General hazards and controls

The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 deal with the main hazards likely to be found on a construction site. In addition to these specific hazards, there will be the more general hazards (e.g. manual handling, electricity, noise etc) which are discussed in more detail in other chapters. The hazards and controls identified in the Construction Regulations are as follows. 

Safe access to and egress from the site and the individual places of work on the site are fundamental to a good health and safety environment. This clearly requires that all ladders, scaffolds, gangways, stairways and passenger hoists are safe for use. It further requires that all excavations are fenced, the site is tidy and proper arrangements are in place for the storage of materials and the disposal of waste. The site needs to be adequately lit and secured against intruders, particularly children, when it is unoccupied. Such security will include  

Falls from a height are the most common cause of serious injury or death in the construction industry. These falls are normally from a height (see Chapter 8) but may also be on the same level. It is important that trip hazards, such as building and waste materials, are not left on site walkways or roadways. 

Roof work, particularly work on pitched roofs, is hazardous and requires a specific risk assessment and method statement prior to the commencement of work. Further details are given in Chapter 8. 

Injuries due to falling materials are not limited to materials falling from height. Many fatalities have been caused by the collapse of walls, particularly retaining walls, and by the collapse of excavations. 

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Many of the site controls have been covered earlier in this chapter (Section 7.2 - General hazards and controls). Site controls can be conveniently subdivided under four headings - site planning, site preparation, site security and the arrangements with the client and/or occupier of the premises. 

Face-to-face contact with learners is resource intensive and potentially costly. It is therefore important that sessions are well-organised and timely with transparent learning outcomes. Leaders need to be well versed in the system under consideration, its safety features, hazards and controls. Sessions should be supplemented with appropriate course materials for learners to take away and use as reference in the future. Briefing users on safe operation of the system is usually most effective when it is integrated into general system training and undertaken in context with likeminded colleagues. 

This module is intended to equip the student to identify the hazards and control the risks from a range of situations which could result in immediate physical injury to workers (and in some cases the general public). 

The radiological hazard of tritium to operating personnel and the general population is controlled by limiting the rates of exposure and release of material. Maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) of radionucHdes were specified in 1959 by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (79). For purposes of control all tritium is assumed to be tritiated water, the most readily assimilated form. The MPC of tritium ia breathing air (continuous exposure for 40 h/wk) is specified as 185 kBq/mL (5 p.Ci/mL) and the MPC for tritium in drinking water is set at 3.7 GBq/mL (0.1 Ci/mL) (79). The maximum permitted body burden is 37 MBq (one millicurie). Whenever bioassay indicates this value has been exceeded, the individual is withdrawn from further work with tritium until the level of tritium is reduced. 

These markings provide a general idea of the hazards of a material and the severity of these hazards as they relate to handling, fire protection, exposure, and control. This standard is not applicable to transportation or to use by the general public. It is also not applicable to chronic exposure. For a full description of this standard, refer to NFPA 704. The system identifies the hazards of a material in four principal categories health, flammability, reactivity, and unusual hazards such as reactivity with water. 

L 5 General COSHH ACOP (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) and Carcinogens ACOP (Control... 

No matter if subcontractors are working for a general or main contractor or working directly for the client, when two or more prime contractors conduct activities at the same worksite, it is prudent that a common basis for health and safety rules and controls be established. Wlien one contractor performs an intrusive activity that increases the hazard level for all workers at a worksite, that information should be communicated to other contractors to permit them to plan and control their activities accordingly. 

Processes in the chemical industry require the control of temperatures of reactions where heat is liberated. Direct expansion refrigerant coils may constitute a hazard, and such heat exchangers generally use chilled water or brine. Coolers of this sort will be found in every branch of the chemical industry. 

Fisk JF. 1986. Semi-volatile organic analytical methods - general description and quality control considerations. In Perket CL, ed. Quality control in remedial site investigation Hazardous and industrial solid waste testing, ASTM Spec Tech Publ 925. Vol. 5, American Society for Testing and Materials, 143-156. 

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