Construction Project Risks Analysis - Case Study Example

RISK ANALYSIS REPORT FOR OFFICE DEVELOPMENT NAME: COURSE: INSTRUCTOR: INSTITUTION: DATE: CITY: Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 3 CONSTRUCTION PHASE 4 RISK ANALYSIS 4 RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT 4 RISK CONTROL MEASURES AND JUSTIFICATIONS 7 DESIGN PHASE 10 RISK ANALYSIS 10 RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT 10 RISK CONTROL MEASURES AND JUSTIFICATIONS 12 CONCLUSION 13 REFERENCES 14 INTRODUCTION In any construction work, it is imperative that everyone is protected from any kind of risk of injury or harm that may occur in the course of such construction work. That is where risk analysis entailing risk identification, risk assessment, and risk control strategies comes in handy. Strictly speaking, risk analysis is concerned with the enhancing occupational safety and elimination of probable health hazards that may accrue as a result of a given construction work. This is essential both during the early design stages of the project as well as in the subsequent stages of construction. Such safety measures are necessary in a construction work, and the parties whose interests are taken care of by such assessments are the site workers, the passers-by, the project’s end users, and the general public. In view of the above brief, this project report seeks to carry out a thorough analysis of the risks involved in a specific construction project intended to be implemented in the Dee Why CBD. The project is an eight-storey office development whose site is located at 914-930 Pittwater Road within Dee Why town toward the northern end and is bounded by Pittwater Road and Dee Why Parade. It is a very tight site with dual road frontage. The building entrance is from Dee Why Parade. The initial feasibility study done by the developer allow for the design to include a full basement car park, a ground floor that would house the foyer with some commercial space, and then seven levels of open plan office space for lease. The risk analysis assesses the risks and proposes the control measures for the construction phase and the design phase respectively. CONSTRUCTION PHASE During the construction phase of the construction work, there usually are quite a number of risks involved. These risks range from accidents and injuries, inability of meeting the set deadlines for the project, to variations in the costs and quality targets for the project. For this eight-storey office development, the various risks and their proposed control measures are extensively discussed below. RISK ANALYSIS RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT 1. Public Access and Workplace Security Construction can be one of the most dangerous places for unauthorised persons to find themselves in. It is a requirement of WHS that unless entry into a construction place is authorised, there are numerous risks associated with such unauthorised entry. These could lead to fatalities or intense injuries altogether. Following the nature of the construction work to be done at Dee Why CBD, it is highly likely that such a site will be prone to such risks as electric shock from live cables, accidents in open excavations, being crushed by collapsing objects, and suffocations. As a result, therefore, the access of the public to the site where this eight-storey office development is supposedly to be developed will expose them to these risks. 2. Hazardous Manual Tasks Even though hazardous manual tasks are rare in most modern construction projects, there still exist a few elements of it. According to WHS, a hazardous manual task may be defined as one for which the worker uses energy to lift, lower, push, carry or otherwise move, hold, or restrain any person or object. Some of the hazardous manual tasks likely to be performed in the course of this office development in Dee Why CBD include operating mobile plant, using hand held tools, erecting and dismantling scaffolding, handling materials such as steel, timber, and bricks. Hazardous manual tasks in a construction site such as this particular one may also include restrictions of motion of the site worker e.g. performing work on ladders and elevated work platforms. 3. Electricity Going by the AS/NZS 3012: Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites standards, all electrical work carried out in a construction site should adhere to the set standards by this regulation. In this eight-storey office development in the Dee Why CBD, electrical work will come in handy in such areas as lighting, heating, and commercial services within the building. Such electrical work, however, poses a threat to the safety of both the site workers and the end users of the offices in the event that the person carrying out the task is not qualified enough as to hold a relevant electrical work license. 4. Noise There are several sources of noise in a typical construction site. For this construction site, some of the noises may include background noise, idling noise, blast noise, impact noise, rotating noise, intermittent noise, howling, screeches and squeals that need to be controlled. Such noise will pose as threat to both bystanders as well as the site workers as they may end up being deaf if they were exposed to such kind of noise for a long time. This project is likely to take a couple of months for it to be completed and this might lead to overexposure of the workers and the public to excessive noise in the site. 5. Traffic Management WHS guidelines state that any construction work that is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians is justified to be classified as high risk construction work and a SWMS must be prepared before such work begins. For a safe construction site, it is, therefore, paramount that traffic is managed. Looking at the site on which this office development is to be constructed in the Dee Why CBD, various traffic instances are likely to be experienced. These include construction vehicles (for example, cars, utes, trucks), non-construction vehicles (for example, delivery trucks, private vehicles), powered mobile plant and pedestrians, vehicles and powered mobile plant moving in and around workplaces, reversing, loading and unloading. These could cause workplace fatalities and injuries not just to workers alone, but also to the passers-by and the general public wandering around the site in Dee Why CBD. 6. Falls and Falling Objects In this project, excavations will be encountered