain:
Documents to be in certain places,
- Periodically reviewed and revised as necessary and must be approved by authorized personnel qualifications,
- Occupational Health and safety procedures necessary to carry out effectively the functions of the system where the data and the current versions of relevant documents are to be kept,
- Documents and data have become invalid immediately removed all points of the publication and use used or unwanted avoided,
- With legal requirements, or information storage means, or stored in the archives of both documents and data in accordance with the determined purpose.
OHS Operation Control –
In the absence of documented procedures, occupational health and safety policy, and objectives for the occurrence of deviations from the documented procedures that are involved in situations involving the creation and maintenance,
- Connecting business criteria, procedures, provisions,
- Goods purchased or used by the organization, hardware and services defined occupational health and safety risks associated with setting up procedures, maintenance, contractors, suppliers and delivered to the procedures and conditions,
- Occupational Health and safety risks to eliminate or reduce sources of workplace design, process, plant, machinery parts, operating procedures, and work organization and their adaptation to human capabilities, including the creation and maintenance procedures
The management system is a framework that allows an organization to consistently identify and control its health and safety risks, reduce the potential for accidents, help achieve compliance with health and safety legislation and continually improve its performance.
Possible assessment team:
- Departmental Manager
- Departmental Supervisor
- Safety Representative
- Safety Adviser
- Occupational health adviser.
Practical risk reduction involves:
- Considering Alternatives
- Acceptability to Workforce
- Acceptability to employer
- Ability to consider costs and Benefits
- Solutions that work in practice.
Potential issues associated with the construction industry but not limited
- Understanding the requirements of the standard.
- Documentation Control.
- Resistance of laborers to apply safety regulations. Lack of supervision and control of the occurrence of accidents,
- Back to using technology,
- Education (including workplace training),
- Lack of protective measures, the guards should not be strictly followed in the application, neglect, and caring,
- Conditions are not conducive to health and safety,
- The employment of inexperienced staff (cheap labor and personnel) and not doing orientation training for new workers, Age, gender, education, experience,
- Emotional state,
- Mind occupancy, Accidents in the situation: visual and hearing disturbances, anxiety, depression, sadness, inexperience, hypertension,
- Some neuropsychiatric diseases: epilepsy, behavior disorders, mental disability, phobias,
- Some addictive drugs: alcohol, drugs, medications, sedatives, tranquilizers or pain relievers, improper storage,
- Non-ergonomic conditions,
Incorporating health and safety checks can keep track of the work progress and well-being, so worker participation is a must to communicate hazardous conditions when they encounter
Benefits of ISO 45001 certification for the Construction Industry –
Improved confidence in associated activities – All of the employees will have a clear understanding of how to handle key activities, whether it’s reporting an incident, responding to an issue, or working through a problem. With the OHS management system in place, an organization will have a clear overview of every OHS-related activity that happens within the premises
It Boosts corporate and social responsibility – Having a strong OHS management system in place is an especially important part of building a brand’s appeal, it is about ethical behaviors such as paying attention to worker health
Reduced cost on accidents and incidents – With the OHS management system in place the cost of hiring temporary staff to remove the gaps in the workforce while the injured workers recover will be removed/replaced or managed due to minimized or no accidents and incidents. It will help reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents from occurring and this will, in turn, lower an organization’s costs of dealing with them.
Lower insurance premiums – by reducing employee turnover, lowering temporary workers’ hiring and training costs, and driving down the cost of investigating accidents and incidents. Insurers will offer lower premiums if an organization can demonstrate that they are effectively controlling the risks to their workers within their premises
Increased regulatory compliance – A proper OHS management system will help all of the organizational staff stay aware of current legal requirements. This improves organizational regulatory compliance and lowers the risk of having to pay a fine.
Improved confidence – An OHS management system help to ensure that organizational staff members are more protected from a wide range of threats and health problems, such as Falls, Injuries, Repetitive strain injuries, The effects of vibration and noise, Skin diseases, Asbestos-related diseases, work stress, And more!