Risk Management For Fa̤ade Cleaning РSingapore Case Study

Organization Background

Everlast Group is an A3 graded construction company based in Singapore which was found in 2008. They provide façade installation to their clients. Their work experience since then has made them develop a competitive advantage above the other similar companies that deal with the same construction works in the building construction industry since the company started. Façade forms the principal front side of buildings facing the street. Everlast has completed more than 30 projects in the past 10 years. The company has completed various projects over these years that include projects for both public and private clients. Among these projects include government projects such as the downtown line C926, line C927, and private residential projects that include Northpoint City, Corals and many more that I was part of in the construction phase.

I have worked as an employer in the company employed as a senior safety coordinator since Jan 2013 June during which I have witnessed them implement the above mentioned projects (Dikmen, Birgonul, and Han, 2007, p. 499). As a safety coordinator in the company I have learnt quite many issues concerning the company which mostly involve matters to do with risks involved in their area of specialization which is façade supply, and installation. Even with 10 years of experience in the construction sector, Everlast team is very unfamiliar with the health and safety requirements and standards as set by the WSH ACT. However, Everlast is a company that is Biz-Safe and OSHAS 18001 certified. Based on the increased level of risk related to façade cleaning using ropes, the company requires safety measures to be implemented during project implementation and maintenance. I was employed    

The particular concern is dealing with working at height activities, as it contributed to the majority of fatility rates in Singapore 2016. Total fatality rate was 66 and an alarming figure of 24 was from construction industry dealing with working at height (Ministry of Manpower, 2017). Working at height is very common in almost all trades. Some examples of working at height include facade installation, plastering of external, erection of scaffold, and external cleaning (Cooper et al. 2005, p.400). Hence, my main focus will be implementing risk management for working at height activities. My main focus will be on external Façade cleaning. I was employed by Everlast Group as a Workplace Safety and Health Senior Coordinator. My duties were:

1. To assist the occupier to identify and assess the risk level: I will inspect the site for any non-compliance and assess the existing risk assessment to ensure that the actual work processes are in compliance according to the risk assessment.
2. To recommend reasonable, practicable measures to reduce or if possible, eliminate any risks(Zavadskas, Turskis, and Tamošaitiene, 2010, p.39).   
3. To identify, educate and advise on risks and hazards involved in the working process.
4. To assist in implementing the control measures: To conduct regular inspections to ensure that the new control measures are implemented and followed by the workforce.

• I will form a risk assessment team which includes the people listed in the organizational chart and brainstorm, discuss about work tasks that will be carried out.
• The team and I will identify all risks and safety hazards pertaining to external façade cleaning works on-site. The risks will be evaluated and we will come out with reasonable and practicable control measures.
• With that in place, implementation of the risk control measures discussed.
• This will be made known to task supervisors, workers and everyone involved in the work and regular work inspections would be conducted. This has to be monitored carefully to ensure effectiveness.
• This risk assessment will be kept for three years.
• Risk assessment will be reviewed on a yearly basis or when an accident has occurred. It would be revised with new information on WSH risk and any other changes would be updated too. It would also be made available upon request hence record-keeping would be crucial.

The aim of the study is to successfully complete the project on time and with zero injuries by ensuring the workforce work safely according to the risk assessment and safe work procedure, and also to work efficiently. In overall, it is also to maximize the profits and completing the project within the stipulated time given. The objectives of the study include:

1. Reviewing work-related risk assessments to understand the current site practices.
2. Daily inspection should be made compulsory to get a better understanding on injury rates to further understand the root causes to such injuries.
3. Regular meetings should be held to assess the strengths and weaknesses of workplace practices and update safety management systems to ensure that the practices are aligned with the legislation.

The main problem identified as contributing factors to the accidents in the company include time constraints that lead to workers speedy operations. This is the case since the company wishes to complete projects in the shortest time possible just like any other business so that cost is minimized. Time and cost are the main constraints that exceed project timeline. When the company wishes to compensate on time so that it cuts on cost, the workers are normally advised to increase the pace of work. In this case, falls are bound to occur since speed and fast pace of work tends to compromise on safety.

Workplace Study

The other factor leading to reduced level of safety includes work carelessness, weak ropes used in access, lack of timely replacement of safety tools and materials. This necessitates the need to carry out risk and hazard assessment and then propose possible solutions to the fatalities that are experienced during the cleaning of facades using access ropes. To cut down the fatalities that are experienced in the process, it is important to have the risk assessment. The management is also to play its role in the provision of resources that aid in avoiding these accidents. Ropes need replacing and the safety equipment supplied most often.

