Purpose Under-reporting of occupational accidents is a common problem in many countries. This is mainly because of the shortfalls in accident reporting and recording systems. Construction industry being a hazardous industry, the rate of accidents is higher compared with other industries and apparently a high rate of under-reporting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rate of under-reporting, significant reasons for under-reporting and identify the shortcomings in the existing accident reporting system in Sri Lanka in aiming to recommend efficient mechanisms for occupational accident recording and reporting to construction industry. Design/methodology/approach Both secondary and primary data were tapped to gather required data. The secondary data were extracted from the records available in year 2014-2015 at the office of the commissioner for workmen’s compensation and the industrial safety division of the Department of Labor (DoL) to analyze the rate of under-reporting. The primary data were obtained through expert interviews to explore the gaps in reporting system and to identify mechanisms to reduce under-reporting. Findings The findings revealed 80 per cent of construction accidents are under-reported. Eight gaps in the current accident recording and reporting system and key recommendations at organizational and national level for its improvements were identified. Originality/value The findings provide an insight of occupational safety and health (OSH) practices in construction industry and it can be used as an eye opening flash for safety law-makers and practitioners to revisit the existing regulations and practices.

Glass façades are widely utilized in green buildings. Ensuring fire safety while reducing the energy need without compromising occupants’ comfort is a challenge in the modern-day green buildings with glass façades. One way of achieving both aspects is to construct a water wall system as a building façade. A water wall system has a water layer between two glass panes and can be considered as a glass façade system. The focus of this review, which builds on the published studies, is how water wall systems can help ensure fire safety and reduce energy demand in green buildings. The water layer within two glass panes of the water wall system store the solar radiation heat throughout the daytime, reducing the amount of heat transferred through the building facade. The reduced heat transfer effects lessen the need for air conditioning to sustain the thermal comfort of the building occupants. The stored energy is released during the nighttime. The transparency of the water wall system also allows daylight to enter the building, thus reducing artificial lighting needs. Furthermore, the water layer acts as a fire safety mechanism in case of a fire. However, the water wall systems are not much utilized in the modern-day green buildings due to their unpopularity and the unavailability of design guidelines. On the basis of the findings of the literature review, stakeholders and the public are encouraged to adopt water wall systems in green building projects as an energy-efficient strategy and a fire safety mechanism.

Water wall systems (WWSs) are increasingly being used as glass façades in modern green buildings owing to their enhancement in building energy efficiency. However, little is known about their performance when exposed to fire. In this study, 500 × 1000 mm2 sized water wall systems with 30 mm, 50 mm and 100 mm thick water columns were tested and compared to the thermal performance of a 500 × 1000 mm2 sized single skin glass façade system. These façade systems were heated by a 400 × 600 mm2 isopropanol pool fire. The distance from the pan centre to pane 1 of the façade was 350 mm. Time to first crack and surface temperatures were measured. The experimental results indicate that single skin glass façades are more vulnerable to cracking than water wall systems, but exposed glass pane fallout can easily occur in water wall systems compared to single skin façades. Since the overall performance is dependent on the failure of the fire unexposed glass pane, water wall systems are more fire resistant than single skin glass façades. The water layer thickness significantly affects the WWS thermal performance, where a 50 mm thick water layer would result in a longer time to first crack. The experimental findings of this study are useful for developing practical guidelines for fire-safe glass façade designs.

Achieving sustainability in the industrial sector is now a global concern. In sustainable development, water sustainability is considered as a high priority area in the face of threats posed to freshwater resources. Water footprint of an industry is a measurement of the total amount of water consumed by it throughout its supply chain and/or the amount of water polluted by its effluents. However, the concept of water footprint is still new and most of the industries do not have a streamlined procedure in place to follow when carrying out water footprint assessments. The current practices related to water footprint assessments were therefore evaluated with special emphasis on the apparel manufacturing industry, with a view to identifying the key enablers of and barriers to water footprint assessment and the approaches suitable to overcome the barriers so identified. Case study approach was used in this research because of the requirement for an in-depth investigation. Three apparel manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka were studied by conducting semi-structured interviews with industry practitioners who had been involved in water footprint assessment procedure in each institution. Qualitative data that were gathered were evaluated using cross case analysis to identify the key enablers of and barriers to the existing water footprint assessment practices under five key headings, namely general awareness; setting goals and scope; water footprint accounting; water footprint sustainability assessment; and water footprint response formulation. A framework giving solutions is proposed finally to assist the proper implementation of water footprint assessment in the apparel manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka.

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