because of the said full basement car park and ground floors, the normal foundation notwithstanding. All these might instigate falls. As was explained by the developer, all buildings within the proposed Development site at 914-930 Pittwater Road Dee Why, NSW will be demolished to pave way for this office development. During such demolitions, falling materials, walls, and debris may cause serious injuries to the workers at the site. Some objects that may fall during the construction process include tools, scaffolding components, precast concrete walls, and materials collected together in the construction site. According to WHS, it will almost be impossible to underestimate the possibility of falls and falling objects in such a construction site as this one. In section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS Act), any construction work that involves the risk of a person falling more than 2 metres is classified as high risk construction for which a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) should be developed. 7. Essential Services During the construction of this eight-storey office development, certain essential services may be existent beneath the construction site, and they may include the supply of gas, water, sewerage, telecommunication services, electricity, chemicals, and fuel in underground tunnels. Some of the contents of what is being carried or moved within the pipes may be dangerous and, therefore, may pose a significant risk to the workers in the site. 8. Steel Construction While this project may not necessarily involve steel construction directly, it may involve certain tasks which require erection of such structural components of steel as columns, beams, bracing, girts, rafters, bridging and flying, trusses, and purlins. This is indeed a risky venture for the workers who will be involved in such erections since they risk falling, being fallen on by falling objects, and other minor injuries such as scratches. RISK CONTROL MEASURES AND JUSTIFICATIONS 1. Noise For the Dee Why construction project, it would be recommended that the contractor uses complementary equipment and methods that reduce noise, enclosing noisy equipment, installing silencers on certain noisy equipment. Additionally, all workers around any noisy equipment within this site should wear personal hearing protection (PHP). 2. Traffic Management Routes for vehicles and pedestrians should be free from any obstacles. Additionally, the construction team should ensure that they manage the movement and velocity at which vehicles move in such a way that it reduces the possibility of pedestrians and operators along the 914-930 Pittwater Road incurring injury. The construction team should specify the preferred travel paths for vehicles within the proximity of the site in which entry and exit points to the proposed site, haul routes for debris/ plant materials, or traffic crossing another stream of traffic are worth taking into account. Another significant control measure here should be implementation of traffic taming strategies so that speed and the potential to take incorrect routes as well may be managed. 3. Public Access and Security Fences should be installed around the site and fitted with locks to prevent unauthorised entry, locking electrical switchboards, and use of electronic swipe cards at the entrance points to the site near 914-930 Pittwater Road in Dee Why CBD. 4. Manual Tasks The contractor should ensure that manual equipment, tasks, and work environments for this Dee Why CBD office development are significantly minimised. Other risk prevention strategies associated with manual tasks and equipment that may be considered for this eight-storey office development include placing materials near workplaces, proper maintenance of tools and equipment, use of the right tool for the right task in the correct manner, and improvement of design and ease of handling materials and components. They should also mitigate tis risk by buying pre-packaged materials in tinier compartments or using mechanical systems like cranes, forklifts, hoists, brick elevators, and vacuum lifting machines. They should also dedicate enough space to any manual tasks being handled within this site. 5. Falls and Falling Objects According to the regulations of WHS, the site workers should ensure that working load limits are not exceeded, and that the correct equipment is used in raising and lowering objects. The site workers therein should also ensure that they adequately secure the elevated area using a physical barrier e.g. toe boards, or infill panels constituting a guardrail system. Other control measures that may be used to contain the likely hazards associated with falls in this site include zoning of the adjoining area, catch platforms and nets, road diversions, working outside normal time, and use of tool lanyards. Finally, the construction team should install perimeter containment screening using plywood and timber, with its framework having the ability to withstand the load of the screen. 6. Electricity The electrical installation team should be guided by the AS/NZS 3012: Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites standards. For the Dee Why CBD project, distribution boards and switchboards, marking of construction wiring, protection of cords and extension sets, installation of lighting and emergency lighting, and Residual Current Devices (RCDs) specified for all construction wiring should be used. Additionally, the contractor should ensure that they subcontract qualified and certified electrical installation personnel. DESIGN PHASE Even though most of the actually visible risks in a construction project may seem to occur during the construction phase of the work, the actual conceptualisation of all these risks in a construction work begins in the design phase. It is here that risks associated with the conceptualised design and the actual complete design are first idealised before being taken into account by the subsequent stages of the construction project implementation. While the risks involved in this phase may seem to be fewer compared to those involved in the construction phase, they are so critical to any particular construction project that ignoring them automatically stalls the construction project in its entirety. The four main risks discussed in this report with respect to the eight-storey office development to be constructed in the centre of Dee Why are design variations, inadequate program scheduling, inaccurate