Over the years I have managed safety on many large construction and project sites. In many cases, ensuring safe access and egress for delivery vehicles on these sites has been a challenged that we have had to face and manage.
Often small, crowded streets, trees or shrubs near the access roads or small sites make addressing this issue even more difficult. Vehicles of people working on the project parked on the street can add complexity to the issue.
It is however, critical for the safety of the workforce on site and also the public in close proximity to these access ways that the risk is managed. Often I see organisations put significant effort into managing crane lifts over or near the site boundary that might impact members of the public, however totally ignore or forget about the delivery vehicle that has just delivered or collected the item.
The importance of managing the risks associated with service vehicles was highlighted by a recent decision in the Victorian Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court. The firm that was removing a skip bin from site, Melbourne Bin Hire Pty Ltd, was convicted and fined $20,000 after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to ensure that members of the public are not exposed to health or safety risks under section 23(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (VIC) 2004.
For a full explanation of the case, you can visit the WorkSafe Victoria article here.
WorkSafe Victoria stated:
“It’s an obvious risk, and there were obvious solutions which the company could have taken to protect pedestrians.
“We’re talking about straightforward steps like using another staff member as a spotter, putting a mirror on the fence line so drivers could see the footpath, or ordering drivers to drive slowly and sound their horn when exiting the property.
“The company didn’t assess the risks and they didn’t take any preventative steps – as a result, an elderly person has suffered a traumatic injury…”
Remember, when planning tasks on sites to consider not only the project or construction areas, but areas that can be affected by the way we conduct our activities on or near those areas.
Feb 28, 2011 @ 08:44:59
Excellent snippet Brett – Interaction with the public will always represent a significant challenge since, typically, our options for direct management of the behaviour of non-project personnel is very limited.
Safety professionals, along with other site managers and supervisors, need to do whatever is within their power to limit & control these interactions to avoid injury to people and/or loss of reputation.
Mar 08, 2011 @ 13:55:58
Thanks David. Look forward to hearing your and any others views on anything I write. I am trying to post at least weekly to assist in keeping myself thinking of safety issues that I am not currently dealing with during my consultancies.