Thursday, February 09, 2017

Innovative safety appoaches impresses GE India

Brand                     : Bulter Building Systems
Roof System           : FM Approved MR -24 Roof System with BR-II Liner Panel
Special Features      : (i) 100 MT capacity crane and crane walkway and MEP cable trays
                                 (ii) Aluminum roof walkway with roof life line system
Project size              : 27,081 m2
Consultants              : C. R. Narayana Rao
PMC                       : Synefra Infrastructures Ltd.

Key requirements of the project:

                                                   GE had planned to set up a manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune, to manufacture a host of different products ranging from aviation to turbo machinery components to measurement and controls and wind turbines.

Challenge:  24m tall building, working at that height was risk.


Planning for ' Safe Execution ' of the project:                    

                                                     Three Months before the actual start of site activities, the Tata BlueScope Building Solutions Team identified critical safety requirements of the project and prepared a ' Safe Work Method Statement' for each activity as well as a Construction EHS plan.

                                                          Keeping in mind the magnitude of the project, the team also introduced some new policies such as 'No Supervision- No Work', No Night Work'. It conducted risk assessment of all the activities and suggested innovative solutions to reduce the risks involved. An Occupational Health and Safety hazard register and a mitigation action plan were also prepared. They also consider:            
  • Environment, Health and safety (EHS) induction area for visitors
  • Equipment parking area,
  • Safety park
  • Emergency response plan
  • First aid arrangement
  • Ambulance with paramedical staff
  • Emergency contact numbers
     



During the project concept stage some changes were suggested in the standard product design from the perspective of safe erection:

a. Lifting holes were provided in the primary members from POD lifting.
b. Additional holes and brackets were provided in the refers for fixing of life line posts around building's periphery.
c. Standard life line posts designed by Tata BlueScope Building Solutions were certified by a third party and a lifeline of steel wire rope was proposed.

Inspection to Ensure Quality of Resources Deployed on Site:

                                                                             Daily inspection check lists were displayed on each  equipment and a third party inspection of the equipment on site was also conducted. Due to safety reason, use of hydra for material loading and unloading was not allowed. A detailed site plan for safe storage of materials and equipment movement in the yard was prepared. Safety risks were involved in loading, unloading and stacking of structural steel therefore material sticking with the height indicators was proposed.



Displays of Visuals for Safety Management:

                                                                                To constantly remind and highlight the importance of safety to workmen displays of safety cross, safety statistics, safety gallery were placed on the site.

Monthly EHS trainings:

                                                                                   EHS training's for staff, working at height training, safe lifting practices and fire fighting techniques for workmen, EHS recognition programs, EHS promotional activities, motivation programs were conducted as per monthly EHS calendar.



Safe Erection Methodology:

                                           To achieve the objective of safe project completion the following approaches were adopted on site:

a. Reduce risk of working at height: For this, three levels of protection were introduced:


(i) Working in boom lift for all work at height.
(ii) Mandatory use of full body harness with double lanyard.
(iii) Sky- Web I Fall protection system was suggested to ensure safety during roof liner panel installation.



  • For worker identification, induction stickers were provided- red colour helmets with sticker was for worker working at height, and green colour helmets sticker were given to those working at ground level.
  • To avoid fall of tools from height, all tools were tied while working at height.
  • The roof access staircase of British scaffolding type for roof access and an access control system was implemented during roof installation.
  • Edge protection was provided at roof edge.
  • The erection of components such as brace rods, girts, flange braces, pipe struts, sag angles, SKY- WEB II, crane platform, flashing's were fixed using boom lifts and cranes.

One Activity- One Supervisor principles was followed.

b. Innovative work methods to achieve safety were as follows:


(i) POD erection methodology:
                                                  A 36 m long POD containing 4 rafters was firmly fixed by purlins and was lifted at one time, this reduce the risk of working at height since most of the erection activity was done on ground level.

(ii) Purlin erection by using boom lift and crane

(iii) Canopy with roof sheeting was installed on ground and was fixed in position with the help of cranes and boom lifts.

(iv) Strut pipe erection by using cranes and two boom lifts.

(v) Painting touch up at ground level and at height with help of boom lifts only.

Conclusion: 

-Detailed 'Pre- execution EHS planning
-Effective use of risk mitigation techniques,
-Rigorous implementation of EHS tracker,
-Erection supervision by a dedicated construction safety team,
-Use of boom lifts,
-SKY-WEB II Fall Protection System
-Adoption of innovative construction techniques
-Tata BlueScope Steels zero tolerance approach to safety violations resulted in completion of the GE project safely.


(For more detail go to Website www.tatabluescope-bs.com )