Protocol Development: Level of Preventive Action Method, Considering the Preventive Environments in Construction Works

Abstract

The techniques for preventing risk have traditionally been analyzed on an individual basis, it being highly complex to apply preventive procedures across the board in construction works. This implies the necessary risk assessment based on the common factors of Safety at Work, Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics and Psychosociology. This work analyzes and classifies the environments which characterize the building process: absolute (initial), documentary, construction, social and life cycle, and identifies the technical-documentary processes associated with each one. Finally, a new risk assessment method adapted to building works is proposed, called “Level of Preventive Action”, by means of a new mathematical formula which encompasses Safety at Work, Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomic and Psychosociological factors. It is based upon the development of the William T. Fine method, adapting it to construction works, with the incorporation of six parameters to explain the degree of correction. It consolidates and connects environment parameters to determine the preventive action level of the construction work, with the objective of establishing the levels of preventive control required to achieve an optimum prevention situation. The results of comparison between the environments in the implementation of the new risk assessment methodology during the construction process in a real building work are shown.

Zero-Risk Interpretation in the Level of Preventive Action Method Implementation for Health and Safety in Construction Sites

“…The new risk assessment method establishes the prevention level, deviating from the initial approach, in the Occupational Health and Safety Plan. This method determines the level of preventive action (Lpac) that needs to be incorporated into the development of a project to improve the design conditions in the initial and documentary environment, the work conditions in the construction environment, and relationships and behaviors in the social environment [5,10,70]. It is a method adapted to the "special" complexity of construction projects.…”

“…Researchers then interpreted the incidence degree of each characteristic value on each risk that was evaluated. Finally, they calculated the Evaluation of Preventive Action (Epac) or environment parameter (which corresponds to the six correction parameters: Rr, Rb, E, Ec, Pi, and Ls) and, subsequently, related to Absolute Risk (Rab), calculated the Level of Preventive Action (Lpac), expressing the value without units [5,10,70].…”

“…The total constructed area of the building was 1528.26 m 2 . Researchers collected data weekly over 34 working weeks from 17 June 2016 to 27 April 2017 [ 10 , 70 ]. Figure 4 shows some photographs of the development of the work.…”

Development of the Level of Preventive Action Method by Observation of the Characteristic Value for the Assessment of Occupational Risks on Construction Sites

“…Finally, the stage of occupational risk prevention during the use and maintenance phase of the building should be extended, as within the scope of the building's life cycle there are factors at play that require preventive procedures [43]. Based on the diversity of points of view, risk assessment is necessary from the joint aspects of Occupational Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics and Psychosociology [44], and the necessary parameters must be established for a correct assessment of occupational risks, in accordance with the particular characteristics of construction sites [12,45,46]. This new methodology assesses risk from different aspects: occupational safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics and psychosociology.…”

“…Methodologically, this work proposes the definition of the Level of Preventive Action (Lpac) method, the preventive observation environments, as well as their corresponding parameters [12,46]. Then, the new observation parameter for risk quantification, called Characteristic Value (Cv), is defined, and justification is given for the range of values it takes.…”