Responsibilities of Contractors by Regulation 2 of Construction Regulations - Case Study Example

s Responsibilities imposed on contractors by Regulation 2 of the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations Construction is considered amongst one of the most dangerous land based activities in the working sector of Japan. Although the working population in the construction sector is only about 10%, it still accounts for 30% of the work casualties and 40% of the fatalities in Japan. Hong Kong has the highest construction hazard rates. Falls from height, crashes, excavation accidents, being hit by an object etc are common construction hazards. Even after the rate dropped from 350 per 1000 workers in mid 1980 to 60 per 1000 workers in 2007, it still accounted for nearly 20% of all the industrial accidents in Hong Kong1. To attain a level of zero fatalities while on construction sites, has been set as a political goal by the government of Japan. Hong Kong has had a very poor safety record. The lack of awareness/low level of education of the construction workers, multi level subcontracting, high mobility of workforce etc can be considered prime reasons for theses construction hazards amongst others. Even though Hong Kong has passed its own laws and ordinances to help decrease the number of fatal accidents in the construction working sector, it will only have an impact depending on how it is enforced. The scenario given to us presents a case of extreme multi level subcontracting. We first need to understand the jobs assigned and the tiered contracts in order to analyze and judge the fatal accident and what parties should be held responsible. Mr John Wu, an architect, signed a contract with Hung Ki Dvelopment company to design and develop a 50 storey building. Mr Wu then assigned Lap Ming Ltd to be the contractor for the builder work, which will take up to 85% of the total contract sum for the formation of the building. Since the scenario doesn't specify, we will make the assumption that the architect John Wu entered a contract with Sunny Construction Ltd, specialist contractors for the building services works. Building services engineers are responsible for the design, installation, operation and monitoring of the mechanical, electrical and public health systems required for the safe, comfortable and environmentally friendly operation of modern buildings2. Lap Ming Ltd then signed a subcontract with Star Decorator Ltd, also specialist contractors, to complete the internal decorations. The construction work began on 2.10.03 after the application was approved by the building authorities, submitted by Lap Ming. On 1.8.05, the operations of the building works and the internal decorations were in full swing when the foolish behavior of Chan Sam, led to a fatal accident of a casual worker. Chan Sam, a direct employees of the fire services subcontractor, used an excavator to move some iron piping to a workplace near the pump house on ground floor level. He was being accompanied by a female worker, and in order to entertain her, he drove the excavator in a zigzag manner. Suddenly the iron bars swung out, and fell near a moving lorry, being driven by Mak Sam, who was lowering the tiles needed for the internal decorations. The sudden loud noise sent Mak Sam into a shock, causing him to lose his balance and accidently push the wrong control lever, which resulted in the crane to move in some other direction and hit the head of a casual worker, Li Yick, who was pronounced dead upon his arrival to the hospital. Both the workers from the builder services (Cham Sam) and the internal decorators (Mak Sam) are directly involved in this accident. According to our assumption, Sunny builder services were hired by the architect John Wu, upon clients request, and the internal decorators Star Ltd entered into a subcontract with Lap Ming Ltd, making both John Wu and Lap Ming to be indirectly involved with the accident. Since Hung Ki was assigned to overlook the construction of the building, he is also indirectly involved. Mr John Wu is just an architect by profession, his job is to design the building, keeping in mind the demands of the clients and satisfying them. He is just a client's representative, his authorized role does not mean he needs to be on site at all times to oversee the construction. He may visit as he pleases to make sure the building is being constructed according to the architectural plans and make changes if necessary. John Wu's job description requires him to design and submit the architectural plans for approval, including all the normal work of an authorized person before the commencement of the building. Also, he needs to monitor the activities of the developer to ensure that the project is completed within the time limit. Mr Wu then hired Hung Ki to help him design and oversee the construction, making him the managing contractor. Safety should be of utmost importance during the architectural plan of the building. The managing contractor should be able to design out unnecessary hazards and come up with a plan to minimize, if not