ADDIS COLLEGE

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

CoTM 6205 Environment, Health and Safety Management
Second Semester 2020 (2012/13 E.C) Date November 4 ,2020
Final Examination
Note: Exam is open book / Attempt all questions
1. What are the responsibilities of the Employer to provide fall protection measures?

Answer

 To develop a written fall protection policy and procedures relevant for the work place.
Employer must also revise and correct accordingly when necessary.
 By identifying areas where there will be a cause for falling, employer must provide working
conditions that are free of known dangers.
 Make sure that the floors in work areas are kept clean and, so far as possible, a dry condition
since it might be one cause of falling.
 Select and provide required personal protective equipment that fulfill legal requirements and
specifications for the fall risk at no cost to workers. Employer must also make sure that it is
properly provided, used and maintained in a good condition.
 Making sure the use of conventional and specialized fall protection systems .Conventional fall
protection systems can be fixed barriers such as guardrails, open surface protections or hole
covers, fall containment such as safety nets and personal fall arrest systems such as body
harness, connector or lanyard and appropriate anchorage or horizontal life line. Specialized
fall protections can be safety monitor, warning line, controlled access zones and fall
protection plan.
 Train workers about the fall-protection methods or systems used and, in the post-fall rescue
procedure before being allowed to a risk of falling area in a language that they can understand.
It must also be applied to interns and temporary workers and employer should supervise to
make sure.
 To develop fall arrest rescue procedures which detail how to return workers safety to the ground
after a fall has been arrested.
 To make sure that appropriate precautions are followed from falling at the site to nearby persons
or properties.

Generally the employer must determine whether fall protection is required and, if so, take precautions,
select and provide workers with fall protection systems that comply with the regulations and laws.

2. The “Environment” is one component of a job hazard analysis. Give an example of this in a
construction site.
Answer

The following environmental job hazard analysis is done for Konso-Yabelo road upgrading project.

Job Location: Analyst: Blen Ayalew Date: 11/11/2020

Hard rock site from KM 2+360
to 2+720
Task Description: Drilling of holes for blasting
Hazard Description: Dust created while drilling, high noise, disruption of nearby habitat
Hazard Controls:
1. Use of clean water for dust suppression
2. Take in to account noise limit or schedule working to sociable hours
3. Reduce or remedy impact on biodiversity

Job Location: Analyst: Blen Ayalew Date: 11/11/2020

Camp sites at Km 17+000 and
Km 50+000
Task Description: Building Contractors and consultant camp
Hazard Description: water pollution to the river nearby
Hazard Controls:
1. Prevent the waste from ending up in the river
2. Properly collect all disposals ,treat and reuse it

Job Location: Analyst: Blen Ayalew Date: 11/11/2020

from BOP to EOP
Task Description: Clear forests for Right-of-way
Hazard Description: global warming, destruction of habitat, ozone depletion, soil erosion
Hazard Controls:
1. Replacing ecofriendly plants
2. Afforestation to prevent soil erosion

3. Give an example of “exposure time limitations” include numerical examples

Answer

Example 1:- Electronic code of federal regulation (e-CFR ) data is current as of

November 12, 2020 on Part 62—OCCUPATIONAL NOISE EXPOSURE states the following

TABLE 62-1—REFERENCE DURATION

dBA T (hours)
80 32.0
85 16.0
86 13.9
87 12.1
88 10.6
89 9.2
90 8.0
91 7.0
92 6.1
93 5.3
94 4.6
95 4.0
96 3.5
97 3.0
98 2.6
99 2.3
100 2.0
101 1.7
102 1.5
103 1.3
104 1.1
105 1.0
106 0.87
107 0.76
108 0.66
109 0.57
110 0.50
111 0.44
112 0.38
113 0.33
 114 0.29
115 0.25

At no time shall any excursion exceed 115 dBA. For any value, the reference duration (T) in hours is
computed by:

T = 8/2(L−90)/5 where L is the measured A-weighted, slow-response sound pressure level.

TABLE 62-2—“DOSE”TWA 8 EQUIVALENT

TWA8
Dose (percent)
25 80
29 81
33 82
38 83
44 84
50 85
57 86
66 87
76 88
87 89
100 90
115 91
132 92
152 93
174 94
200 95
230 96
264 97
303 98
350 99
400 100
460 101
530 102
610 103
700 104
800 105
920 106
1056 107
1213 108
1393 109
1600 110
1838 111
2111 112
2425 113
2786 114
3200 115

Interpolate between the values found in this Table, or extend the Table, by using the formula:
TWA8 = 16.61 log10 (D/100) + 90.

