The document discusses occupational health and safety (OHS) management in the construction industry. It notes that over 2 million workers die annually from work-related accidents or illnesses. Construction sites pose risks such as falls and cuts. Poor OHS management can lead to losses from accidents including damage to public image, production losses, and increased insurance costs. Common causes of accidents include lack of training and protective equipment, and production priorities overriding safety. The document advocates implementing an integrated OHS management system based on the PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle per ISO 45001 standards to improve safety performance and compliance.

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OHS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM

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Statistics - International Labour Organization (ILO)
• 2.3 million women and men succumb to
work-related accidents or diseases
• Over 6000 deaths every single day.
• Around 340 million occupational accidents
and 160 million victims of work-related
illnesses annually.
• Around 340 million occupational accidents
and 160 million victims of work-related
illnesses annually.
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Are these figures alarming?
We all can agree, “Construction sites are
dangerous places to work”

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Construction Industry
• Anyone who has ever done any type of repairs in or around their home, would know how
easy it is to cut a finger or fall off a ladder.
• Construction site is generally complex that involves many subcontractors to come together
and perform different tasks. Coordination to achieve safe work is a bigger challenge.
• Everyone involved from project managers, builders, designers, subcontractors, and
suppliers are responsible for safety and need to work together to achieve a common goal
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Losses to business after an accident
• Damage to public image
• Loss of Production time
• Loss of trust from owner / Business
stakeholders
• Damage to industrial relations
(perhaps strikes and violence by
workers)
• Loss of skilled manpower
• Loss of investigation time
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• Loss of future business
• Worker treatment / sick pay
• Repair / Replacement of equipment
• Prosecution
• Compensation claims
• Recruitment & training
• Increased insurance premium
• It is not nothing but adverse publicity

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Accident reasons in construction
• Poor commitment (Reactive
Management)
• Lack of procedures
• Lack of training
• Ineffective communication
• No availability of right equipment, tools
and PPE
• Production override safety
• Poor enforcement
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• Incentive scheme / Over work
• Client pressure
• Limited budget / Inadequate resources
• Inadequate job Supervision & Safety
consultation
• Lack of worker consultation and
participation
• Adverse working conditions
• Lack of incident investigation
These are all indicators of poor health and safety management in construction

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Why we need to manage Occupational Health and Safety in Construction?
Legal Reasons
There is a framework of national and international laws
& regulations that govern various industrial sectors. If
you do not comply to these, there can be legal actions,
fines, penalties and business disruption
Moral Reasons
It is a moral responsibility of every owner, principal
contractor and subcontractors to provide a safe
working environment to every employee working within
their premises.
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Why we need to manage Occupational Health and Safety in Construction?
Economic reasons
• Greater productivity
• High morale
• Reduction in costs associated with accidents/investigations,
repair / replacement, training, overtime etc.
• Improved image and reputation of the organisation
• Lower insurance premiums
• Enhancement in company business
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• Many factors add to the economic benefits gained as a result of good H&S
• standards in the workplace.

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Traditional approach in managing OHS
• Greater emphasis on wearing PPE than technical
controls
• Inadequate / Lack of work procedures
• More reliance on EHS officer effectiveness
• Blame culture
• Fear of reporting incidents
• Shallow accident investigation
• No detailed inspections
• Inadequate supervision
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Accidents do not happen. They are caused

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Traditional approach in managing OHS
• Greater emphasis on wearing PPE than technical
controls
• Inadequate / Lack of work procedures
• More reliance on EHS officer effectiveness
• Blame culture
• Fear of reporting incidents
• Shallow accident investigation
• No detailed inspections
• Inadequate supervision
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These are all indicators of poor health and safety management in construction

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Traditional approach in managing OHS
• Inadequate or no training
• Multiple subcontractors – lack of coordination
• Unknown EHS Plan and procedures to subcontractors
• Toolbox talks, inspection reports, incident investigation
reports are simply a paper exercise
• Incentives
• Reactive management
• Job stop is a nightmare
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Traditional approach in managing OHS was like Fighting a battle without a sword!
That accelerated the incident number! Is this Right?