Resources
Day 1	Start the meeting with high level leadership of Everlast group company	To comprehend the anticipated outcome and understand the major concerns of the company. To apprehend the safety strategies and policies of the company.
Day 2	Examining the prevailing risk evaluation.	To comprehend the present control measures of the company. Additionally, to recognize lapses found in the risk evaluation.
Day 2	Checking the statistics about the  accident in the company	To discover the movement of accidents and the kind of accidents which happen regularly
Day 3	Building walk	To understand employees agreement of safety necessities. Discover the gaps undertaken by employees/ work procedures
	Control measures
Day 4	Forum of the administration staff	To define to the management the shift and flaws involved in the system
Day 5	Evaluating the Risk Appraisals and Secure Work strategies	To include more control methods which were discussed with the management Follow and obey the legal conditions

There will not be any barriers in this project as this study is based on past studies and experiences. As I have the necessary resources such as past relevant activities-based risk assessments and other safe work procedures for this study. Communication with the workers is unnecessary (Currie, 2003, p. 211). Also, with all the required resources with me, I would be free from travelling around. Based on the time that I have worked in the Everlast group company I have had the time to gain experience concerning safety matters, risk assessment and looking for solutions related to fatalities associated with construction projects. In this case, I accumulated all the needed data for the study as I interacted with various workers, company leaders and various stakeholders associated with projects especially those related to façade installation. In most cases, I relied much on recorded information regarding fatalities experienced during the previous projects.       

These involve the various outcomes that are expected out of carrying out the project, after identifying issues related and then finding possible solutions to them.  

From what I learnt while working for the company, there are various accidents that have been occurring in the projects as they are being implemented by the workers. Mostly these come from the fact that workers have to use ropes while cleaning fitting facades, painting on high heights or carrying out any maintenance works on these areas. In this case the potential risk hazards related with these works needed to be identified so that possible solutions could be recommended for the workers and company in general (Aminbakhsh, Gunduz, and Sonmez, 2013, p.101).   

I carried out a site survey on the work process to identify potential hazards and also use previous risk assessments with the similar process to compare and assess the situation and then came out with additional control measures to prevent of any injuries in the workplace. I also carried out reviews on the previous fatal accidents that related to working on such high areas and the causes before analyzing the data and then putting forth the recommendations.

Reviewing, and updating the risk assessment and safe work procedure is compulsory. Previously, a generic set of RA & SWP documents were used. However, after the changes in the risk assessment and safe work procedure guidelines in accordance to the updated changes in the legal legislation under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, it would show some improvement as it will also meet the requirements of the project (Flores-Colen, and de Brito, 2010, p. 1721).

The various constraints related to the projects included the project risks that may arise during the implementation of a project. Working on high heights cleaning or fixing the facades can be a high risk job for workers in the company. In this case, accidents are bound to occur and when this happens the project can be stopped so that such problem is dealt with before the work commences or resumes again. To avoid this, I assessed the possible causes of falls which could include weak ropes, or failure to use safety tools such as fastened belts and unstable scaffolds.

The other expected constraint in the project would be language barrier between the various employees and myself as a safety coordinator in the workplace. This is brought about by different ethnic backgrounds which necessitate the need to use a common language (Chew, De Silva, and Tan, 2004, p. 587). Based on this, I solved the problem by ensuring that I communicated with workers using English to avoid miscommunication.

In the formulation of the various risk assessment solutions and recommendations to be applied in the company, everything depended on how the management would react to them based on their applicability level (Young, Urquhart, and Laing, 2003, p. 1129). To know about this aspect, I knew that I had to come up with high quality solutions. In this case, I had to do proper survey so as to obtain the best solutions ever to the fatalities that face the workers as they clean or work on the facades. I had to find the right causes of these fatalities and then formulate the solutions.

After the survey, I found out that these fatalities emanated from the use weak or rotten ropes to hold themselves while working on the high areas of the facades. I found out that many times workers fell over from such high areas for failing to fasten themselves strongly while working. I had to come up with a recommendation to the company that involved constant assessment of the ropes used to hold the workers and know their condition before using them for cleaning high end areas (Perez-Monserrat, de et al. 2011, p. 301). The management needs to make replacement of any safety tools and equipment at least once every three months or when need arises. However, I had to explain to the workers that safety started from an individual and should take the initiative of reporting to the management when they need these safety tools. From the study outcome, the management was able to accept their failure to observe this condition in the past. The safety coordinator also needs to make constant reminding to the workers so that they know the significance of safety measures when they are cleaning the facades. I was able to achieve this goal during the time I have worked in the company as the safety coordinator.