TABLE 62-3—AGE CORRECTION VALUE IN DECIBELS FOR MALES (SELECTED FREQUENCIES)

kHz
Age (years) 2 3 4
20 or less 3 4 5
21 3 4 5
22 3 4 5
23 3 4 6
24 3 5 6
25 3 5 7
26 4 5 7
27 4 6 7
28 4 6 8
29 4 6 8
30 4 6 9
31 4 7 9
32 5 7 10
33 5 7 10
34 5 8 11
35 5 8 11
36 5 9 12
37 6 9 12
38 6 9 13
39 6 10 14
40 6 10 14
41 6 10 14
42 7 11 16
43 7 12 16
44 7 12 17
45 7 13 18
46 8 13 19
47 8 14 19
48 8 14 20
49 9 15 21
50 9 16 22
51 9 16 23
52 10 17 24
53 10 18 25
54 10 18 26
55 11 19 27
56 11 20 28
57 11 21 29
58 12 22 31
59 12 22 32
60 or more 13 23 33

TABLE 62-4—AGE CORRECTION VALUE IN DECIBELS FOR FEMALES (SELECTED FREQUENCIES)

kHz
Age (years) 2 3 4
20 or less 4 3 3
21 4 4 3
22 4 4 4
23 5 4 4
24 5 4 4
25 5 4 4
26 5 5 4
27 5 5 5
28 5 5 5
29 5 5 5
30 6 5 5
31 6 6 5
32 6 6 6
33 6 6 6
34 6 6 6
35 6 7 7
36 7 7 7
37 7 7 7
38 7 7 7
39 7 8 8
40 7 8 8
41 8 8 8
42 8 9 9
43 8 9 9
44 8 9 9
45 8 10 10
46 9 10 10
47 9 10 11
48 9 11 11
49 9 11 11
50 10 11 12
51 10 11 12
52 10 12 13
53 10 13 13
54 11 13 14
55 11 14 14
56 11 14 15
57 11 15 15
58 12 15 16
59 12 16 16
60 or more 12 16 17
Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?SID=28741a401b0e74a8d116a4d905dd89b6&mc=true&node=pt30.1.62&rgn=div5#se30.1.62_1130

Example 2:- Exposure limits for UV radiation are set as a total dosage (J m-2), similar to dosage limits
with radiation exposure (X-Ray; alpha, beta, and gamma particles). UV exposure limits are set in an 8 hour
time frame, though the onset time of symptoms can change depending on how much the exposure exceeds
the threshold. These thresholds, called Threshold Limit Values (TLVs), are set by the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.

The exposure limits for UV radiation vary with wavelength (blue line in figure), since our tissue responds
differently with wavelength (red line) [3]. The UV-B and UV-C bands have the highest activity in our
tissue, while the UV-A has the least. Exposure to about 10 mJ/cm2 of UV-A radiation (ex: 355 nm) on the
skin would not show any effect, while significant effects would be observed from the same dosage (radiant
exposure) in the UV-C band (ex: 266 nm).
The exposure dose limit during a work day is 3 mJ/cm2 for actinic UV radiation (200 nm - 315 nm) based
on the ACGIH TLV booklet. The actinic region of the UV spectrum is the region of highest spectral
sensitivity as shown in the red curve above. The actinic region contains some of the UV-C and most of the
UV-B band. The total dosage in this spectral band translates into different effective irradiances of sources
depending on the exposure duration, as shown in the following table.

Exposure duration Effective Irradiance (µW/cm2)

8 hours 0.1

4 hours 0.2

2 hours 0.4

1 hour 0.8

30 minutes 1.7
 15 min. 3.3

10 min. 5

5 min. 10

1 min. 50

30 seconds 100

10 s 300

1s 3000

0.5 s 6000

0.1 s 30,000

Note that many drugs can modify an individual's sensitivity to UV and lead to over-exposure at dosage
levels lower than that reported here.

