The role of a design engineer in safety of building projects

[摘要] One of the causes for money to be wasted on construction sites is accidents. The reason is that anaccident on site is an unplanned event typically relating to the loss of production or the loss of life.Many industry stakeholders and role players have focused on construction health and safety and toimprove this area of concern; however, construction health and safety are not significantlyimproving. Construction still continues to contribute a large number of fatalities and injuries relativeto other industry sectors. During the construction phase, poor construction health and safetyperformance is attributable to a lack of management commitment, inadequate supervision, and alack of health and safety training and - systems. Health and safety systems do not only includeexcellent health and safety management on site, but rather an integrated approach on health andsafety issues from the conceptual design phase by all stakeholders participating. This integratedapproach includes the design done by the engineer.The inspiration behind this research is the question of whether South African Engineers designbuildings safe for construction. The lack of knowledge by engineers with regard to constructionprocesses, the lack of health and safety enforcement in the engineering offices and constructionsites, and whether engineers adhere to safe design principles is the subject of investigation in thisresearch.Therefore, this research aims to investigate the role of the design engineer in the safety of buildingprojects. Specifically, it investigates to what extent the design engineer can contribute to site safety,and to what extent this is actually taking place. The Construction Regulations states the engineer canbe appointed to act on behalf of a client and should share any information that might affect thehealth and safety of construction employees with the contractor.By means of a literature study, the investigation of case studies and the investigation ofquestionnaires to which a percentage of South African engineers responded, this research identifiedthe information that should be shared by the design engineer with the contractor. The informationcan be shared by indicating hazardous activities or - locations on the actual drawings. Informationcan also be shared by specifying and reminding the contractor of certain health and safety hazards inthe health and safety specifications of the building project.Although the Construction Regulations state that the safety hazards associated with mostconstruction processes are the responsibility of the contractor, it will be beneficial for the safety ofthe employees if the engineer also consults the contractor on the hazards identified by him or herduring the early design stages. Early collaboration between the engineer and contractor is also beneficial for the safety of construction employees. The result is an integrated approach towardssafety hazard identification and mitigation.Having adequate knowledge with regard to construction processes allows the engineer to be awareof possible safety hazards. This will result in the correct information to be shared with the contractorand incorporated into the early design phases of the project to ensure a healthy and safe workingenvironment.The study shows that a percentage of South African engineers have a lack of site experience, a lackof safety training, a lack of knowledge with regard to the content of the Construction Regulations,and a lack of knowledge with regard to construction processes. These shortcomings can bedetrimental to site safety.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University