Health and Safety Legislations - Assignment Example

Health and safety legislations The redevelopment and Facade retention scheme project is a construction programme that will involve the demolition and construction of new offices. The site of this construction process is in Swansea high street, SA11LN. The construction has to be done in a professional manner, where different expertise is involved to ensure high construction standards are met. The site of construction is surrounded by other buildings which by assumption, there are offices and businesses of other people. The Facade building has a parking space and people’s vehicle and other properties may be found within the parking space. Therefore, the redevelopment project should be well planed, designed and managed properly so as to ensure that no damage of other people’s properties and extensive inconveniences of the normal work of other persons, (Hendrickson1989). The construction of any structure has to meet certain stipulated standards. In order to meet these standards, therefore, there are legislations that have been put in place and enforced to ensure that the health and safety of individuals are put into consideration. In the construction industry, there are certain provisions of the law that require employers, self employed and contractors to highly ensure the health and safety of employees and the public. These laws help minimize cases filed against employers and contractors by third parties too, (Ringen, 1995). These health and safety legislation from HSE that the employer of Façade, contractors and employees need to adhere to include; 1. The construction (Design and management) regulation 2007; This regulation highlights the responsibilities of the client and designers regarding the designing and management of the of the construction project. The client is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the arrangements made for managing the project by people with a duty under this regulation are suitable to ensure that the construction carried out is reasonably practical without risk to the health and safety of workers. The client also must ensure that the designed project is reviewed and maintained. The client of the Façade should ensure that he sticks to his responsibility of ensuring that he participates in the designing of the project and ensure that the construction does not compromise the health and safety of workers and the public. Construction management is important too as the client will be able to organize resources and ensure wastages are minimized, (Harris, 2013). Incase there are foreseen risks, the designer under the provisions of this law are required to modify the design. This will aid in ensuring the health and safety of individuals. 2. The control of substances hazardous to health regulation 200216. This legislation outlines the responsibilities of the client to carry out assessment of the hazardous substances and determine the extent of risk to workers and the public. The law also stipulates that incase of hazardous substances then the client can undertake preventive measures to control the same. The client should ensure that the health of his employees is under surveillance where employees are liable to be exposed to hazardous substances. This law can be related to the redevelopment project at Swansea high street. Before the commencement of the project, the employer must carry out risk assessment in order to determine the extent of hazardous exposure of the employees and put preventive measures in place. The employer must also keep and maintain records of employee’s health and review them periodically. According to Aneziris, (2012) environmental emissions have a harmful effect to the health of people and therefore the client should engage experts to assist prevent and control these hazardous substances. 3. Health and safety at work etc Act 197443. This law requires clients of any work to ensure where practicable so far, the health and safety of their employees, contractors and other people. In order to ensure the health and safety of individuals, it is very important that a detailed risk assessment be conducted in order to identify any foreseeable risks that may compromise the health and safety of employees and other people. The client of the Façade retention and demolition scheme must ensure that during planning and designing of the project, detailed risk assessment is done. This will help identify the risk that may be faced as far as the health and safety of employees and the public is concerned, (Hughes, 2011). 4. The management of health and safety at work regulation 199944. This legislation highlights the risk assessment process to determine the extent of risk exposure of the employees, possible control measure, health and safety arrangements, health surveillance and the need for coordination and cooperation between the employer and the employee. Health and safety management is very crucial and cannot be debated upon. The client of the redevelopment project to be undertaken should in his capacity manage the health and safety of his employees and the public. The client should ensure that all control and preventive measures to risk exposure are adequate and reviewed over time to ensure their effectiveness. The client of Façade must measure and evaluate the health and safety performance to identify defects and put corrective measures, (Blismas, 2013). 