Source: https://orm.uottawa.ca/my-safety/em-radiation/uv/exposure-limits

4. What safety factors should be considered by employers when bidding on a job?

Answer

 To identify what kind of safety measures are necessary

 To check the company’s history on safety and health regulations on similar projects. This helps to
evaluate safety program accomplishments, implementation measures to reduce injury and promote
safety.
 Written health and safety program. It will be best to include health and safety policies and steps taken
to evaluate subcontractors
 Review personnel’s safety record to assure if special safety training and/or certifications be required. It
also helps to adjust man-hours.
 About safety budget to identify and estimate full cost of providing a safe and healthy environment for
all site employees. These include
 Personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements
 Purchase emergency materials like fire extinguisher
 Safety training
 Site medical and first-aid program and if possible substance abuse program
 Understand laws and regulations on health and safety matters. Also regulations on environmental issues
especially to remove hazardous substances.
 5. What key factors need to be addressed when selecting a PPE?

Answer

Choosing the right PPE - Since there are different PPE types like gloves, glasses, gowns, shoe covers,
respirators, etc. we are supposed to choose the one that fits the workplace perfectly based on PPE
regulations. Doing a research, figure out the right PPE and ask the employees to wear it all by guiding
them.

Proper fit - It must fit the user. Each employee should get a perfect fit and the garment shall not be an
obstacle to get a full range of motion. This allows the worker to perform the job function without
difficulty.

Must be used – It should not affect the wearer's range of motion and extent of job fatigue. Therefore it
shall be light in weight, made up of flexible material.

Comfort - By its very nature, protective clothing can be an added barrier to natural cooling and more
so in hot, humid situations. Therefore an employee should consider this in mind when selecting one.
Also considering aesthetic comfort gives physiological comfort but shall never sacrifice the protective
barrier.

Proper maintenance - To ensuring that protective materials are regularly cleaned and based on their
time limit they shall be disposed.

6. A worker is engaged in a reinforcement production mill. What kind of PPE would need to be
provided?

Answer

 Head protection helmet- to protect the head from splashes of molten metal and against accidental falls
from above.
 Eye and face protection - to minimize high levels of ultraviolet, infra-red and visible light that might
be generated while welding, cutting, melting and pouring operations. It also protect against flying
particles from processes such as cutting, grinding, or scarfing. Example: safety eye glasses, welding
shields, face shields
 Hearing protection earmuffs or earplugs - to protect the worker from hearing loss due to metal
operations and machinery high noise created in the production. It reduce noise exposure to acceptable
limits.
 Hand and arm protection - to protect from cuts, abrasions, heat, chemical contamination, burns,
infection, skin irritation in case of manual handling where there may be a risk of piercing by abrasive,
sharp or pointed objects. Example: Leather gloves, chemical and liquid resistant gloves
 Foot and leg protection- to protect from burns caused molten metals, sparks or corrosive chemicals. It
must also protect limbs being crushed by service machinery or moving loads. Example: leggings,
metatarsal guards, toe guards
 Body protection – to protect exposed body part from injury. Example: Rigid fabrics with high visibility
jackets
 Respiratory protection-to protect from respiratory problems caused by fumes, toxic gasses and oxygen
deficient atmosphere. Example: Mechanical filter respirators, gas mask

7. You are assigned as a chief safety officer in a 3 Basement + G + 25 floors building construction
project. The work is to be carried out in three shifts and is estimated to take about three years
to complete. It is expected that there will be about 200 workers (both skilled and unskilled)
involved in the work. Describe in sufficient detail what you would do to ensure safety and
health in such a construction site during the full duration of the construction activity.

Answer

To ensure health and safety as a chief safety officer I will do the following

 Prepare and implement site safety and health plan

 Investigate if there are areas of high risk incidents by observing or discussing with the workers.
This helps to amend the site regulation when necessary.
 Regularly conduct and document health and safety issues.Working Job hazard analysis to identify
hazards before they occur since it focuses on the relationship between the worker, the task, the
tools, and the work environment.
 Schedule a training secessions and create awareness. This helps to let them know their duties and
responsibility concerning health and safety. They must also exercise how to manage emergency
situations.
 Inspect the site to ensure hazard free environment. This includes verifying tools and equipment are
used, maintained and stored properly. Especially working in shift needs a great caution that each
party must be responsible to transfer an incident free place.
 Make sure the hazardous waste from the site is properly managed in a way that don’t affect the
public.
 Ensuring the workers get the right PPE that fulfill the regulation. The PPE must be distributed
according to their job function. Another thing is surveying comment on their PPE’s comfort.
 Prepare weekly or monthly report regarding health and safety to the concerned government body.
 If there are subcontractors, making them to have safety plan and review for approval.

