Managerial Strategy for Controlling Hazards in Building Construction Projects

Abstract

The construction site is always associated with man power intensive and hazardous work environments. Even today, controlling/minimizing hazards at any construction site is a challenging task. Hazard is defined as an inherent property of a substance or an occurrence, which has the potential to cause loss of injury to property, person or environment. The different sources of hazard at construction site includes physical, chemical, biological, natural, electrical and radiant energy which can cause harm in any one of the three modes-dormant, armed or active. It is evident that these hazards do not cause damage to people or property with the same potential and hence need not be addressed together.  On the other hand, if these hazards are not managed properly, they can cause injuries or accidents. Thus the objective of this paper is to identify the potential hazards that may cause harm to people or property at site and subsequently to suggest control measures to those hazards. In this study, the risks associated with hazards were evaluatedby using FMEA method.   Subsequently, an attempt was made to propose the control measures to the hazards for the construction projects. Case data were collected from four building projects, for a period of six months through discussions and interactions with design experts and site supervisors. The initial result of this experiment was quite convincing.

Keywords:Hazards, FMEA, RPN, Building Construction Projects, Safety