It will probably come as no surprise that one of the areas targeted for improvements in H&S management techniques by the Government in association with the HSE, is our very own industry: Construction of The Built Environment.
Despite positive gains, the Health & Safety performance of the construction industry still needs radical improvement. For example, the fatal injury rate is approximately 7.5 times that of the all industry average, being a figure of 5.3 per 100,000 employees and we still have the largest number of fatal incidents to workers of any industry sector. Although long-term trends in incidents have reduced over the last ten years, Construction is still one of the most dangerous industry sectors.
226 people were killed in 2002/03 according to the latest statistics from the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). This surely represents a major failing of our responsibility as employers to provide the basic human right: "of having our health and safety protected and working in as safe an environment as is possible."
Although being struck by moving/falling objects, falls from a height and collapse incidents continue to be the most common types of accident, what of the others? Accidents in confined spaces, fire related incidents, electrification....the list goes on and on. The type of incident forms only part of the statistic, the outcome is always the same: injury/disability at best, death at worst, financial penalty for the employer as a minimum, corporate or personal litigation at most. Common denominator? Both human and financial costs are always incurred.
Can we afford to keep paying ever increasing insurance premiums to cover our shortfalls in Health and Safety management? With the ever-evolving Corporate Manslaughter Bill on the horizon, should not the safety of our employees become ever more paramount in our corporate strategy?
Safety Professionals have reported that many recent incidents could potentially have been avoided if present paper-based safety systems were implemented correctly and with due care and attention. However, due to less-than-perfect practice, pressure on time, human error and an ever increasing mountain of paperwork to be cross checked and safety audited, employees continue to fall between the gaps or literally get buried beneath inadequate or over stretched systems.
Although responsibility for delivering performance is currently shared, the cost of an incident may soon become the responsibility of not just the employing company but may be directed at the group of individuals or the individual who may be deemed to have had ultimate responsibility for the safety of the victim.
Banyard Solution's "E-permits" software is designed to reduce the risk of injury on-site during construction and to improve management control beyond the levels possible with a paper-based permit to work system.
For anyone to work safely in controlled areas it is necessary to evaluate each planned activity in the light of open permits to work, other concurrent requests and the general risk status of the environment. Given the number of requests and the complexity of most sites, a paper-based system cannot easily spot the potentially dangerous clashes of activity. By contrast, Banyard Solutions E-permits software collates and presents the permit data in views that bring clarity to the large amount of information, allowing the team to identify and prioritize clashes in advance, and to only issue permits when it is considered safe.
The E-permits software consists of a permit request e-mailed to the permit office by contractors, which then interfaces with a sophisticated database to log and assess the activity. The request is analysed by the software to highlight potential areas of conflict and then referred to an engineering / IOSH qualified manager to confirm its status. If approved, an E-Permit is made available to the contractor.
E-permits software allows the receipt of only "logic-checked" requests from contractors, it has intelligence built into the permit request form that prevents contractors from making illogical requests such as an Access Permit to weld instead of a Hot Works permit, or a Hot Works permit for two days. Dropdown menus within the fields improve the speed and consistency of information.
By sorting the request data by system, location and plant one can quickly determine which activities would clash or be dangerous given the plant/work/location status at that time. Having generated Permits to Work (PTW), the software monitors unissued, open, due and completed permits thus enabling the release of real time management information.
When a permit request is approved, the software opens the correct type of permit template and populates it with the appropriate details, automatically generating all permit documentation and access devices ready for collection. The E-permits software assigns the appropriate key(s) to the location and plant on the permit and they are signed for on issue and return. Lost keys can be recorded against the individual and a report can be generated listing the offenders by contractor.
Having issued Permits, a report, listing authorised operatives by contractor and location, is used to find operatives working without a current, valid permit. Offenders can be removed from the area and their company notified. A full suite of management reports exists to manage all aspects of the permit process and help maximise the benefits of an electronic system.
To achieve both the H&S and control advantages that the E-permits system offers, requires management by motivated and well-disciplined technical staff. It demands and relies on close liaison and a good relationship with contractor's management and operatives. It is recognised that the system will involve an intrusive regime of verification, however, it can cause minimal disruption to engineering work if the construction team comply with the rules.
Operation requires an engineer and manager to be resident on-site to operate the system. Responsibilities include site set-up, populating the databases, training contractors and specialists, receiving, loading and evaluating Permit requests, checking presence of Method Statements and Risk Assessments, authorising and issuing permits and keys, control of keys, site audits, control of signage and locks, and generation of reports.
The system is currently being used in Canary Wharf, bringing considerable Health & Safety benefits to the construction of a 44 storey, one million square foot landmark office development.
Mirroring HSE objectives, Banyard Solutions believe that by understanding the causation of accidents, mapping health hazards and risks and implementing a software system such as E-Permits, we as an Industry will improve our chances of successfully hitting the agreed 2010 safety objectives.
michael.johnson@e-permits.co.uk
