Mr. J N Bhavani Prasad, EHS Expert

EHS practices should adapt to progress of project

In an exclusive interview with Built Expressions, Mr. J N Bhavani Prasad, EHS Expert says, safety issues of workers should be customized at different levels of construction process.

BE: How important is EHS factor at a construction project and how is it accommodated at tendering stage?

Construction activity has become complex due to mechanization, demand for speed in construction, large size, integration of inputs from a wide range of disciplines  from soil mechanics, concrete technology, electrical systems, data communication, HVAC, security systems, fire detection & protection systems etc., Most construction projects today require input from more than 25 different disciplines or specialists of different systems. Construction site environment has to be conducive to the activities. 

The question is already loaded to the extent that it assumes that the "construction project" is "tendering"; Consequently there will be a contractor and that the contract is governed or administered according to the contract conditions.  Most our contracts for construction projects do rely on the contract conditions and the contract conditions in almost all standard contracting formats attribute or abrogate the responsibility for safety "in the terms of the contract conditions" on to the contractor. Logically it is correct as all activities are initiated, planned, organized, managed and executed by the contractor.

Law holds the owner (who is the "principal employer"), in addition to the contractor, also responsible for ensuring safety. The calculated/estimated cost or the standard scheduled rates for different items of work are all calculated taking the likely expenditure on ensuring EHS requirement and as are built into the costing of the items of work & therefore in the cost of work put to tender. The tendered cost would therefore automatically incorporate the EHS component in the tendered cost.

BE: What are the best safety practices to be adopted at a construction site based on your experience as a reputed Project management Consultant?

The Owner, the Engineer-in-Charge (who is responsible for the administration of the contract), the Contractor, Supervisors of the contractor and each and every worker has to be safety conscious and implement the prescribed requirements, be it the use of a helmet or a safety harness or a protective goggles or gloves.

With respect to the health aspects we expect more proactive implementation of the requirements from the Engineer-in-Charge, the Resident Engineer of the contractor, than from the worker in ensuring that the products & processes used are not harmful at all or if they are harmful the appropriate protection measures are explained clearly to those vulnerable as well as implemented.

Site environment as a whole requires positive attention from the Resident Engineer of the contractor and the Engineer-in-Charge of the owner. The construction site and a factory are similar in some aspects. But there is one major difference. In a factory any particular activity takes place continuously at a particular place and its associated risks and vulnerable personnel are known. At a construction site the activities and the place of the activity are constantly on the move both horizontally and vertically. In addition, at any particular place there is a constant change of activity by workers of different disciplines and may require the use of different machines. This difference between a factory and a construction site makes the site management from EHS aspects very complicated and has to be dynamic and constantly adapting to the changes or the progress. In a factory setting the dynamic adaptation requirements are not at all so demanding.

BE: How can one achieve ‘Zero Accident’ completion of a project? What are the kinds of strategies adopted in your projects to achieve this status?

There are many projects which have been completed with "Zero Accident" or at least a "Near Zero" status.

Success in EHS comes only with total integrated approach from all team players and the team leaders or supervisors at all levels have a great responsibility and should have the attitude towards safety. Compromise on safety aspects takes place at various levels. Some of them are:

1. Use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is generally ignored by the workers.
2. PPE equipments are quite often not comfortable to use or wear. Typical example or explanation would be about the use of safety jacket or gloves or helmet. Their use in our tropical climate causes discomfort by sweating and in fact often reduces the output. So workers tend not to use them.
3. While costing for expenditure on safety is accounted and included in the cost of the items of work, it is not explicitly paid for. So it becomes an item on which the contractor can look forward to reasonable compromise to improve the bottom line. The Engineer-in-Charge may also find difficulty in enforcing some measures for EHS (particularly if the Contractor or his Resident Engineer is not interested) as the same may lead to debates and face resistance for implementation.
4. Everyone is interested in "Zero Accident" and project completion on time. But the contractor & his team are having the bottom line at a higher status of priority than for EHS. It is more so because EHS costing is built in and is not independently measurable and payable. Making items of temporary provisions and equipments separately right from the tendering stage can overcome this lacuna in our contract pricing system.
5. We have a lot to learn and implement a total transparent system of accounting among contractors and sub-contractors in a "relationship contract" on the model of NEC contracts. Two classic examples of such relationship contracts are the Heathrow T5 Terminal project and the Channel Tunnel Project. The T5 project claims to have a Near Zero Accident. The best part of this contracting system is that the unforeseen risks are all borne rightly by the owner and the profit of each party is protected and as such there would be no intention to compromise on any aspect including the EHS aspects.
6. Construction industry is labour intensive and the labour is largely uneducated. They will not be able to understand or appreciate the EHS needs unless taught and trained. Employers consider expenditure on such training a waste. This leads to many accidents, which are attributed to ignorance.

BE:  What in your experience is the effectiveness of safety measures in reducing Construction Accident Rates?

For large projects we have change our contracting system to a "Relationship or Partnership Contract" system on the lines of NEC system. Such a change will improve project quality as well as delivery apart from having an extremely good influence on EHS also. Safety issues are attended to only during the "Safety Week" and after the week they are packed up. This should change. Such attitudinal change can come only with efforts at all levels right from the top. Just having a "Safety Manager" for a number of projects has no meaning. Safety should be everyone's business.

BE: What kind of compensation policy is included in the contract document?

Laws, Acts and Rules govern the compensation and become automatically applicable as per the laws of the land. Contract documents invoke them by reference if there is any confusion in special cases.

BE: How important is Activity Hazard Analysis in India?

Hazard analysis is a requirement whether in India or anywhere else. Is there any doubt or question about importance of activity hazard analysis?

Organizations dealing with special construction activities have all developed their own templates for the assessment, installation of control features for protection of materials, equipment, storage, transportation, processes, personnel etc.,

BE: How is the scenario of construction safety in India when compared with developed countries?

The problems pointed earlier are applicable in both developing and developed countries. While it has been brought out earlier that Heathrow T5 project and Channel Tunnel project are examples of excellent safety records, it by corollary means that most other projects do not have as good a picture as these. In many countries the professional associations of skilled tradesmen are strong and enforce discipline among their members and also influence the employers to provide and maintain proper standard of EHS measures with particular focus on the safety of their members. In India as of now the Trade Unions rarely step into issues of EHS other than as an item to bargain.

We have some of the very major lapses in EHS issues even in India are seen in multinationals operating here. On top of it they get covert support from the governments of their countries. India is a large country and the problems are diverse and I am not aware of any such comparative study comparing Construction Industry safety record in India with other countries. It would be good to organize such a study.

BE:  What is the role of a safe design process in the construction productivity?

Accidents cause loss of productivity. In addition, it impacts loss of workers' morale apart from the loss of reputation and invokes questions of competency. Owners, Contractors and all those connected with the project right down to the last unskilled worker are interested in the completion of the project. But each one of them has as secondary objective also and sometimes the second objective is likely take precedence or claim priority. For example the contractor would definitely be having more priority for his profit and rightly his aim would be to maximize his profit apart from completion of the project.

There appears to be a conceptual problem in your question on linking "Safe Design Process", "Safety (EHS)" and "Productivity". If the design is improper or not safe then naturally the safety record would be bad. Better productivity on a faulty design may lead to the unsafe situation equally faster! Design process is not the only issue which affects productivity. Design is the most important step in any project and as such it is important.