Eng. Saeed Abdo Ahmed: The implementation of occupational health and safety measures is no less important than project specifications.
As it has been the case, the PWP is keen to engage the community in all matters and initiatives carried out to ensure success and to attain the desired impacts. This has been the strategy applied by the PWP in awareness raising and advocacy with Yemeni construction contractors. The aim has been to implemented the occupational health and safety measures and achieve compliance during sub-projects implementation in the field. The PWP is aiming at reaching a level when these measures become a culture, a behavior and requirements that must be enforced.
The first step, was to prepare contractors and engineers ahead of the proposed implementation of the occupational and safety measures by the PWP. The aim was to create a positive community interaction towards the issues of occupational health and safety.
As an Initiative implemented by the PWP, the aim is to have a safe working environment free from work hazards. Further, the aim is come up with model practices for the contracting profession based on human and environmental safety.
Contractors’ awareness raising
Embracing the slogan: Safety measures, a necessity everyone must comply with, the PWP launched two-day training sessions during the period from August - December 2018 in the City of Sana’a, Amran, Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Sa’adah, Ibb, Taiz, Sana’a, al-Mahweet, Aden, al-Dhaela’a, Abyan, Lahj, Hadhramaut, al-Maharah, Socotra, Hodeidah, Raimah, Marib, Shabwah, Dhamar and al-Baydha. More than 300 contractors and engineers took part in these training sessions from all over the country.
In the opening session, the director of the PWP, Eng. Saeed Abdo Ahmed made a presentation on the concepts, objectives, requirements and responsibilities for safety and occupational health that must be observed during field implementation of sub-projects.
He pointed out that PWP management is keen to enforce the safety measures out of humanitarian concerns, given that human beings are the most important element of development. Maintaining the safety of people is a priority for the PWP as a matter of policy and general objectives, with the aim of implementing international standards of quality, health and safety, and sustainable development, he said.
Eng. Saeed Abdo Ahmed confirmed that occupational health and safety means protection for the workers, equipment, machinery and the environment through improvement of the working environment and compliance with special systems and procedures that lead to the prevention of accidents, injuries and illnesses.
the director of PWP stressed the need for contractors to pay attention to all aspects of occupational health and safety when submitting their bids for sub-projects.
Eng. Saeed Abdo Ahmed cautioned that the PWP Management Unit will not take things lightly if a contractor or a consultant engineer is not in compliance with occupational health and safety measures, as the life and safety a worker is top priority and comes ahead of anything else.
According to Eng. Saeed Abdo Ahmed, the PWP is implementing a number of measures to ensure application of safety activities. In addition, the PWP is working to develop mechanisms for expanding the implementation of safety requirements and to learn from past experiences. A number of awareness raising activities have also been implemented, such as organization of training session on implementation of safety measures in all Yemeni governorates. These trainings targeted contractors, consultants, supervisors, site controllers and the PWP staff.
Hazards-free working environment
The deputy director of PWP and head of the first main district office, Abdul-Sallam Qassim considers the issue of compliance by contractors and workers with occupation safety measures as unavoidable, as the PWP will not exercise any leniency on this matter: “since we are dealing with the safety of workers and the environment when implementing sub-projects”, he said.
Eng. Abdul-Sallam Qassim pointed out that the application of safety measures is a protection for contractors to avoid being legally liable for hazards and accidents that may occur in the work place and the resulting financial losses that only the contractor would be responsible for.
The procurements manager, Eng. Jameel Hizam, on the other hand, emphasized the need for contractors to pay attention to occupational health and safety items when bidding, so that they submit a realistic bid that covers costs of compliance with occupational health and safety measures.
According to Eng. Jameel Hizam compliance with occupational health and safety measures by contractors is just as important as adhering to project specifications.
Eng. Hassan al-Hubaishi, director of the second main district office of PWP, believes that the application of occupational health and safety measures is now a requirement of the PWP and funding organizations - because of its importance, and because it achieves best practice during implementation of sub-projects in the field.
Eng. al-Hubaishi points out that contractors stand to benefit the most from implementing these measures, because they gain peace of mind knowing that these measures would prevent any work hazards and ensuing losses that may occur in cases of injuries.
The director of the third main district, Eng. Abdel-Mena’m Mutaher says: “Occupational health and safety measures are top markers for contractor’s compliance. It’s an indicator that shows that the contractors give serious consideration to the lives of workers, attach importance to the protection of the environment, and are seeking to implement best practices in the work place”.
The managers of sub-districts offices of the PWP made presentations on the responsibilities of contractors in the area of occupational health and safety, in particular: compliance with safety and occupational health laws, regulations, and standards; creation of a hazard-free environment to prevent accidents and deaths of workers, organization of the project site to ensure easy access for workers and vehicles, and all other responsibilities expected of the contractors.
Cost-effectiveness
Eng. Naif Mohsen al-Muhamadi, procurement specialist in the PWP, says: One can define occupational health and safety as a set of preventive activities, measures, and procedures to be implemented before, during, and after implementation of any project. These aim at providing protection for the lives of human beings (workers, users, and consumers) and control expected risk and hazards to prevent accidents and impacts on the implementation of various activities of a project.
