Occupational Safety, Health and Environment
Occupational Safety, Health and Environment tests hazard control on a construction site and the duties owed to workers and the public.
PPE and site control
- PPE: hard hat, safety shoes, high-visibility vest, gloves, goggles, ear protection; full-body harness for work at height.
- Scaffold: stable base, guardrails, toe boards and proper access; never use an incomplete scaffold.
- Excavation: shore or batter the sides; keep spoil away from the edge; provide ladders; test for gas in confined spaces.
- Electrical: ELCB, earthing, no trailing cables, lockout/tagout.
- Environment: housekeeping, dust and noise control, waste segregation.
Worked example
A worker is fixing formwork at 3 m without a guardrail. Risk = fall with serious injury, likely. Control: install guardrail and toe board first; provide a full-body harness anchored above; train and supervise. Residual risk is low. Reason: elimination and engineering controls come before PPE.
Traps
Wearing a helmet without a chin strap; clipping a harness to a guardrail; storing spoil at the trench edge; using damaged cables; and treating PPE as the first control. Know first aid, emergency numbers and fire extinguisher classes.