Safe System of Work

Introduction 

Safety is rated as the primary concern in any engineering project, as it safeguards from accidents and saves workers’ lives. An improved safe system of work ought to be designed with the consideration of the fact that one of the workers recently died by falling at that construction site. Such detailed analysis and possible plans to minimize the level of risk can only be done correctly by an officer responsible for safety. Furthermore, some insights from the counselling supervision literature have been taken. Subsequently, the following paper outlines a systematic approach to improving the safety protocols of the incident and preventing it from happening again.

Identification of Hazards and Their Potential Dangers

For instance, the principal hazard in this setting is working at height, especially during cable laying activities. The workers are hence exposed to falls, as they happened in the tragedy. It is also made more dangerous because of inadequate safety provisions from things like poor fall protection or rotten scaffolding (Beard et al., 2020). General dangers include electricity dangers associated with cable laying and slippery surfaces, falling over long and loose objects, and stumbling blockages on general building sites.

Analysis of Likelihood and Consequences of Hazards

In that nature of work, the level of likelihood for falling from height as well as the elevation could be moderate to high. This is what has been shown with serious ramifications encompassing fatal injuries such as head traumas. In the case of electric hazards, levels of moderate risks are pertinent in proximity to live cables and are a continuum from electric shocks to electrocution (Beard et al., 2020).

Risk Assessment Using a 3×3 Matrix

Design of the Safe System of Work

The application of a comprehensive set of measures, including engineering, administrative, and personal protective ones, can significantly reduce the risks of working at height and electrical hazards. The most potent protection means applied in construction from the height of falls are guardrails and safety nets, which supply the physical barrier to workers (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2021). Administrative controls regard methods that include proper training and supervision in order to help workers discover and react to potential hazards. This, coupled with the provision of critical personal protective equipment, enhances the safety of the worker because it acts as a final line of defence against accidents. All these measures work in collaboration so as to prevent hazards and include such control measures as the elimination of hazards via power isolation, insulating barriers for engineering controls, and training and inspection of equipment for administrative controls (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2021). The main advantage of this multiple-pronged approach is that it not only reduces the chances of accidents but also maintains risks at a level as low as is practical (ALARP), thereby providing a safer working environment for all.

Discussions and Conclusions

Integrating insights from the counselling supervision literature and the safety frameworks within engineering work would enable a comprehensive risk management approach. Supervisors understand psychological and organizational dynamics that lead to desired safety behaviours, and they may feel competent in implementing the known safety protocols customized to workers’ needs and challenges (Borders & Brown, 2022). Also, safety frameworks are offered as systematic methodologies with which to identify hazards, evaluate risks, and put into place appropriate controls. However, because the ongoing safety of the employees will have to constantly assess and update its protocols to the increasing risks and varying work conditions, this dynamism is based on the philosophy that safety is never at a standstill but evolving as with the demand in projects and according to environmental factors. If safety is improved over and above the stipulated regulations and norms, engineering projects can remain ahead by preventing risks and protecting their workers while performing better as projects.

References

Beard, S., Rowe, T., & Fox, J. (2020). An analysis and evaluation of methods currently used to quantify the likelihood of existential hazards. Futures, 115, 102469.

Borders, L. D., & Brown, L. L. (2022). The new handbook of counselling supervision.

Caponecchia, C., & Wyatt, A. (2021). Defining a “safe system of work”. Safety and Health at Work, 12(4), 421-423.