completely eliminate it. He needs to prepare the pre-tender stage plan, which is a collection of information about the significant health and safety risks of the construction project which the Principal Contractor will have to manage during the construction phase.3 Although Lap Ming Ltd was assigned to be the contractor of the building, Hung Ki still assumed the contract management work. Lap Ming was assigned by John Wu to be the building contractor that will take up to 85% of the total sum set aside for the construction of the building, making them the principal contractor. A Principal contractor has the most responsibility when a construction site is concerned. He needs to develop the health and safety plan, to co-ordinate the activities of all the subcontractors, to obtain the main findings of contractor's risk assessments and details of how they intend to manage their high risk operations, to ensure that workers on the project have been given adequate training and information about risks to their health and safety. The use of these techniques leads to cost effective accident avoidance and prevention of ill health4. Sunny Construction Ltd, specialist subcontractors, were responsible for the building services work. A subcontractor is hired either to help reduce the principal contractors work load, to carry out the job at a lower expense rate or at a greater skill level. It falls under the responsibility of a sub contractor to assess the construction site to make sure that it is safe and up to the standards of the Safety and Health code of that city/country. the subcontractors are accountable for the safety of the workers working under their unit. Star Decorator Ltd were assigned the designation of a Nominated specialist subcontractor for the internal decorations of the building. The NSS are chosen by the client or the architect (in this case chosen by the client). The selection of a NSS benefits the employer because they can get specific goods and materials without entering into a direct contract with him and also that they are offered a reasonable price. A nominated subcontractor's duties include design of the elements to be supplied for the completion of the project. He is also responsible for the health and safety of the workers working under his unit. Chan Sam, a direct employee of the fire services subcontractor (Sunny Ltd), was directly involved in the cause of the accident. There can be three major reasons as to why the iron pipes swung out from the excavator . Firstly because Chan Sam was trying to amuse a female worker, he drove the excavator in a zig zag manner causing the iron pipes to fall off. Secondly the equipment hadn't been used for two months, that could also have been a cause or thirdly, maybe the weight of the iron pipes exceeded the limit of the safe load permit. Any or all three can be the cause of it. If Chan Sam was exhibiting such irrational behaviour, as to flirt with a female co-worker during an excavation, it is safe to assume that he may be underage and not certified to drive the lifting gear. If he really is underage, then Sunny Ltd have broken the law by hiring someone who is not certified to drive an excavator. It is also possible that Chan Sam is of age, but he just isn't professional or experienced enough to carry out this task. It is the subcontractor's duty to make sure his working unit is well trained. Maybe, Chan wasn't trained enough for this job. Since the equipment hadn't been used in two months, it is also likely that there was some problem with the operational gear of the equipment, and it was used under unsafe conditions. Since Chan was the driver, it was his responsibility to check the equipment before using it. If checking the equipment was not his area of expertise, then he should have asked someone else to do it for him. Considering the third reason that caused the iron pipes to swing out, it is probable that Chan Sam wasn't aware of the permitted safe load. Again it was his responsibility to check for the permissible load, as he drove it against the legal provisions. Considering all of these aspects, Chan Sam doesn't appear to be a fit for this job and it was Sunny Ltd corporation to hire competent people. Mak Sam, the crane driver, employed by the Star Ltd responsible for the internal decorations, upon hearing the loud noise caused by the fall of the iron pipes, accidently pushed the wrong control lever, causing the crane to move in the other direction and hitting the head of a causal worker. It will be unfair to hold Mak Sam solely responsible for the victims death, but at the same time we can make the assumption that he did not go through the proper training required for this field. A construction site is bound to be bustling with activity, and loud noises. Under construction training, they train you to withstand sudden loud noises, and how to respond quickly or overcome shock under certain circumstances. But at the same time, we can give Mak Sam benefit of the doubt, and assume that all of this happened so quickly and the window for the reaction time was very less. The two less