5. The provision and use of equipment regulation 199846. This law provides that the client ensure the equipment provided for construction is designed and made or adapted to only work in construction. The employer must ensure that the equipment is specifically used for the purpose which it was made for. This will help minimize accidents and environmental pollution as a result of using the equipment. The law also requires employers to ensure employees are trained to use the equipment and understand the danger of the machine they use for construction. The construction of offices in the high street of Swansea will require heavy and light machines to do the construction. Therefore, the employer must put into consideration the suitability of the machines, reliability and their danger. He must also assess the risk workers are exposed to by using the machines in construction and put preventive mechanism to ensure the safety of employees. According to the provisions of this law, the employer of the redevelopment project of Façade is required to design an emergency scheme and controls in case of the default of the machines. The employer should also consider the effects of the equipment on the surrounding environment, (Ebrahimipour, 2014). 6. The construction (health, safety and welfare) regulation 1996. According to this law, the client is required to take care of the health and safety of people. This is done through undertaking risk assessment and evaluating the extent of exposure to risks. The provisions of this law also require the client or employer to consider the welfare of the employees. The welfare includes welfare facilities such as clothing, timely meals, toiletries and providing an hygienic environment for working. The construction project in the Swansea should not subject the health and safety of residents around there at risk. The construction should be environmental friend so as not to disturb people. The welfare facilities that need to be provided by the employee is a tool of motivation and this will improve employees’ efficiency, (Gallie et al, 2012). 7. The control of vibration at work regulation 200529. This law provides that the client and the contractors, have a responsibility, should the vibration occur due to operation of machines, to control such vibrations so as not to cause damages to other people’s properties, roads and even collapse of parts of the building during construction. Thus, the employer must use the work of an expert to ascertain the nature, conditions and document it so as to understand it better and enable him put preventive measures incase of vibrations. The employer should also assess the effects of vibration to the health and safety of employees in their line of duty. The Façade demolition and retention scheme should be done in a manner that no one’s property is destroyed or no individual is exposed to injuries, (Białas, 2014, November). The construction project to be undertaken in Swansea high street should be well planned and designed in order to ensure building standards are met. The client should make sure that the construction project is done as per the requirements of the above legislation and related provisions. The employer should also assess the degree of competence of the contractor and employees. They should not work in a construction site unless they have expertise in the same. This is important as it will ensure health and safety of individuals, (Tan, 2011). References Hendrickson, C., & Au, T. (1989). Project management for construction: Fundamental concepts for owners, engineers, architects, and builders. Chris Hendrickson. Ringen, K., Seegal, J., & England, A. (1995). Safety and health in the construction industry. Annual review of public health, 16(1), 165-188. Harris, F., & McCaffer, R. (2013). Modern construction management. John Wiley & Sons. Aneziris, O. N., Topali, E., & Papazoglou, I. A. (2012). Occupational risk of building construction. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 105, 36-46. Hughes, P., & Ferrett, E. (2011). Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction: The Handbook for Construction Professionals and Students on NEBOSH and Other Construction Courses. Routledge. Lingard, H., Wakefield, R., & Blismas, N. (2013). If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it": Measuring health and safety performance in the construction industry. In V. John, S. Kajewski, K. Manley, & K. Hampson (Eds.), CIB World Building Congress 2013: Construction and Society (p. 1). Queensland University of Technology. Ebrahimipour, V. (2014). Integrated Intelligent Equipment Health Management System to Support Life Cycle Decisions Considering Environmentally Conscious Production. Int J Swarm Intell and Evol Comput, 3, e105. Gallie, D., Zhou, Y., Felstead, A., & Green, F. (2012). Teamwork, skill development and employee welfare. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 50(1), 23-46. Białas, K., Buchacz, A., & Gałęziowski, D. (2014, November). Control of Vibration of Mechanical Systems Using Electrical Subsystems. In Advanced Materials Research (Vol. 1036, pp. 523-528). Tan, Y., Shen, L., & Yao, H. (2011). Sustainable construction practice and contractors’ competitiveness: A preliminary study. Habitat International, 35(2), 225-230. Read More