8. If you are preparing a construction contract, what elements would you recommend to be
included in regard to safety and health? Link your comments to the PPA form of contract
and elaborate sufficiently.

Answer

PPA 2011 Contractors obligation the following are recommendations when preparing a construction
contract with regard to health and safety

Under clause 45 it will be best to include the following

 Each employees responsibility regarding wearing safety and health equipment

  Contractor’s skilled professional and management responsibility. This include contractor shall
hire safety officer in order to plan and control health and safety issues and the project manager
responsibility to schedule meeting to verify that hazards are identified and mitigated properly.
 Contractor’s responsibility to ensure the subcontractors has fulfilled health and safety
regulations.
 Contractor’s responsibility on the framework related to material and equipment using safety
and health at work.
 Contractor’s responsibility to give health and safety training and work job hazard analysis
regular basis .It should be notified to the engineer and documented.
 Contractor’s responsibility to prepare a policy for preventing environmental pollution.

Under clause 46 it will be best to include the following

 Contractor’s responsibility to safeguard adjacent properties by control and preservation of

hazardous substances to health and safety based on regulations and laws.

Under clause 47 it will be best to include the following

 Contractor should hire traffic personnel to manage only traffic issues.

Under clause 48 it will be best to include the following

 Contractor responsibility to put precaution signs when performing excavations to cables and
conduits.
 Contractor’s obligation to cover the holes properly and make sure it does not make safety issue for
the workers or passengers moving.

9. Elaborate the statement “Service or fueling areas at job sites must have a 20BC-rated fire
extinguisher within 75 feet of each pump.”

Answer

The UL rating (Nationally recognized safety and sustainability standards) is broken down into Class A and
Class B:C ratings. These numerical ratings allow to compare the relative extinguishing effectiveness of
various fire extinguishers

 The A rating is a water equivalency rating. Each A is equivalent to 1 1/4 gallons of water.
 The B:C rating is equivalent to the amount of square footage that the extinguisher can cover,
when handled by a professional.
 C indicates it is energized components requiring a non-conductive extinguishing medium

Therefore statement “Service or fueling areas at job sites must have a 20BC-rated fire extinguisher within
75 feet of each pump.” means at the job site there must be a service area at a maximum travel distance
from each other of 75 feet, which contain an extinguisher capable of extinguishing a fires up to 20 square
feet in size that is safe to use on fires involving energized electrical equipment.
 10. How does a construction activity affect the environment? How is it mitigated?

Answer

A construction activity affect the environment in many ways. The impacts can generally be on the
ecosystem, on the natural resource or on the public https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/pollution-
from-construction/

Type of Impacts Examples Mitigation

Ecosystem -Air pollution due to vehicular, - Using low Sulphur diesel and improving
plant or equipment exhaust and existing equipment by using particulate
dust during construction affect the filters, not burning waste materials, using
climate sprinklers

-Noise emission due to various - Ensure the machineries are properly

construction equipment and maintained and by switching off the plant
vehicles when it is not in use and managing the level
of the noise.
-Wastes generated from labor
camps, sewage treatment plants, -Managing disposal of site waste by covering
resulted from painting, hazardous up all drains to prevent the waste from ending
discharged oils from operation up in the water or properly collect and treat the
and maintenance of construction waste water.
equipment cause water pollution.
-Plan a habitat and species protection
program.

Natural resource -Electricity or fuel are consumed -Focusing on renewable energy source
a lot for construction equipment
operation. -Use materials responsibly.

-Extraction of raw materials for

construction

-Trees and different vegetation’s -Planting deforested areas or use other soil
cut down may be for using the stabilizing mechanisms.
wood for construction or right-of-
way issue during construction
cause soil erosion

Public -While construction dust and -Showering dust areas and scheduling work
noise affect human health during sociable hours.

- Reckless use of construction -Proper management of health and safety

equipment and fall of tools may issues and taking caution.
 injure or kill any person around
the construction site.

Examiner: Girmay Kahssay