cost estimates, and poor knowledge of the project site and its associated essential services. RISK ANALYSIS RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT Design Variations This is a risk that almost all construction projects seemingly find themselves in. In the design phase, it is unheard of that the original design, its scope, and description is maintained by the construction project from the infant stages all the way to the project’s completion. The design phase of this construction project risks deviating from the original tender design of the eight-storey office development, its specifications, and drawings as would be developed by the design team. These risks are attributed to advancements in technology, statutory variations, variations in conditions, inaccuracies in geological conditions, absence of the recommended construction materials, or even the subsequent alterations in the original design of the building even beyond the award of the contract. Inadequate Program Scheduling This is a design problem that is equally quite common with most construction projects. It is a risk for which, due to the strictness of the program schedule in a construction project, some programs end up either being clogged with other programs or being scrapped altogether. The Dee Why office development project also faces the risk of some of its programs being scrapped or clumped together due to time limitation. This is because of the complexity of the structure itself as a result of the complex features such as the lifts, the full car park basement, and the offices in the seven levels of the building. Just like in many other construction projects of a similar magnitude, this particular construction project may want to employ a single-skilled resource strategy under which every worker has their own specific responsibility. This poses as a risk because of the inefficiencies in labour use, which ends up being felt in increased durations of projects as well as increased expenses. Inaccurate Cost Estimates It is not uncommon for certain construction projects to experience risks associated with inaccurate cost estimates in its design phase. This is typically a scenario in which there is some deviation of the actual cost from the estimated cost of the construction project. For this eight-storey office development, the main likely sources for this inaccuracy would be arithmetic errors, taking wrong measurements from plans and specifications, using obsolete wage rates for labour estimates, improper pricing of materials and supplies, and sometimes use of wrong measurement units. Such inaccuracies may be a major source of deviations in the design of the office development in Dee Why CBD and, therefore, might pose an impending danger to the completion of the project as had been originally anticipated. Poor Knowledge of the Project Site In the event that the contractor has poor or little knowledge of the construction site on which they want to build a structure, this poses a risk to the site workers, the project itself, and the existing infrastructure around the construction site. There are definitely essential services passing underground within the Dee Why CBD where this construction project is to take place. It is paramount that the design team unearths such infrastructure and factors them in their design processes for the eight-storey office development. Otherwise, they risk causing harm to the aforementioned possible victims. RISK CONTROL MEASURES AND JUSTIFICATIONS In order for the design team for this project to mitigate risks associated with design variations, it should extensively understand the needs and requirements of the developer as stipulated in the project brief. Additionally, the design team should develop a working communication strategy among the various designers in the design team. Most importantly, the design team should thoroughly take into account the possible effects of advancements in technology, statutory variations, variations in conditions, inaccuracies in geological conditions, absence of the recommended construction materials in their quest to develop the design of this eight-storey office development in Dee Why CBD. For this project to avoid the risks of inaccurate program scheduling, the contractor should ensure that design team should is made up of fully experienced and highly qualified designers so that they may minimise deviations between the proposed and actual program schedules. The risks associated with inaccurate cost estimates, similarly, may be avoided by ensuring that the design team is made up of highly qualified professionals whose accuracy is reliably high. In order to avoid risks associated with poor knowledge of the construction site, it would be prudent that prior to any design scheme, bore hole, soil test and survey with the government agencies and nearby buildings should be conducted to ascertain the site conditions and reduce unexpected risks. CONCLUSION It is evident that by carrying out a risk assessment for such a massive construction project as the eight-storey office development in question in Dee Why CBD, all the stakeholders in the project stand to benefit generally. First, it has been proven that such an assessment is paramount in ensuring the safety of the site workers in the course of their work in the construction site. Secondly, the general public will be equally safeguarded from much risk just in case they gain unauthorised entry without their knowledge. Thirdly, the local authorities stand to benefit by the mere fact that their existing essential services such as sewerage lines, water lines, and underground drainage systems will not be tampered with. Fourth, the developer stands to benefit immensely because project costs will not unexpectedly rise. They will also benefit, alongside the end-users of the office development, from a well-designed and constructed structure that gives them value for their money. REFERENCES AS/NZS 4360 (1999). Australian / New Zealand Standard on Risk Management, Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand. Chapman R.J. (2001). The Controlling Influences on Effective Risk Identification and Assessment for Construction Design Management. International Journal of Project Management, 19, 147-160. Safe Work Australia (2011). Code of practice: Managing risks in construction work. Schuyler, J. (2001). Risk and Decision Analysis in Projects (second edition), Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, Inc, USA. Read More