Health Management at Construction Projects

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

BOD– Biochemical 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.

COD–In 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

Coliform–Coliform 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.