Construction Health and Safety Management By Dr Simon Smith – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution – Non-Commercial – Share Alike License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/

Part 4: Risk Management in Construction Construction Health & Safety Management Simon Smith (University of Edinburgh) & Philip Matyear (Balfour Beatty) Part 4: Risk Management in Construction

Introduction We have looked H&S legislation It must be remembered that legislation alone will not protect – it is merely the ‘rules’ We have considered the behavioural and cultural aspects of H&S Management We have looked at practical aspects of health & safety on construction sites We have considered specific areas where hazards occur This lecture will consider how H&S management is implemented at a site level the wider concept of engineering risk management

Health & Safety Hierarchy General site safety management Risk Assessment is part of Risk Management which is covered in greater depth later in this lecture Fundamental topic: covered in greater depth

Health & Safety Legislation As covered Part 4 For example: The Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007

Health & Safety File To recap: contains all H&S information about the project for those that follow (i.e. clients & users) should contain information about the design & construction of every structure & element of the project responsibility lies with the CDM Co-ordinator who must keep it up to date deliver to client at end of project

The Method Statement A Method Statement defines the scope of the work to be performed in producing a significant section or phase of the project It is also produced as part of the Project Quality Plan It is a statement about the desired level of quality As a definition of the work involved it allows assessments of the risks involved to be made Once prepared it should be passed to every person involved in that part of the project – whatever capacity they may have

An example of a Cover Sheet for a method statement

Method Statements – areas covered A method statement is a large document and therefore cannot be prepared for all activities Work activities are therefore split into areas – usually geographic but also process areas The project manager is responsible for determining what method statements are required – he must find the right balance: too broad a scope and detail will be lost too narrow and the volume of paperwork will dominate

Method Statements – examples On a road project we may have the following method statements: One for each major structure (e.g. bridges) One for a group of minor structures (e.g. culverts) Earthworks Fencing Site clearance Drainage Road surfacing Traffic management Safety fencing Any other specialist subcontractor operations

Content of a method statement The operations concerned A risk assessment of the operations A listing of key drawings The direction and sequence of work The types of resources to be used A basic layout or sketch Delegated responsibility for the work Any other specific aspects of the work

Operation Plans The next level in the H&S hierarchy It is prepared for each discrete activity of work There may be a number of operation plans for an area of work already covered by a method statement The operation plan is usually drawn up by the site engineer looking after the work A pro-form is usually used

Operation Plans – pro-forma

Risk Assessments ‘Risk’ is a large part of any project financial, technical & safety risk It is just one stage in the overall risk management strategy prepared for every project We shall look at the subject in greater depth in a moment Each method statement will have detailed risk assessments:

An example of a risk assessment which also indicates the controls to be put in to place for identified hazards. The final column is the residual risk, after the control measures have been put in place

Risk assessment only useful if the info in it is well considered... This Risk Assessment is not well conceived. It seems to be undertaken for the hazard of smoking in a car park. But the RA concludes that this hazard is ‘likely’ to result in a ‘single death’. Is that realistic?

Risk Management Risks are ever present The management of risk is an area of significant expansion over the last decade. Within the construction and process industries the consequences of an accident can be significant (e.g.Piper Alpha) Detailed management of risks are routinely carried out, conducted at all stages of a project life cycle We will look at: Define risk concepts Introduce the Risk Management Procedure

Engineering: Small Risks Two of these photos show seemingly bad situations but with no fatalities. The web clip shows a small construction accident but with 2 fatalities.

Large Physical Hazards - Piper Alpha (before & after)

Large Consequences: Hatfield, Ladbroke Grove, Potters Bar & Greyrigg Rail Accidents 17 October 2000, 4 killed Grayrigg, 23 February 2007, 1 killed Potters Bar, 10 May 2002, 7 killed Ladbroke Grove, 5 October 1999, 31 killed

Some Definitions Harm BS8444: Part 3: 1996 “Physical injury or damage to health, property or the environment” BS8444: Part 3: 1996 In all aspects of project management, we want to minimise, if not eliminate any kind of harm Harm may be, for example: Employee injury or death Financial effects Environmental accident

Definitions cont. Hazard A source of potential harm or a situation with potential for harm in terms of human injury, damage to property, damage to the environment, or combination thereof In project management terms, we need to control financial hazards as well as physical ones Examples may be: Falls from heights Collapse of excavations Dropped objects Poor environmental management Abnormal inflation Abnormal weather conditions

Non-physical hazards Skills shortage Design changes Inflation Supplier changes Supplier collapses Reduction in supplies Cultural misunderstandings Corruption Interest rate changes Market condition changes Changes in labour supply Skills shortage Design changes Changes in legislation Security threats Political changes/instability Demand changes Public opinion …

Definitions cont. Risk The combination of the probability of an abnormal event or failure and the consequence(s) of that event or failure to a system’s operators, users or its environment Risk always involves two aspects: Probability of a hazard taking place, and The severity of the harm that occurs Low probability, high severity = high risk High probability, low severity = intermediate risk Low probability, low severity = low risk

Hazard Identification Definitions cont. Risk Management The systematic application of management policies, procedures and practises to the tasks of identifying, analysing, evaluating, responding and monitoring risk Five stages: Hazard Identification Baker, Ponniah, Smith, 1999 Survey of Risk Management in Major UK Companies, Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education & Practice,

Hazard Identification The stage where all potential hazards in a project are identified To me the most important part of any risk management process Because non-identified hazards cannot have their risk assessed “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know” Donald Rumsfeld, 12 Feb 2002 (relating to the increasingly unstable situation in post-invasion Afghanistan The point about this quote is the last line – if there are hazards we do not know about and worse, if we are unaware of our ignorance, then this results in an uncontrolled situation.

