construction worker injured as Pump House Collapses

LINK

https://www.thehansindia.com/andhra-pradesh/under-construction-pump-house-collapsed-in-tirupati-548198

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/under-construction-bldg-collapse-kills-one-injures-5/articleshow/70311376.cms

As per news reports as above, 5 persons got injured and one person died during the slab laying work for a pump house. Total about 35 persons are at work spot with six on the roof and another five below. It appears from television report that officers are not present during the work. Questions are raised on quality, supervision, etc for the incident.

There are several such incidents reported in the media, from time to time.

The reasons  for such incidents and measures required are generally as below:

• Civil work is done in some sites based on rule of thumb or based on the knowledge / experience / perception of persons without proper design or approval from design engineer
• Successful execution of similar works without design gives confidence / presumed authority for taking up such works in larger scale
• Work is left to ground level workmen thereby not verifying the quality of work.
• The form work / staging work / scaffold made for laying the slab needs to confirm to design
• Design drawing should be complied during erection and to be verified for conformity with the drawing before going for slab concreting
• Checking the form work peripherally will not help as any deficiencies inside as well as under the proposed slab sheeting can lead to serious accidents
• Supervision from the firm issuing work order is required in addition to supervision from the executing agency, during the work as there can be compromise 
• Minimum number of persons just sufficient for the work should be at site
• No person should be present under and around the slab work
• The approaches to the construction site should be available without obstructions for use in emergency
• Offset / gap between building and road should be ensured so that in case of collapse, the fallen material will not block the access for emergency services
• Persons engaged for work should be medically fit. It is better to provide food before and during the work and refreshments to the persons engaged in the work by the executing agency itself as some of the persons can be very poor and take work to earn livelihood
• Better to use steel for form work irrespective of height of work. Some agencies use wooden poles and eccentricity can be seen by persons going nearby. Doubts will arise immediately to the viewer that when this will fall. The gap on horizontal and vertical directions also will be so high that persons going nearby will be scared about its stability.
• Work should not be taken up in heavy wind or rain as scaffold can collapse
• In many sites ladder / access to reach point of work will not be available and persons are seen climbing up or down like monkeys jump from one branch to another or by sliding or climbing. This is unsafe and can lead to fall of persons.
• Sufficient illumination is to be planned and provided so that work can be done even in darkness with clear visibility.

Construction safety - lessons to be learnt

NDTV news report link provides details about construction industry hazards.

Read the report here.http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/even-after-fatal-accidents-indias-construction-sites-remain-death-traps-for-workers-1734233

Mistake by one - impact on all

Government authorities suspended works at all civil projects as a crane collapse in a site caused 7 deaths. Authorities would like to inspect all sites to ensure safety.
This shows that unless measures are taken by everybody in their work sites, their businesses can get affected, even if the mistake is by others in some other place. Industries of similar nature should interact regularly with each other to improve safety and implement the same. 
The following news item is an example.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-accident-idUSKBN1A809X?il=0

Scaffold erection - work at height - construction safety

I booked a flat and work is in  progress (for last three years!!!). Today, I attended a meeting of flat owners with the builder. Like earlier times, again date for handover was extended by a month. The reason told was that because of rains and high velocity winds at height, and as it involves erection of scaffolds i.e work at height, construction activity was stopped.

Whatever was in other owners' minds, as a safety professional, I was glad to hear such a thing that builder stopped his work inspite of project delay. Already, he is running beyond the agreed possession date which was almost two years ago and is liable to pay some compensation as per the agreement.

How many will take such a decision though it is well known fact that any untoward incident will lead to project delays due to enquiries by police and municipal authorities.

Construction is an activity in which large number of accidents take place and the work force is also mobile with little protection for their lives.

Scaffolding with stairs

Recently, in a construction site for a metro rail project, I saw scaffolding with stairs within it to reach the work place at height. Further full barricading sheets all along the work place, warning lamps for night riders, radiating tapes, illumination,  latest concrete transfer machines with minimum space occupied on the road and persons to direct the traffic are provided to reduce inconvenience to  commuters. It is heartening to see such safety measures by the contractor for the workers.  Generally, it is rare to see such access provisions at construction sites and they try to make money not using safety wear. Every construction site should follow good practices as above so that workers, public and authorities will be satisfied with the work.

