ASSIGNMENT

ON CONSTRUCTION SAFETY
MANAGEMENT,
ADMINISTRATION AND
ORGANIZATION
Graduate Programme in Construction Safety
Management

SUBMITTED BY : SANTANU KUMAR SAHU

REGISTRATION NO 214-05-28-51515-2153

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Course No.
Course Title

- GPSM 11
- Construction Safety Management, Administration and Organization

Assignment No:

- M-G51

Date of Dispatch

- 08/12/2014

Last date of receipt of

Assignment at Sode Office

- 15/12/2014

Can mechanical equipment be used in place of manual handling?

What steps to be taken to improve material handling?

Answer :

Manual materials handling means moving or handling things by lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling,
carrying, holding, or restraining. Manual materials handling is also the most common cause of
occupational fatigue, low back pain and lower back injuries.

Manual materials handling is always hazardous but the level of hazard depends on what you are
handling, what the task is, and what the conditions are at the workplace or work site.

For example, the material or load that you are handling may be:

Too heavy for the task that you are doing.

Located too high or low for a safe lift.

Too big or may have a shape that makes it hard to handle.

Wet, slippery, or have sharp edges that makes it hard to grasp.

Unstable or can shift its centre of gravity because it contains material that can flow (e.g.,
water, sand, a partially filled drum, or concrete in a wheelbarrow).

Too big to let you see where you are putting your feet.

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The task can make Manual materials handling hazardous if a worker:

Uses poor lifting techniques (lifting too fast, too often or too long; lifting with back bent or
while twisting or reaching too far; lifting while sitting or kneeling, etc.).

Has to move material over long distances.

Does not take appropriate rest breaks; insufficient recovery time.

Has a combination of handling tasks (e.g. lifting, carrying and lowering).

Wears clothing that restricts movement or reduces grip strength.

The conditions where you are working can also contribute to hazards of Manual materials handling
and result in injuries, for example:

Walking surfaces that are uneven, sloping, wet, icy, slippery, unsteady, etc.

Differences in floor levels or walking surfaces.

Poor housekeeping that causes slip, trip and fall hazards.

Inadequate lighting.

Cold or very hot and humid working conditions.

Strong wind or gusty conditions.

Working at high pace.

Movement is restricted because of clothing or personal protective equipment.

Space is small or posture is constrained or both.

Reducing the Risk of Injury; Striking a Balance

Physical handling of matrials cannot be avoided at all stages within the construction industry. In
recognising these challenges the provision of the right work equipment is an essential element in

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reducing manual handling risks to remove or reduce the risk of injury from physically carrying items
wherever possible.
Suitable equipment and training should be provided to the in order to achieve the timescales of the
operation whilst providing the worker with the tools and information to carry out the tasks in a safe
manner.
As with all plant and equipment provided for use at work this needs to be regularly inspected and
maintained with appropriate defect reporting, records of which should be retained.

Mechanical aids reduce physical effort, making materials handling easier and safer.

Check for the availability of mechanical aids before lifting or moving loads.

Select the right equipment to complete the task.

Do not operate any equipment if you are not trained to use it.

Keep the equipment in good and safe operating condition. It saves effort while transporting
loads.

Make sure equipment is maintained properly and inspected regularly.

Visually inspect the equipment for any defects such as loose wheels or damaged platforms
before use.

Use rolling platforms to assist in carrying and handling heavy objects where limited space
does not allow for comfortable body position.

Use a hand truck to move bulky objects.

Use a shelf truck to move a variety of objects.

Use a platform truck to move heavy, irregularly shaped objects.

Use a semi-live skid for temporary storage of work.

Specific tasks or objects require specialized equipment.

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Select the right equipment to complete the task. Equipment is rated for different capacities,
which determine the maximum weight the equipment can safely handle, and the conditions
under which it can handle those weights.

Do not operate any equipment if you are not trained to use that equipment.

Keep the equipment in good and safe operating condition. It saves effort while transporting
loads.

Visually inspect the equipment for any defects such as loose wheels or damaged platforms
before use.

Be sure that the load is securely in place before moving.

Always push the equipment rather than pull it.

Select a stair climbing truck when moving a load on stairs.

Choose a sturdy frame hand truck with larger wheels to move materials in rough terrain.
Additional set of handles allows for assistance.

Use a pump truck to move materials stored on pallets.

Move and dump waste materials with dump trucks.

Move and empty drums with tilting drum cradles and drum dollies.

Handle sheet materials with an "A" frame hand truck or dolly.