insignificant people in the scenario are the female co-worker and Li Yick. The role of the female co-worker should have been to stop Chan Sam from his absurd actions. Li Yick, on the other hand was just an innocent victim. The Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (OSHO) and the Factories Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (F & IUO)have been imposed on Hong Kong by the Japanese government to help reduce the construction hazard rate. The OSHO provides for the safety and health protection of employees in both industrial and non industrial sectors. Under OSHO, it is the employers job to provide and maintain plants and machinery that does not endanger the safety of the workers, to provide the workers with all the necessary information , instructions and training required for the job, a safe working environment and to appoint an authorized person for on-site supervision. Under the assumption that the excavator did not belong to Chan Sam, and was under the ownership of Sunny Ltd, then they have violated the OSHO regulations by failing to provide safe machinery and a healthy environment, and sufficient training to the workers. This makes Sunny Ltd liable to pay a fine of $200000, and if done intentionally, then a fine of $200000 and imprisonment of up to 6 months. Regulation 2 is violated where a contractor is responsible for a construction site if he is undertaking work there, and is also responsible for any plant located at a construction site. The F&IUO have passed laws along similar lines, to ensure the safety of the workers and other occupants of the premises/ construction site. To maintain a healthy safe environment, to provide training, knowledge about the machinery are the few main rules amongst many. Also, every person employed at an industrial undertaking should also contribute to safety and health at work by taking care for the safety and health of himself and other persons at the workplace and by using any equipment or following any system or work practices provided by the proprietor5. The F&IUO Subsidiary legislation talks about the construction hazards in detail. Under regulation 7 it is clearly stated that a young person shall not operate any machine unless he has been fully instructed as to the dangers arising in the use of the machine and the precautions to be observed, also he has sufficient training on how to use the machine and someone is there to supervise him. If we assume that Chan Sam was an underage worker, than there has been a clear violation of the F&IUO regulation 7. Regulations 4, 7A and J under 'Lifting Appliances' in F&IUO handbook states that it is the responsibility of the owner of the lifting gear to make sure that it is not used unless it is made of sound materials and is free from defect, and the structuring is adequately supported. Also it is thoroughly inspected by a competent person in the last 7 days before using it. And last but not the least, the owner should make sure that every part of the load to be raised or lowered by the lifting appliance is securely suspended and supported6. Since it is not specified, for simplicity purposes, we will make the assumption that Chan Sam was the owner of the excavator and he refused to check the equipment before using it, and after the iron pipes had been raised, he did not make sure if the load was securely suspended or not, causing them to swing out. There has been a breachment of all these regulations under different assumptions regarding Chan Sam. There has been an infringement of regulation 11 and 12 by Chan Sam, when he did not make sure what the safe permissible lifting load was. Any person who contravenes any of these regulations is liable to a fine of $200000. Additionally, any workman (Chan Sam) employed or working on or near any lifting appliance or lifting gear to which these regulations apply, who wilfully and without reasonable cause does anything likely to endanger himself or others shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of $500007. The rate of fatal accidents on construction sites is very high. The government of Japan is doing its best to minimize them but just passing ordinances is not enough. It is the duty of every contractor, be it Principle, Management, Specialist or a Subcontractor, to fulfill their assigned responsibilities to make the industrial working sector a better place to be working in. Word count : 2496 Bibliography: 1. Man Li, Rita Yi ``Workers’ Compensation for Non-fatal Construction Accidents: Review of Hong Kong Court Cases` "Workers’ Compensation for Non-fatal Construction Accidents: Review of Hong Kong Court Cases 2. `Building services Engineering` http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_services_engineering 3. Johnston, John. ``The Pre-Tender Stage Health and Safety Plan`` web-safety.com/Exchange/Downloads/Pre-TenderPlan.ppt 4. Johnston, John.`` CDM - The Role of The Principal Contractor`` web-safety.com/Exchange/Downloads/CDM_PrincipalContractor.ppt 5.http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/WebView?OpenAgent&vwpg=CurAllEngDoc*59*0*59#59 Read More