Contractor and mason arrested for building collapse

In an incident of building collapse in which five workers were buried alive, police arrested the contractor as well as the mason of the building and charged them under section 304 of Indian Penal Code for causing death. Construction safety draws little attention unless otherwise reputed agencies are involved and these agencies takeup projects  only when they are of high value.
Being daily wagers, labourers are unable to demand safety at work and work under dangerous conditions to fill their stomachs. Though, Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996 and Rules are in existence for more than a decade, its implementation is still questionable. Safety officers working for construction agencies are also toothless and they work or forced to work to the wishes of their employer and little attention is paid to the safety of the workers. Safety in such works can be improved only when the government inspectors conduct more inspections and penalize violators instead of charging the violators after the occurrence of the incidents.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-24/hyderabad/31391977_1_building-collapse-town-planning-school-building

Fatality due to fall of tripod at construction site

A person died when a tripod kept above at a construction site for shuttering work fell down. In another accident, a drum kept at height for use as access fell down on a person causing minor head injury. Accidents like these are common at construction sites and minimum safety guidelines recommend use of safety nets, barricading the area below, posting danger signs, securing the loose items at top, supervision, etc and failure to comply with these recommendations will result in injuries and deaths at times like the first one. It is not clear whether the person died is a construction worker or not and whether he was wearing any safety helmet.

Safety nets - test before use!!!

It is a good practice to have safety nets for works at height to prevent injuries during fall of persons. Small time contractors usually avoid provision of safety nets and even if they were forced, they will provide nets only below the place of work and shift the net as the work proceeds. Because of the cost, the quality of these safety nets also is questionable. In case of doubt, it is better to test the capacity of the nets by dropping sand bags of sufficient weight from height and see whether the net is intact or strands are broken or the net sags. This will also give confidence to the workers and will be an eye opener for the contractor if the net fails. Normally, safety nets should withstand 2200 kgf. They should be provided such that the fall of person is restricted to 2 m and the width of the nets is atleast 6 m from the place of work. There should not be any gap between the wall and the net. Any construction material / debris that falls should be removed immediately to avoid injuries to persons falling on to the net. At many construction sites, I saw construction debris accumulated on the nets with nobody to remove them.

If the floor is good, then one can provide mobile nets which I saw at a construction site. A scaffold structure is made with the net tied all around. This will be located below the place of work at height and is moved as per requirement.

A few construction engineers question about the need for providing the safety net or its practicality to provide. At many places, I saw even for a small work, scaffold is erected (11 storyes height at one software company building, 5 storey height at one super speciality hospital). Therefore, what is required is commitment to ensure safety. Else, we get 1000s of excuses for not providing the scaffold / safety net.

A simple incident during the construction

Recently, I heard an accident from my friend who experienced during the floor tile work in his apartment. Tiles were purchased and brought to the apartment. The marble tiles (about 10' x 6') were kept in an inclined position in the corridor outside the apartment. The corridor is about 4' width. Next day, when he went to construction site, one of the worker commented that the tiles are having vertical straightline cracks and appear to be joined with white cement.
To check the condition, the person in-charge for laying the tiles was called. Both my friend and the worker pulled one tile to vertical position and checked for cracks. To the dismay of my friend, there were such vertical lines as if joined by white cement. Then, 2nd tile also was brought to vertical position and then the third. While checking the third, by holding the tiles in vertical position with my friend on one side and the worker on the other side, slowly the tiles started moving towards the worker's side as the center of gravity (C.G) shifted. This could not be seen initially, but shortly both understood something is wrong and tried to push the tiles to the wall without success. The tiles were now heavy and beyond the capacity of the both persons. Both shouted for help.
Immediately, workers in the ground floor rushed and with great difficulty, the tiles could be put back into position. By that time, the worker had chest congestion because of the weight of marble tiles on him. Immediately, he was rushed to the hospital and the person was alright in a day.
The above accident is unimaginable for ordinary folks like us. The fact that the experienced construction worker also did not caution before examination shows that we have to learn a lot.

Later, on enquiry, the supplier informed my friend that they are not cracks but lines which come during polishing and that he will not spoil his reputation by supplying damaged tiles. He offered to replace the tiles of much superior quality and premium brand, even if one single tile shows cracks.

Similar to the above incident, I remember, few years ago, when my child (about two years old at that time) climbed over the refrigerator racks to take some fruits, the refrigerator started falling towards the floor.
Fortunately, I was next to the refrigerator and immediately could hold and stop the fall of the unit. Otherwise, my child could have got injured under the falling refrigerator.
Same is the case, when we go up the portable ladders and try to access by over reaching. Then also, ladder can fall on the side because of shifting of C.G.