Use a forklift to move heavier and stackable material.

Precautions to be taken when moving materials mechanically

Using mechanical equipment to move and store materials increases the potential for employee
injuries. Workers must be aware of both manual handling safety concerns and safe equipment
operating techniques. Employees should avoid overloading equipment when moving materials

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mechanically by letting the weight, size, and shape of the material being moved dictate the type of
equipment used. All materials-handling equipment has rated capacities that determine the maximum
weight the equipment can safely handle and the conditions under which it can handle that weight.
Employers must ensure that the equipment-rated capacity is displayed on each piece of equipment
and is not exceeded except for load testing.

Although workers may be knowledgeable about powered equipment, they should take precautions
when stacking and storing material. When picking up items with a powered industrial truck,
workers must do the following:

Center the load on the forks as close to the mast as possible to minimize the potential for the
truck tipping or the load falling,

Avoid overloading a lift truck because it impairs control and causes tipping over,

Do not place extra weight on the rear of a counterbalanced forklift to allow an overload,

Adjust the load to the lowest position when traveling,

Follow the truck manufacturer's operational requirements, and

Pile and cross-tier all stacked loads correctly when possible.

Precautions to be taken when moving materials manually

When moving materials manually, workers should attach handles or holders to loads. In
addition, workers should always wear appropriate personal protective equipment and use proper
lifting techniques. To prevent injury from oversize loads, workers should seek help in the
following:

When a load is so bulky that employees cannot properly grasp or lift it,

When employees cannot see around or over a load, or

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When employees cannot safely handle a load.

Using the following personal protective equipment prevents needless injuries when manually moving
materials:

Hand and forearm protection, such as gloves, for loads with sharp or rough edges.

Eye protection.

Steel-toed safety shoes or boots.

Metal, fiber, or plastic metatarsal guards to protect the instep area from impact or
compression.

Benefits of mechanical handling

Eliminates the need to lift or lower manually by providing and ensuring proper use of lift
trucks, cranes, hoists, scissor lifts, drum and barrel dumpers, stackers, work dispensers,
elevating conveyors, articulating arms and another mechanical devices gravity dumps and
chutes, power lift tail gates on trucks, and hand trucks to ensure easy transfer of material from
the truck to ground level portable ramps or conveyors to lift and lower loads on to work
stations

Eliminates pushing or pulling by ensuring the use of, powered conveyors, powered trucks,
slides, chutes, monorails, air tables and similar mechanical aids

Makes loads easier to push or pull by ensuring the use of, carts, hand trucks and dollies with
large diameter casters and good bearings, and grips or handles on loads or mechanical aids,
placed to provide optimal push force and prevent awkward postures

Reduces carrying and holding forces by: evaluating the work flow determine if heavy loads
can be moved mechanically over any distance converting the operation into a pushing or

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pulling task providing carts, slings or trolleys providing portable containers in which to place
awkward loads

Providing grips or handles on loads limiting the distance over which the load is moved

Mechanical aids can be an effective method of reducing manual handling

Ensure the aids you select are appropriate for the task, and that employees are trained in their use. You should
consider any manual handling hazards that still might be associated with the task, and any new ones that might
be introduced by the use of the aid.

Ensure that there is sufficient room for the equipment and workspace, and that the equipment is appropriately
maintained.

Consult employees if equipment is being considered as a control option, to trial equipment formally prior to
purchase.

The use of wheeled handling aids such as sack barrows or pallet trucks should always be considered
as the first option for transporting loads.

Selection of suitable equipment i.e. wheel type and size will affect the push pull effort required and
is therefore very important but will remove the need to carry and therefore reduce overall effort or
energy required.

Always consider the availability of pedestrian controlled manual handling aids and local work
equipment.

Obviously the use of such equipment depends on availability, working environment & ground
conditions as well as being in good working order.

Materials Management
Materials management is an important element in project planning and control. Materials represent a
major expense in construction, so minimizing procurement or purchase costs presents important
opportunities for reducing costs. Poor materials management can also result in large and avoidable
costs during construction. First, if materials are purchased early, capital may be tied up and interest

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charges incurred on the excess inventory of materials. Even worse, materials may deteriorate during
storage or be stolen unless special care is taken. For example, electrical equipment often must be
stored in waterproof locations. Second, delays and extra expenses may be incurred if materials
required for particular activities are not available. Accordingly, insuring a timely flow of material is
an important concern of project managers.

