Occupational Health and Safety Challenges On

ANNEXURE A2 PROJECT REPORT:

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CHALLENGES ON

DEDISA PEAKING POWER PLANT – PORT ELIZABETH

AVON PEAKING POWER PLANT - SHAKASKRAAL

George Plotz

Safety officer

Group Five Coastal

A construction project challengesreportsubmitted infulfillmentoftherequirementsfortheregistration

Of

Construction Health and Safety Officer(CHSO)

In the

The South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP)

26 June 2015

CHALLENGES I HAVE ENCOUNTERED ON THE SELECTED PROJECTS FROM 2014 TO 2015

I am the Site Safety Manager for Group Five Coastal at Avon PPP and was a safety officer at Dedisa PPP.I ammanaging 4 safety officers and a workforce of about 650 employees at Avon PPP. At Dedisa PPP I was part of a team of 8 safety officers to ensure SHE compliance on site with a workforce of about 1250 employees. As it can be expected managing these projects is no easy task. The health and safety challenges I encountered at the project sites are discussed below;

1. PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

I am involved with safety items that are ordered on the Site and I had to follow up with the suppliers when there were delays in the delivering of the purchased health and safety items. One of my great concerns was Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). There are the normal types of PPE that arerecognised in the Risk Assessments and normal practices but often there are additional requirements from the Client for tasks to be performed out of the ordinary. These PPE needed to be source and ordered in time so that the work is not stopped. This needed constant communication between myself, the supplier and our procurement and financial departments.

On both the projects the safety boots became a challenge because they did not last long and caused the employees to be very unhappy. I investigated the issue and found the boot soles were manufactured for factories and were not suitable for the environment in which they were being used. I also found out that the storage of the boots on site in the containers played a major role in the boots being damaged as the temperature insidethe storage container can reach up to 48 degrees Celsius. This causes the sole to overcure and cause a decrease in the life span of the safety shoes.The site stores would run out of boots due to having to re-issue new safety shoes to employees too often. As this was a serious concern, I made a presentation to the construction site manager regarding the poor quality of the cheaper safety boots that he approved. After the SHEQ Manager saw my presentation, he had a meeting with the construction site manager and the correct boots were ordered.

1. COST MANAGEMENT

At the Avon site we had to use employees that were locals. Most of them had no or minimum work experience. I had to set up training for the employeeswho did not meet the client minimum requirements. This came withadditional cost for the projects. In order for the additional cost to be approved by the Contracts Managers, I had to write a motivation and also obtain three different quotations from training service providers. In ensuring that the cost was managed effectively, the training was conducted in-house.

1. HAZARD IDENTIFICATION MANAGEMENT

This area is one of the most crucial in construction and forms a large part of my on site inspections and audits role. The main challenge was the local labour that the company was requiredby the contract to employ. The local labourers that wereemployed have never worked in the construction industry. Furthermore most of them had less than grade 8 educations. This made it difficult to get their input in the process of hazard identification. The language barrier also played a major role in hindering full participation in the hazard identification process. To overcome this challenge we had to have an interpreter during their participation in the hazard identification process. Initially it was difficult and time consuming but with time they understood the process.

Another challenge was working with client nominated sub-contractors that were not conversant with the construction regulation requirements as they are overseas based companies.We implemented an in-house training course regarding the regulation, and enforced the use of our company health and safety management systems. In the beginning there was some resistance and afterthe matter was elevatedto the client, they co-operated and all workers on site were on the same level.

1. RISK MANAGEMENT

The challenge in construction projects is that supervisors /site management are reluctant to get involved with identification, analysing, and review of risks. This is seen as a safety officer’s responsibility. To ensure that this challenge is dealt with, we had to train them on the process of risk assessment and how to ensure that controls are developed. Furthermore we had to make them understand their legal appointments.Initially we had some resistance from some of the supervisors but at a later stage it was accepted due to the understanding of the process and legal requirements.

Another challenge I facedon the Avon site was the medical fitness of employeesthat werebrought to site. The risk was that sub-contractors brought employees to site without the valid medical fitness certificates. Some of these employees were expected to work at heights, operate mobile plant and equipment, operate portable electric tools and work in confine spaces. Furthermore what was disturbing was the fact that some of the employees did not know if they have a pre-existing condition.To deal with the challenge the mobile clinic was arrange to be made available on site premises. All employees were subjected to a medical evaluation. I then used the medical results to ensure that no employee that were not fit to work at heights, confined spaces, and operate mobile plant was allowed to execute these tasks.

1. ACCIDENT AND INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

The biggest challenge in the projects was to get all sub-contractors to report all incidents when they occur. Incident that happened on site were not reported timeously as required by legislation. This meant that it was not investigated and no preventative measures could be put in place. In dealing with this challenge we compiled an accident/incident management procedure in conjunction with senior site management. Upon approval I then trained all employees on the procedure. The procedure was clear in terms of how to report, investigate, and communicate lessons learned from the incident. When the incident occurred I ensured it was investigated and communicated to all stakeholders.Another challenge was the frequency of injuries on site. My investigation revealed that the near misses were not reported. We thereforeimplemented the VFL system of capturing all near misses and unsafe conditions.

1. LEGISLATION AND REGULATION MANAGEMENT

The challenge in the projects was that sub-contractors did not understand the new construction regulation requirements. They did not know how to compile the safety files that will need all the requirements. As an example the legal appointments were still based on the old construction regulation. This was going to be an issue when Department of Labour visit the sites for inspection. In order to comply with the legislative requirements I assisted the sub-contractors in compiling all the appointments based on the new construction regulation and then trained all the appointees on the understanding of the content of the appointments.

1. HEALTH, HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

The challenge in the projects was the insufficient ablution facilities. As a result the employees wererelieving themselves in every corner of the site. Even the available facilities did not have running water. Change rooms and eating areas were not sufficient as the number of employees increase as the project progress resulting in littering on the sites. To ensure that the company is not exposed to the risk of being prosecuted by authorities, I communicated with management of the urgent need to increase these facilities.I also forced the client’s sub-contractors to get their own facilities in order to take the pressure off our facilities.

1. COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

The major challenges in the projects were Communication, participation, and consultation. Health and safety hazards were documented and available on the safety file but not communicated to the relevant employees. As a result the employees performing critical tasks were not aware of the potential hazards associated with the tasks. I in conjunction with all safety officers communicated risk assessments and safe work procedures by means of a interpreter to translate to the employees in their own language so that they can understand.

1. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MANAGEMENT

Both Dedisa and Avon sites wereNational key Points (NKP) and therefore ourEmergency Response plan needed to be according to the NKP requirements. This caused delays due to insufficient knowledge regarding NKP Requirements by principle contractor (Italians). There were very little room for negotiations on the NKP requirements and this created preparedness issues.We communicated to all contractors and employees on site the emergency plans and conducted both safety and environmental emergency drills on a monthly basis.

CONCLUSION

The challenges that I faced was also frustrating as I was only a safety officer and some changes needs to be made by management. On the Avon site I am the site safety manager and had more say with management to address the challenges on site. In view of the challenges that I have experienced on these projects, there is a need that safety, health, and environment issues becomes the responsibility of every person on all construction sites.