Skip to content

TechConsults

Health Management at Construction Projects

TechConsults

TechC

Health Management at Construction Projects

SK Saxena PMP BE MBA FIE (India) - HSSE 1 SK 17

Health Management at Construction Projects

HSSE  1 SK  17    Dec 15, 2018

Health 

Health Is a state of complete physical mental and social well being and not only absence of diseases or infirmity.

The human right include housing and living conditions (Places with amenities as per standards), healthy working conditions at workplace, and medical care, suffice to attainable physical and mental health standards.

Everyone has the right to health and it must be provided as public good at the construction projects.

It is necessary to provide a good Hospital /Clinic at project site supported by first aid and ambulances and other provisions, staff, doctors, nurses for its complete functioning.

All such services must be to the state standards and accountable to sufferings of human beings for immediate medical requirements at the right time.

At the construction projects the workforce consists of people of different culture religion caste and as such there should be no discrimination in provision of quality services, availability of goods and resources, support to community, with transparency and accountability.

Maintaining a good Health Management System at site is the requirement of the project and is responsibility of all stakeholder and the workforce

The assessment of requirements, the planning, the execution, the Monitoring & Control, the Feedback and Modifications must be judiciously done for development of Health Management System as suggested in TechConsult’s  Health Safety Security Environment at Construction Projects

SK 16    https://techconsults.in/health-safety-security-environment-at-construction-projects/

and should be earnestly implemented for a cost-effective project output.

 Health of the workforce is affected at construction projects by the following factors:

 Polluted Air

Waterborne diseases

Improper disposal of sewage

Land degradation

Sexually transmitted diseases

Bad quality of food

Site related accidents

After effects of polluted water:

If consumed for drinking water needs, human and non-humans can suffer from water borne diseases such as Typhoid, Cholera, Diarrhea, TB, Jaundice, etcetera.

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)- If TDS > 500mg/liter may pass into blood there by reaching all parts of body affecting the functionality of the system. Toxic pollutants (heavy metals, pesticide, xenobiotic pollutants (a substance that is not normally expected) are harmful to use.

 Prevention measures to check water pollution are required to reduce impact on health, environment, and to manage water safety standards.

Impact of construction sites on environment:

The construction sites over the ground or under the ground excavation operations creates pollutants in the form of, blasting dust and chemicals, natural chemicals and gases, machines oils and lubricants, effluents gases. The harmful contents obtained from construction operations when exceeds the safety limits are detrimental for human health and for water quality.

Coliforms exists in the bodies of warm-blooded animals and humans. And are passed out as fecal matter in environment. Their availability in water test samples results, indicate that the water was in contact with fecal waste and as such may contain disease causing organisms. 

 Pollutant Control

Real time data collection and monitoring system are in place in this age of advanced computer and data transmission technology. Weather Station data is also available. All such data can be analyzed foe meaningful information which can be used for pollution control of effluents.

Major control parameters are

BODBiochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD, also called Biological Oxygen Demand) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in each water sample at certain temperature over a specific time. The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per liter of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water.

CODIn environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) is an indicative measure of the amount of oxygen that can be consumed by reactions in a measured solution. It is commonly expressed in mass of oxygen consumed over volume of solution which in SI units is milligrams per liter (mg/L). A COD test can be used to easily quantify the number of organics in water. The most common application of COD is in quantifying the amount of oxidize able pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers) or wastewater. COD is useful in terms of water quality by providing a metric to determine the effect an effluent will have on the receiving body, much like biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). —-Source Wikipedia

ColiformColiform bacteria are organisms that are present in the environment and in the feces of all warm-blooded animals and humans. Coliform bacteria will not likely cause illness. However, their presence in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms (pathogens) could be in the water system.

pH Value -pH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous solution.  The term pH refers to the potential hydrogen/ hydroxyl ion content of a solution.  Solutions ionize into positive and negative ions.  If a solution has more hydrogen (positive) ions than hydroxyl (negative) ions, then it is acidic and has a pH in the range of 0 to 6.9.  Alternatively, if a solution has more hydroxyl (negative) ions than hydrogen (positive) ions then it is alkaline with a pH in the range of 7.1 to 14.  Pure water and deionized water have a balance of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions and is therefore pH neutral (pH 7).

 If the pH of a solution is not within the correct range the plant will not have the ability to absorb some of the essential elements required for proper plant growth.  All plants have a pH range, which will produce healthy growth, and this level will vary from plant to plant, but most plants prefer a slightly acidic growing environment (5.8 to 6.2), although most plants can survive in an environment with pH values between 5.0 and 7.0.

The developed health system should be base don the principals of Equity, Adaptability, Universality, and Transparency with the Participation of all.

Equity being impartial to all genders.  

 

Adaptability – the quality of project administration to adjust to new conditions and flexibility to accept change

 

Universality-The quality of being true or appropriate for all.

 

Transparency – Open in such a way so that others may know what actions are being performed. It helps in trust building in the avoidance of problems and issues.  