Materials management is not just a concern during the monitoring stage in which construction is
taking place. Decisions about material procurement may also be required during the initial planning
and scheduling stages. For example, activities can be inserted in the project schedule to represent
purchasing of major items such as elevators for buildings. The availability of materials may greatly
influence the schedule in projects with a fast track or very tight time schedule: sufficient time for
obtaining the necessary materials must be allowed. In some case, more expensive suppliers or
shippers may be employed to save time.

Materials management is also a problem at the organization level if central purchasing and inventory
control is used for standard items. In this case, the various projects undertaken by the organization
would present requests to the central purchasing group. In turn, this group would maintain inventories
of standard items to reduce the delay in providing material or to obtain lower costs due to bulk
purchasing. This organizational materials management problem is analogous to inventory control in
any organization facing continuing demand for particular items.

Materials ordering problems lend themselves particularly well to computer based systems to insure
the consistency and completeness of the purchasing process. In the manufacturing realm, the use of
automated materials requirements planning systems is common. In these systems, the master
production schedule, inventory records and product component lists are merged to determine what
items must be ordered, when they should be ordered, and how much of each item should be ordered
in each time period. The heart of these calculations is simple arithmetic: the projected demand for

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each material item in each period is subtracted from the available inventory. When the inventory
becomes too low, a new order is recommended. For items that are non-standard or not kept in
inventory, the calculation is even simpler since no inventory must be considered. With a materials
requirement system, much of the detailed record keeping is automated and project managers are
alerted to purchasing requirements.

The essential requirements of a good materials handling system may be summarized as:
(i) Efficient and safe movement of materials to the desired place.
(ii) Timely movement of the materials when needed.
(iii) Supply of materials at the desired rate.
(iv) Storing of materials utilising minimum space.
(v) Lowest cost solution to the materials handling activities.
Often materials handling extends beyond the boundary of the industry in the form of movement of
raw materials from the sources to the plant or in the form of finished goods from the plant to the
points of consumption. These long distance movements of materials are generally termed as
transportation of materials through various modes of transport like, road, rail, ship or air.
Transportation is generally excluded from the scope of materials handling. However, at each of the
sources and destinations, loading and unloading of materials is necessary and these are referred to as
materials handling of these locations. Some production equipment are fitted with facilities for
handling of the materials being processed. Such materials handling equipment are generally
considered to be an integral part of the production equipment. A few typical examples are : (i) the
feeding mechanism in an automatic machine, (ii) coiler and de-coiler in a strip rolling mill or (iii)
paper feeding and transportation arrangement in a multi-station printing machine. Essentially these
are special material handling devices, but when integrated with specific production machines, they
become specialized parts of those machines. Such special devices and their functions are generally
not considered to be within the scope of materials handling. However materials handling at the

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workplace is an area which is drawing greater attention after introduction of concepts of machining
cells fitted with robotic handling devices.

IMPROVING OF MATERIALS HANDLING

The foremost importance of materials handling is that it helps productivity and thereby increases
profitability of an industry. Many enterprises go out of business because of inefficient materials
handling practices. In many instances it is seen that competing industries are using same or similar
production equipment, and one who uses improved materials handling system stays ahead of their
competitors.

A well designed materials handling system attempts to improve the following:

(i) Improve efficiency of a production system by ensuring the right quantity of materials delivered at
the right place at the right time most economically.

(ii) Cut down indirect labour cost.

(iii) Reduce damage of materials during storage and movement.

(iv)Maximise space utilization by proper storage of materials and thereby reduce storage and handling
cost.

(v) Minimise accident during materials handling.

(vi) Reduce overall cost by improving materials handling.

(vii) Improve customer services by supplying materials in a manner convenient for handlings.

(viii) Increase efficiency and saleability of plant and equipment with integral materials handling
features.

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Apart from these, for certain industries, like process industries, heavy manufacturing industries,
construction

industries, mining industries, shipbuilding or aircraft industries etc., the materials are so large

and heavy that these industries just can not run without appropriate materials handling system.

All the above points clearly show the importance of materials handling in an industry or a material

transportation system. However, the negative aspects of materials handling should also not be
overlooked.

These are:

(i) Additional capital cost involved in any materials handling system.

(ii) Once a materials handling system get implemented, flexibility for further changes gets greatly

reduced.

(iii) With an integrated materials handling system installed, failure/stoppage in any portion of it

leads to increased downtime of the production system.

(iv) Materials handling system needs maintenance, hence any addition to materials handling means

additional maintenance facilities and cost.