What is Safety on Site

Safety on construction sites operates within two distinct contexts. Firstly, the wider processes of the construction industry arguably create an environment in which safety struggles to survive. The constant pressures for production, as time and money are prioritised through the practices of lowest cost tendering and ever-squeezed margins along protracted and convoluted supply chains, are highly influential and can be readily identified as fundamental truths of construction site life. On sites, the presence and inevitability of 

So what is our definition of safety It is one that involves unsafety and accidents, it is one that sees safety as danger, but it is also one that is happy to define safety as safe through the ways we seek to 

drawing on these varied, convoluted and often contradictory understandings of safety, we need to ask a very fundamental question - Does it work  

So if current ideas of safety on site are not really working, what can be done Well, as the introduction to this chapter suggested -the ideas and understandings of safety unpacked above are indeed helpful. They are able to illustrate what safety is on site -and that it is all a bit of a mess is itself well worth knowing. However, it would perhaps be more helpful to be able to understand these ideas in a more coherent way - and whenever the complexities of both people and the social worlds are explored, very often the concept of culture comes to the fore. This is what Choudhry et a/. (2007 1003) were alluding to in the quote found at the start of this chapter. Where complexity and dissonance start to emerge around safety, the check-sheets and tick boxes of proceduralised safety management systems become less relevant 

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Yet there is also one further consideration to be made to provide a fully holistic picture of safety on sites the wider social context of safety will also have influence. Alongside the pressures of construction work and the immediate hazards within the working environment, what people read in the papers on their way into work, the jokes they tell in the pub, and the stream of posts popping up on their smartphone feeds will also contribute to and shape how people think about safety, and the wider ideas of safety and society should therefore also be acknowledged. 

Within this book, the quotes and extracts have been taken from real life from the author s conversations with managers, operatives and foremen about safety, from safety documentation that forms safety management systems, and from the safety signage used on sites. Examples within this text are representative of those used in the wider research that underpins this book, and they are shared here to illustrate some of the common ways in which safety is constructed on sites, as well as providing a good starting point for discussions and explorations of not only what safety is but also how it works on construction sites. 

However, such approaches have to fit in with existing shared ideas of safety on sites, drawing on what safety already is to help... 

You should have at least two, and maybe three, checklists for inspecting equipment and machinery (1) a site safety checklist — what is going on around where you are going to operate the equipment Are appropriate areas barricaded to keep unwanted people out (2) safety equipment on machinery and equipment — Are backup alarms, seat belts, lights, horn, etc., in good working order Do you know how to use it (3) systems checks — how is the oil Does the bucket raise and lower properly ... 

Fortunately, safety and mitigation of risk is taken very seriously and continues to be granted increasing emphasis by both service companies and oil companies, especially the major companies. However, for the individual to be as safe as possible, as well as keep others safe, one must become aware of all on-site safety requirements and policies—and follow them. This starts with being aware of one s surroundings and what is going on at all times while on-site. 

Aside from size considerations, the primary difference between bench-scale and pilot-scale work is that bench-scale tests are conducted in the laboratory pilot-scale testing is usually carried out on the site. Pilot tests are subject to a whole range of problems, such as siting, health and safety, obtaining clearances, installation and operation. However, the data obtained from pilot-scale tests are much more appropriate and useful because they reflect what is actually occurring in the field. 

Safety plans must make clear site-specific responsibilities and lines of authority. Examples should be used in the plan so that it clearly spells out what must take place in a variety of situations. An organizational chart should become part of any larger site s plan. The dotted line and solid line responsibilities give on-site personnel a clear indication of what is expected of them, and to whom they should report unsafe or unhealthy situations. 

The term unpacking may seem a little odd. It comes from the way this book has been researched and prepared. It means to pull apart, to challenge, to question and to consider from as wide a variety of perspectives as possible, both academic and practice-based. It therefore lets us take safety apart within the specific construction site context to see what we can find - an ideal approach to help us answer the questions above, allowing us to explore and address them from outside the traditional frameworks of legislation, management systems and best practice. Instead, we can see how these approaches actually work in practice, how they are received by those who have to use them on a daily basis, and how they ultimately contribute to what safety actually is on sites. The way this process has been carried out is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 3. 

Whilst we like to tell people to prioritise safety within their work, if the realities of the work environment do not permit or support this, then it becomes yet more empty safety rhetoric. All the safety propaganda slogans and targets and engagement programmes in the world will not have any effective impact if safety is not actually what is being prioritised on site. 

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