Hazard Identification Possible methods of identification Individual Consultation interviews with project personnel lengthy & time consuming Group discussions formal brainstorming requires motivation & teamwork HAZOP HAZard and OPerability studies Formal questioning of processes, e.g design

Risk Estimation Potential hazards have been identified Now need to assess: Probability of occurrence Severity if occurs Can be done in two main ways: Qualitatively in a linguistic manner usually done first; high probability/severity cases then may be examined: Quantitatively in a numerical manner

Risk Estimation cont Qualitative Techniques Fuzzy set analysis Understands that likelihood and consequences may not be definite, but rather will belong to a ‘fuzzy set’ which has degrees of membership expresses the outcome in readily understood language terms For example – ‘very likely risk with severe impact’

Risk Estimation cont Qualitative Techniques Interviewing and Brainstorming is an extension of two of the techniques employed in the identification stage. Personal and Corporate Experience if it exists should be exploited. Judgment We are all professionals and able to form valid judgements

Risk Estimation cont Quantitative Techniques Expected Monetary Value (EMV) i.e. putting a financial value to the expected result of a risk. Allows a quantification of a risk outcome Expected Net Present Value (ENPV) Also used for appraising the financial nature of long term projects an extension of EMV by calculating the present value of a probability state Decision Analysis looks at possible outcomes and determining optimal choices more...

Risk Estimation cont Quantitative Techniques cont Sensitivity Analysis tests how sensitive an event outcome is to slight changes on the input variables. Delphi peer groups a Delphi group will pool the knowledge & experience of a number of experts attempts to put quantitative values to results obtained in a manner similar to discussion groups and brainstorming. Simulation creates a probable life history of an event and thus allows its outcome to be predicted.

BS8444-3: 1996 – Estimation methods

BS8444-3: 1996 – Additional estimation methods

Risk Evaluation 3rd part of Risk Assessment Need to combine the severity and probability of the identified hazards Allows tolerability decisions to be made Can be done using a risk matrix: “T” in the risk matrix can represent ‘Trivial’ but ‘Tolerable’ is a better description as these are risks that we are happy to retain and deal with as they arise. Everything else must be responded to.

Risk Evaluation – BS8444-3: 1996 A similar table from BS8444

Practical Risk Assessment Procedure Identify the principal hazards that will be present in the operation. Assign a number 1 to 5 for both Consequences of Hazard and Probability of Occurrence. The Risk (i.e. the product of Consequence and Probability), indicates the level of action. Identify persons affected by the risk Respond to the risk Monitor and update as necessary. Hazard Identification, Risk Estimation and Risk Evaluation together make Risk Assessment. A practical approach to risk assessments for site situations is given here.

Risk Response If risks are identified as being intolerable how can these be dealt with? There are four main methods of responding to such risks: Risk Avoidance Risk Transfer Risk Retention Risk Reduction British standards and other textbooks offer the least guidance on this stage Because responses must be designed to fit the situation

Risk Response 1. Risk Avoidance Managing or developing a situation in which the identified risks do not occur, e.g: not proceeding with the project tendering at a very high bid placing conditions on a bid changing design choosing different currency ... ?

Risk Response cont 2. Risk Transfer Via Subcontractors Via Insurance a third party undertakes the high risk portion of the work and the responsibility that goes with it Via Insurance A pre-determined insurance premium is often better than unexpected costs due to risk may be done using a captive insurance company involves excesses some risks may result in premiums higher than the probable financial loss

Risk Response cont Some risks may be better managed internally 3. Risk Retention Some risks may be better managed internally High frequency/low severity or very low frequency/high severity risks may be best retained 4. Risk Reduction The most usual way in which to manage common risks is to reduce either the severity, the chance of occurrence or both. E.g: early warning systems Reduces probability of hazard happening improved maintenance Reduces probability of failure physical mitigations May reduce both probability or severity

EXAMPLE ONLY Risk Response cont The choice of method used to respond to risk will largely depend on company policy Using the risk matrix model, a typical project scenario may be: EXAMPLE ONLY

Risk Monitoring The final stage of risk management Risk situation will continue to change throughout the life of the project New hazards will become present Existing hazards will stop or change The management must be continually monitored, reviewed and improved Existing risks may be managed differently therefore Risk monitoring completes cycle back to risk identification

Risk Monitoring Does existing hazard still exist? NO Remove mitigations Risk situation will continue to change throughout the life of the project New hazards will become present Existing hazards will stop or change YES Has the probability of occurrence increased? Has the severity of potential harm increased? NO NO Do nothing Do nothing YES Have new hazards arisen? (Re)Assess Risk YES