During the time I have worked in the company as the safety coordinator, I knew that it was my responsibility to come up with solutions to the safety challenges facing the company. In this case, before I presented the solutions and recommendations that would lead to cutting down accidents related to working on the facades by workers, I ensured that they worked by carrying out pilot trials and studies so that we could find out their applicability and workability (Dikmen, Birgonul, and Han, 2007, p. 502). I monitored the workers constantly after I identified the causes of falls and fatalities to see whether the workers put themselves into the risk. I normally gave them guidance and counseling about their safety, general safety during the working times and general safety amongst themselves at all times. To ensure effective problem solving I had to ensure that the management was involved in the whole project since there was going to be requirement of resources such as finances. In this case I had to present to the management, a budget for the total requirements that would help improve safety in the company. I had to assess the company hierarchy of leadership and their responsibilities to incorporate those responsible or heading the departments related to safety in the company. This included the finance sector in the company responsible for releasing funds for the various needs.     

Product Value Discussion

The self-assessment of the study involves carrying out constant evaluation of the implementation of the given recommendation and solutions. The management needs to carry out proper implementation of the given solutions and recommendations. These included the management taking the responsibility of providing the workers with the necessary materials of safety and equipment (Hadikusumo, and Rowlinson, 2002, p.505). Overall the company needs to carry out training of its workers so that they have in place a strong and serious safety measures implementation process. I took time to talk with the top management and explaining how the strategy would be carried out and evaluation done to assess its effectiveness. The process requires resources to be supplied in ensuring that the workers are safe as they clean the facades using access ropes. The Kolb learning process involves four factors which include experience, reflections and observations, development of ideas and testing of the ideas during practice.

Conclusion:

The study outcomes included synthesizing and demonstrating competencies and skills that are needed to achieve an integrated management successfully,                             displaying initiative and resourcefulness in tackling all the practical tasks in the occupation setting, Clarifying constraints within current framework and Identifying potential Risk Hazards. This includes the management taking the responsibility of providing the workers with the necessary materials of safety and equipment. The company needs to carry out training of its workers so that they have in place a strong and serious safety measures implementation process. I took time to talk with the top management and explaining how the strategy would be carried out and evaluation done to assess its effectiveness.   

References:

Aminbakhsh, S., Gunduz, M. and Sonmez, R., 2013. Safety risk assessment using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) during planning and budgeting of construction projects. Journal of safety research, 46, pp.99-105.     

Chew, M.Y.L., De Silva, N. and Tan, S.S., 2004. A neural network approach to assessing building façade maintainability in the tropics. Construction Management and Economics, 22(6), pp.581-594.

Cooper, D.F., Grey, S., Raymond, G. and Walker, P., 2005. Project risk management guidelines: managing risk in large projects and complex procurements (p. 400). Chichester: Wiley.

Currie, W.L., 2003. A knowledge-based risk assessment framework for evaluating web-enabled application outsourcing projects. International Journal of Project Management, 21(3), pp.207-217.   

Dikmen, I., Birgonul, M.T. and Han, S., 2007. Using fuzzy risk assessment to rate cost overrun risk in international construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 25(5), pp.494-505.

Flores-Colen, I. and de Brito, J., 2010. A systematic approach for maintenance budgeting of buildings façades based on predictive and preventive strategies. Construction and Building Materials, 24(9), pp.1718-1729.

Hadikusumo, B.H.W. and Rowlinson, S., 2002. Integration of virtually real construction model and design-for-safety-process database. Automation in Construction, 11(5), pp.501-509.

Perez-Monserrat, E.M., Varas, M.J., Fort, R. and de Buergo, M.A., 2011. Assessment of different methods for cleaning the limestone facades of the former workers Hospital of Madrid, Spain. Studies in Conservation, 56(4), pp.298-313.

Young, M.E., Urquhart, D.C.M. and Laing, R.A., 2003. Maintenance and repair issues for stone cleaned sandstone and granite building façades. Building and Environment, 38(9-10), pp.1125-1131.

Zavadskas, E.K., Turskis, Z. and Tamošaitiene, J., 2010. Risk assessment of construction projects. Journal of civil engineering and management, 16(1), pp.33-46.