 

Participation- All stakeholders to take part and contribute in construction site management, as it finally improves the. procedures involved in the Healthcare.

 

Think over it Good Health and Good Senses are Two of Life’s Greatest blessings-Sy

Construction sites have varying environment depending on the scale of operation of the project. Therefore, the health management practices must be design for peak load

Proactive health steps shall create an atmosphere of Wellness and will meet requirements of health definition. 

SOME FORMATS FOR RECORDING ACTIVITIES STATUS:

1 Sample format for Record of Number of Ailments Recorded in Year–———-

Ailment

June

 

May

 

April

March

February

Malaria

 

 

 

 

 

Diarrhea

 

 

 

 

 

Dysentery

 

 

 

 

 

E.N.T 

 

 

 

 

 

AIDS

 

 

 

 

 

STD

 

 

 

 

 

UTI

 

 

 

 

 

Skin disorders

 

 

 

 

 

VD

 

 

 

 

 

Typhoid

 

 

 

 

 

Respiration disorders

 

 

 

 

 

Cardiovascular

 

 

 

 

 

Gastric disease

 

 

 

 

 

Trauma-RTA

 

 

 

 

 

Trauma

 

 

 

 

 

other diseases

 

 

 

 

 

Total Number

 

 

 

 

 

 

  2 Workforce at Site Clinic

Position

Number

Doctor

 

Pathologists

 

Nurse

 

Lab assistants

 

Ward Boys

 

Clerks

 

Ambulance Drivers

 

Scavengers

 

Front office attendants

 

 3 Accommodation facilities at Construction site

CAMP

Description of Accommodation

Number of Rooms

Number residents

Public toilets

Community/ kitchens

REMARK

CAMP A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTALS

 

 

 

 

 

 Construction works are of varying nature depending on the types of project, and therefore attention should be given on the execution of tasks and their aftereffects on the health of workforce.

It is the responsibility of the entire workforce and the organization and local government bodies to jointly participate in implementation, monitoring and control the likely creation of factors against health hazards.

It should also be seen that the inhabitants outside the work area are given a safe guard against the perceived health complications.

The management must have a proactive approach to avoid any kind of aftereffects on health due to project activities.

Following measures must be taken:

Involvement of all workforce from top to bottom in identifying the health hazards, their prevention and support in aftereffect management.

There must be pro action in finding potential health threats an in enforcement of the control measures.

Conscious awareness creation among the workforce about hazard prevention so that injuries, illness, sufferings and deaths may be avoided.

 If health programs are implemented seriously by the organizations, it will reduce costs due to;

Making workplace incident free

Loss of man hours saved

Less cost of new additional work force recruitment

Saving in training and placement costs

Saving extra efforts of organization.

Saving in material involved

 OSHA suggest easy things to start the programs for health care and they refer to following actions:

Health and safety hazard control measure must be given a top priority by entire work force at the work place.

Healthcare actions taken by team individuals becomes effective learning lessons for others

Create a reporting system about health concerns and share with all the important findings.

Train the workers in identification and control of health hazards

Conduct joint site inspections and issue on site instructions for findings and document them for further monitoring in daily, weekly and monthly meetings. Problems’ and issues log should be maintained for getting help from high level offices.

Collect ideas from workforce for checks on the health hazards as they are nearer to work operations. Further this shall be considered as their involvement and they shall be motivated to help the organization in maintaining a critical eye on health hazard identification and controls.

 Risks are every where on life. You walk on hill roads and any time a stone may fall on you. But walking is not stopped. People becomes used to such risks and they are careful. But in new project activities, location and nature of project, the risks should be assessed by the experts and the workforce must be apprised about the precautionary measures to be taken by them to avoid health and safety after effects.

Health Program orientation should involve following factors:

Management leadership involvement

Workforce participation with dedication

Hazard identification and controls, preferably jointly by the project authority, the constructor and the entire work force.

Hazard prevention and controls.

Education and training all workforce and its implementation by the superiors on daily, weekly and monthly basis.

Monitoring the implementation efforts, exercising controls and providing feedback and information for further necessary improvement actions.

Maintaining a good communication system preferably as real time as possible.

Creating awareness about fitness and wellness in workforce.

Proper coordination at all level for implementation, assessment, controls and further necessary directions.

 

Fitness is very important now in this fast-action-packed scenario to avoid accidents at work during travel and at home. It is not the gym exercises and is different.
It keeps you fit to carry out your functions.
A footballer, hockey player, badminton player or cricketer, plays the game part. These players to play the game without disruptions in actions need to be fit and therefore they get regular fitness training which is additional to their game. The put the purpose is to make you understand that developing of EQ as well as to keep yourself fit for actions effectively and efficiently, is the requirement for the success.

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. John F. Kennedy

Get to know the real

Quality Water to Drink

Community participation

Enjoy the Benifits of a very good health

Images: WOCinTechChat, Bike: 1, 2, 3