They are activities, because they include all types of works and line-items for any project and various stages of implementation. They are preventive measures because they tend to include proactive actions before an accident or injury occurs - and reduce the risk of that happening. They are considered procedures since the responsibility of implementation of these activities rest with a number of parties, such as employers, contractors, workers, consultants and insurance companies.
With this definition, one can sense the importance of health and safety in engineering projects and the direct impact on application on these activities, i.e. the objectives of a project can be achieved in a cost-effective and efficient manner, effective operations...etc. But, neglect of application of these measures may lead to work hazards and heavy damages that may lead to a failure of the project. In this case, there would be economic losses for all stakeholders - employers, suppliers, beneficiaries, and the community.
Eng. al-Muhamadi asserts that preventive measures and occupational health and safety activities are different from project to another and depend on the size and nature of works to be implemented. They are also different for each stage of implementation of a project: during implementation or operations. The difference is mainly due to the type of hazards involved and the potential for occurrence or severity of such hazards. These differences depend on the type of project, nature of work and complexity, as well as conditions and projects sites- even for the same type of project.
Importance of occupational health and safety activities
The procurement specialist adds by saying: “In spite of the fact that safety activities may be key requirements for the PWP, the impact of implementing them benefit the contractors directly. And depending on the type and size of the project, the contractors stand to benefit in minimizing losses that can be incurred due to injuries or damages, because they are directly responsible for anything that occurs in the works site, and may leave a major impact on the contractor.”
Eng. Naif al-Muhamadi points out that safety activities can include safety of workers, material, equipment, tools as well as the safety of beneficiaries and end users during the implementation of the project. Safety aspects can be classified into two parts- according to the requirements and needed measures: First par, tools and supplies such as personal protection tools for workers, various guidance tools, stores and equipment...etc.
Second part: Activities and events relevant to terms and conditions and ways to implement works, such as organizing the site, conditions for implementation of each work item, organization of interim transfers in road projects and sanitation networks, and ways to store, and shore equipment and materials.
According to this classification, it is evident that the implementation of safety requirements in infrastructure projects goes beyond merely making available safety requirement (and this is a key requirement) to training of the workers, organizing work, sites, arranging materials, maintenance of equipment and daily follow-up of needed safety actions. To effectively implement that, this has to be predefined and studied taken into consideration the types of risks and hazards anticipated and severity for each project according to the surrounding conditions. This can help the contractor implement preventive actions and safety requirements efficiently and cost-effectively.
Responsibilities in PWP’s contracts
Eng. Naif al-Muhamadi asserts that the implementing contractor - in contracts used by the PWP - is responsible for the implementation of the activities and adoption of needed safety measures for the implementation of the project under the contract. Further, the contractor is responsible for the full safety of property, workers and site activities and is fully responsible for any damages or injuries that may occur during the process of implementation, or caused by the contractor’s workers, property, staff, workers of the employer or third parties, such as beneficiaries and end users. To achieve compliance, certain terms have been included in the contracts requiring contractors to have insurance coverage. The general terms and conditions of the contracts used by the PWP also include conditions to ensure the safety of workers, equipment, tools, and materials and the safety of implementation of work in the site.
On the other hand, general safety tools have been included as an item in the bill of quantity, which is part of the implementation contracts, to encourage contractors to accord this item the attention it deserves.
Development of safety activities and procedures
To ensure the implementation of safety measures, according to Eng. al-Muhamadi: “Consultants are responsible for supervising the daily activities in the work site. In addition, there is site training and qualification of contractors and their workers to implement the required safety activities. A number of documents have been developed for the follow-up and evaluation of safety procedures and documentation thereof. Specialized consultant will also follow-up and evaluate the implementation of safety activities”.
To ensure that anticipated damages and injuries are covered, it has been made a condition that contractors should have insurance for the projects. Consultants and supervisors have also been trained on documentation mechanisms of work-related injuries and to follow-up on the implementation activities by contractors, with special emphasis on using personal protection tools by the workers, availability of a dispensary in the site…etc.
An excellent initiative to the credit of PWP.
Contractors participating in the training and awareness raising program on occupational health and safety, organized by the PWP, consider this an excellent initiative that the PWP should take credit for, because, according to contractor Mohamed al-Waqdi, it plays an important role in raising the awareness of contractors on the need to implement and apply safety measures and procedures for the safety of workers and protection of the contractors themselves from catastrophic financial losses.
Contractor Saleh Jaber believes that the application of occupational health and safety procedures and requirements had been missing in the past and most contractors were not aware of it, despite its importance. Today, the PWP’s initiative for awareness raising and training sessions for contractors, have had a positive impact in spreading awareness. This is now evident in the behavior of contractors and their workers in the work site where workers now use protection tools, he said.
For his part, contractor Ali al-Wadi’ay says: “The PWP has created a situation where contractors are interacting and competing on implementation of occupational health and safety measures. This was not the case in the past, but with time, occupational health and safety will be part of a contractor’s profile and will be considered a competitive advantage for contractors”.