Workplace Hazards And Safety Measures At Canberra Construction Company

Discussion

In the article, there is a certain construction company known as Canberra construction Company. This Company was fined $1.1 million after the death of one of the truck drivers. The incident happened back in 2012.The truck driver who perished was known as Mr. Brooks and he perished due to electrocution after the tip of the truck came into contact with the low slung power lines at the work site. This was in contrast to the safety regulations. The company had no warning signs about the hanging power line and neither did they attach flags to the lines. Another safety issue at the construction company was poor corporate culture in which the son of the general manager was appointed as the safety officer at the company yet he was not qualified. The company was also hindering the process of investigation into the death and one of the officers at the company even went ahead to interfere with the attendance record of the deceased. According to the article, this was the heaviest penalty ever subjected to any company. But according to pundits, the fine is justified since this was a case that could be avoided.

From the case of Canberra Construction Company and the death of Mr. Brooks, it indicates the need for workplace safety to avoid such penalties. The maximum penalty for such accidents is around $1.5 million. To avoid such an accident for example, the company should have included warning signs at the entrance. It is the duty of the company to provide conspicuous warning signs so that the drivers and the workers can judge on how they should go past the hanging lines. Another safety issue with the company is the hiring of unqualified staff. The Canberra Company should therefore seek competent personnel to fill the position of the safety officers. A qualified and competent safety officer will with no doubt come up with safety strategies that will reduce potential harm or injuries due to the hanging power lines.

It is therefore clear that the incident or rather the death of Brooks occurred due to lack of safety standards at the construction sites. Despite the accident, the company also did not respond well. Some of the officials were hindering the process of investigation by altering the attendance records of the deceased. This is not the best response to any accident.

What could be done differently to avoid hazards at Canberra Construction Company.

There are certain things that I should have done differently if I was a worker at the Canberra construction site to avoid the electrocution hazard. Insulation is the first workplace safety practice to prevent electric shock to the workers. In this case, I would use an insulator which is a material that has high resistance to the flow of electric current. Materials that are good insulators include glass, mica, rubber and finally plastic. Insulation prevents people and other conductors like trucks from coming into contact with the electric current. Before an insulation material is used, there should be an evaluation on the material if it is suitable to the voltage and other existing conditions like the temperature, moisture, oil and corrosive fumes. Insulation should be color coded (Zhao, McCoy, Kleiner, Du, & Smith-Jackson, 2016). Green color is used for the equipment grounding conductors while the white color is used is used for grounded conductors that can complete a circuit .Finally, any other color can be used for the ungrounded conductors or the hot wires. They are however colored black or grey in most cases. This would protect the workers from electrocution hazards.

What could be done differently to avoid hazards at Canberra Construction Company.

The use of flag system is another important workplace safety. Drivers of different excavation equipment and trucks are always urged to take note of the flags when moving around working sites. In this case however, the flags were not attached to the power line and this is one of the reason that Brooks succumbed to electrocution (Vergara et al., 2015). In future, I would therefore consider attaching flags to the power lines so that the drivers can be very careful when passing the power lines. The flags that are usually used are orange in color and should be very conspicuous from the ground so that the truck drivers at the construction site can make judgement. An example of the flags that should be used is shown in the picture below.

Guarding is another strategy that can be used to prevent electrocution. It is recommended that for any electric equipment that has the ability to electrocute, it should be guarded against any contact that can cause harm or damage. There are different ways in which guarding can be accomplished (Sokhal, Lodha, Kumari, Paliwal, & Gothwal, 2017). In the case of Canberra Construction Company, guarding could be achieved through elevation of the electric conductors. They should be elevated to the highest level possible where there should be no contact with any truck even if it is loaded with other materials (Rådman, Nilsagård, Jakobsson, Ek, & Gunnarsson, 2015). Besides the elevation, the Canberra Company should also mark entrances to exposed live wires with very conspicuous signs that prohibits the entry of unqualified persons or encouraging the workers to exercise caution when going past the location. All the indoor electric wiring with more than 600 volts which by any chance is open to the unauthorized individuals should always be made with a metal enclosed equipment that can be controlled by a lock (Mitolo & Montazemi, 2014). All this equipment should always be marked with conspicuous warning signs.