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A documented health and safety management system
becomes a proof that we comply with H&S laws those
prevail & obviously reduce opportunity for criminal or civil
legal action for breaches resulting in fines, imprisonment,
improvement orders or compensation pay-outs.
Increase productivity, profitability and enhance business
growth, whilst also creating business opportunities within
new markets.
A well-documented health and safety management system
may, once established, also lower your insurance
premiums.
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What is required in a good Health & Safety Management system

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Why Health and safety is so important?
Workers are more productive in workplaces that are committed to health and safety.
Reducing down-time caused by illness and accidents means less disruption – and saves
your business money.
By protecting your workers, you reduce absenteeism, ensuring that your workplace is
more efficient and productive.
Safety is a way of life!
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Requirements of a good OHS Management system
• A good OHS management system is the one which
is based on PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT cycle.
• The Company HSE Management System should be
designed to integrate prevention of injury, illness
and continual improvement in planning and
execution.
• The system must address the core elements of ISO
45001: 2018 which specifies requirements for an
occupational health and safety (OH&S) management
system and gives guidance for its use.

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Requirements of a good OHS Management system
• It should be a compilation with consideration of laws and regulations , recognized international
system models, company values, policies, instructions, processes, procedures and customer
expectations .
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Typical components of a good OHS Management system
Auditing
Planning and
Implementing
Organizing
Policy
Measuring
performance
Reviewing
performance
Information Link
Control Link
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How we create and implement integrated OHS management system
in construction?
PLAN
• Policy - Leadership & Commitment : Company should be
committed to highest ethical standards, insisting on strict
health & safety, procedures to protect workers, partners,
contractors & customers from injury, illness & environmental
impact.
• Roles & Responsibility & Authority : Prepare a complete
organizational chart including all stakeholders for example main
contractor, subcontractor (key positions) with a Defined roles &
responsibilities and authority for OHS that secure
implementation and development of 4Cs

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
PLAN
• Legal & other requirements: Identify the legal and other
requirements that your company is subscribed to , prepare a
register and periodically verify to see whether you are
complying on the same
• Contractor management: Ensure that the contractor
procedures align with the main contractor EHS policy for
example all reporting formats
• Site rules: Establish the necessary site rules common for
everyone and integrate them in the trainings and procedures
• Prepare field instructions & checklists pertaining to
specific activities

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
DO
• Competence, training & awareness
• Provide induction training to new employees.
• Give job specific trainings e.g. confined
space, work at height, rigging and lifting,
scaffolding etc. These trainings to be
developed with the progress of the project
• Conduct pre-job briefing before the start of
every shift

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
DO
• Operational Control
• Carry out inspections and supervision to ensure that
the job proceeds as per the steps in method
statement and adequate safety precautions
mentioned in the risk assessment.
• Ensure that you have emergency preparedness to
handle any emergency situation. Implement
behavior-based safety program to coach people on
unsafe behaviors

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
DO
• Issue all mandatory and job specific PPE to the
employees
• Encourage workers for reporting near misses
• Have a direct or indirect consultation with workers in
the form of meetings
• Investigate all incidents
• Recognize a good safety performance

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
CHECK
• Monitor the EHS performance by conducting
• Regular Inspections
• Corporate Inspections
• Internal audits
• External audits
• Management walk downs
• Forward the observation reports,
• non compliances to the subcontractors

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
ACT
• Track and monitor the subcontractors for the
implementation of corrective actions to
improve the EHS performance
• Execute the changes in risk assessments,
procedures from investigation reports
• Develop KPIs, compare the performance,
initiate actions to improve

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How we integrate OHS management system in construction?
WELFARE
This is not the part of a PDCA cycle but an essential requirement to complement Health and safety
of the workers. These include but not limited to
• Safe drinking water.
• Rest Shelter
• Changing rooms
• Sanitary and toilet facilities.
• Washing facilities.
• Canteen.
• Occupational Health Center with Ambulance

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https://www.ask-ehs.com/elearning/
ASK-EHS Engineering & Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
OHS practices aid in ensuring that employees enjoy safe working conditions,
and reduce the impact on business performance
COMMUNICATION & LEARNING FOR RELIABLE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH BY ASK-EHS
COMMUNICATION & LEARNING FOR RELIABLE OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY AND HEALTH BY ASK-EHS
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