In future, I would ensure that the attendance records are kept well for reference. According to the information provided in the article, there were attempts by some of the officers to alter the attendance records of the deceased. This is not a good move since attendance records could be used in case of an emergency to be accountable to all those deceased (Lu & Tolliver, 2016). Without the records, it can be very difficult to find out the workers that were at the site and those that were absent.

Grounding can also be used to prevent electric hazards at the Canberra Construction company. Grounding can be defined as the connection of an electric electrical system to the earth. This method provides secondary protection from shock (Hernandez & Mac, 2016). Grounding provides a low resistance to the earth and this prevents the buildup of excess voltages that can cause electric shock. However, this method does not entirely protect the workers from shock but it only reduces the possibility of the accidents. There are usually two types of grounds that are used (Glass, 2016). The service or the system ground for instance involves grounding either the neutral conductor or the grounded conductor. In the second option of grounding known as ordinary low voltage circuit, it is the white or the gray wire that is grounded at either the generator or transformer and at the service entrance to the building or at the gate of the Canberra Company. This mode of ground is used to protect machines, tools and finally provide insulation against damage (Floyd & Cole, 2015). To exclusively protect the workers from electrocution, an extra ground that is known as the equipment ground should be provided through providing an alternative path from the tool that current flows to the ground (Fischer et al., 2015). This method is known to create an open circuit incase an electrical equipment is energized and this will protect electrocution to all the workers within the company.

I would consider setting up circuit protection devices. This devices are designed to cut off current if it there is an overflow that can cause electrocution. They are usually placed in the circuit to monitor the amount of current flowing through the circuit. Whenever the current is in excess to cause potential harm to any worker, they break up the circuit (Crow, Liggett, & Scott, 2018) .Fuses are the most commonly used and they melt when the current is in excess. Circuit breakers on the other hand are meant to cut down the flow of electricity if it can cause shock. The two devices are designed to protect conductors as well as equipment by preventing overheating of the wires that can lead to hazards to the workers.

Intensive training of the workers can also be implemented in the Canberra Construction site. All the workers must be educated on how they should protect themselves from electrical hazards. They can be trained on how to deenergize electrical equipment. Sudden starting of electrical equipment can lead to severe injuries or even death (Campbell & Dini, 2016). Therefore before any electrical equipment is started, the switch should be initially off then an inspection of the devices should be done to ensure that the current is within the normal range that cannot cause injury or death to the workers.

Overhead lines should be implemented followed by certain considerations. The death or Mr. Booth was as a result of contact with the overhead lines. To prevent such accidents at the company, I would consider de-energizing the power lines anytime the tricks are passing. If switching on and off is tedious, I would then consider guarding or insulating the lines. There should also be considerations to ensure that all the workers within the company stay at least 3.05 meters away from the overhead power lines (Bugaris, 2017) .In the case where more than 50,000 volts, then the clearance must be elevated by more than 4 inches for each of the additional 10,000 volts. All the works who come in contact with electrical devices should also be provided with protective devices. This devices can include rubber, line hose as well as the industrial protective helmets. The workers should also exercise good judgement to protect themselves against injuries and death from electrocution (Boini, Colin, & Grzebyk, 2016). Judgement in this case involves judging if the truck can come into contact with the overhead power lines or not.

To resolve hazards at the workplace, it is also necessary to appoint qualified safety officers. In the case of Canberra Construction Company, the safety officer was just appointed due to the fact that he was the son to the managing director (Barlas & Izci, 2018). The safety officer therefore did not have any skills to promote workplace safety. In future, it is therefore necessary for all the workplace to employ safety workers who are qualified and possess the necessary skills and knowledge that will ensure implementation of safety at the workplace that will protect all the workers.

Conclusion

From the article, there was one of the workers at the Canberra construction company who died from electrocution when the tip of the truck came into contact with the electric line. This attracted a hefty fine from the magistrate. This therefore implies that to prevent such hazards and ensure workplace safety in future, there should be strategies that should be utilized. Control of electrical hazards is very important in ensuring safety of all the workers at their workplace. Different measures can be used in this case and they include good judgement, use of overhead lines, training of all the workers to protect themselves against electrocution and enhancing safe work practices. Other important measures to prevent electrical hazards include circuit protection devices such as fuses and circuit breakers. Grounding, guarding and insulation are also important. Could the Canberra Company considered all this workplace safety measures, Mr. Booth would have not been electrocuted and there would have not been any fine as directed by the magistrate.

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