conclusion

Team Cover Sheet

Title page

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to investigate construction techniques in use at Victoria University (VU) development of student accommodation facilities as well as the handling of materials and equipments at the construction site. Also, the report investigates the techniques, methods and considerations like weather or occupational health and safety which are applied throughout the industry in high rise construction. Literature review, guest speakers at lectures, lectures, tutorials and a site visit were undertaken as the premise for the engineering team's learning.

… overview of contents of the sections and findings. 1 paragraph. Any conclusions drawn.

Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Victoria University’s Student Accommodation Project 6 2.1 Safety Considerations at the VU Facility 9 3.0 Handling Material and Equipments in High Rise Developments 11 3.1 Types of Equipment and Safe Handling 12 3.2 Types of Material and Safe Handling 12 4.0 Storage and protection of Equipment and materials 12 5.0 Responsibility of Engineers in Handling Materials and Equipment, OHS 13 6.0 Conclusion 14 7.0 Reference List 15 Appendices 17

In order to provide a safe and supportive living environment for the Victoria University students in the Western suburb, Victoria University has cooperated with ADCO construction company to construct a 504 bed student accommodation development in Footscray Victoria (ref website). As a result, a project called “Victoria University Student Accommodation” was designed and built with a cost of $47 million in order to serve this purpose. One of the most essential aspects of this project during construction is safety, more specifically, the handling of the equipments and materials which will affect the outcome and success of the project. Therefore, this report will mainly focus on the construction methods, techniques and consideration, followed by a detailed analysis on how the materials and equipments are stored, used, and handled as well as the responsibilities of the engineers who are responsible for the safety and protection of those materials and equipments. Another purpose this report is to allow the second year engineering students at Victoria University to develop their writing skills and be able to present their findings orderly throughout this report.

Fig 1. The engineering team and Mr Uddin during a VU facility on site visit.

2.0 Victoria University’s Student Accommodation Project

Adco guest speaker (2015) states that Adco won the tender process to undertake the student accommodation facilities on Ballarat Road for Victoria University. Also, that they showed a clearly defined set of construction processes, principles and techniques which allowed for aggressive construction of the 13 story and 4 story buildings between the period of August 2014 and December 2015.

Fig 2. An artistic interpretation of VU’s Unilodge (Millar 2014).

Guest Speaker (2015) stated Adco performed geotechnical testing on both subsurface and surface stratum of rock and soil properties which includes type, formation, strengths and weakness like load bearing capacity. This helped in setting out and site development stages and included both land excavation and removal methods for materials that are unwanted, waste or found to be hazards such as asbestos, see section 5.1. Boring equipment to drill vertically assisted in finding the strata depths and the subsurface samples at VU’s facility. The stratum of bedrock was deep so deep foundation cast in situ reinforced concrete piles is used. Concrete is poured around a reinforcement cage and piled into the ground to the correct depth. Foundation strength depends on the type of load, type of soil, type of pile spacing and the foundation behavior such as settlement (Hossain 2015) ( Tostovrsnik 2012).  

There is a positive saving in construction cost and time found by Adco by using prefabricated material such as concrete slabs for walls, concrete panels for floors, glass fins for aesthetic features and moulded bathrooms shells with pre-installed plumbing and fixtures which are built adjacent to the site establishment and construction stages to design specifications. Also, it is delivered in time for quality checks and installation with minimal disturbances to construction and also minimizes the need for subcontractors, additional materials on site and also the risk of improper construction, theft of materials and waste through breakage or damage. For example the precast bathrooms pods that use a mould which ensures a leak proof seal and speedier installation, also they do not require tilers or fittings to be attached by individual trades (Concrete Network 2015).

Precast Concrete (2010) states precast assembly of materials are transported to site in advance ready to be installed and connected that allow development to proceed without delay and are more sustainable to produce in controlled environments of site, producing less waste and that are more able to meet strict codes. Such benefits of developing mass concrete or bathroom pods of site allow the project labour force to be focused on construction while being trained in more critical areas of the construction process, and means overall less waste, trades and materials exist for the duration of the project on site. Guest speaker (2015) states that this method of precasting of concrete and bathroom pods used facilitates stripping out the H frame supports and fitting to occur bottom to top proceeding construction 3 floors behind. This allow for trades to begin fitting out lower floors also adding the windows and facade. In a typical similar construction the process is stripping top to bottom, which means it occurs once all floors are established (OHS/traffic controler on site Pers.comm 2015). The project and fitting out will occur by December 2015, and require satisfaction of both VU and Adco before signing off on the project as complete and students are housed.     

Fig 4. Precast concrete installation (Gem Nexus 2015)      Fig 5. The back of a bathroom pod with complete fittings

           within ready for connection (Add-A-Bathroom n.d.).

Due to concerns about time, cost and safety in the development of high rise construction there are strictly followed planning and implementation undertaken to adhere to strict laws and regulations of construction, OH&S, traffic management and deliveries, quality of work including materials and equipments, staff and public safety, removal of waste appropriate to its type and building codes. For example regulations exist on transportation sizes that require police escort in Victoria over a limit of width or height not exceeding <<< >>> respectively, occupational health and safety like personal protective wear and signage regulation and protective screen; also public safety like the use of gantries and fencing (guest speaker). All the aforementioned were visible on the construction site.

Fig 6. Safety signage, safety fencing and outdoor material storage on the project site.

Guest Speaker’s name (date) states that Asbestos was found by Adco at the construction site which requires specialized treatment and handling including cordoning off contaminated areas, wetting down and both professional removal and disposal. This is done in accordance with current Australian laws (Asbestos n.d.). Adco hold a tool belt talk daily with the labour force to inform about risk assessments, operations for the day and safety responsibilities like updates on the status of asbestos on site. This ensures that risk prevention is maximized because staff remain informed and in the information loop. Additionally, there is a maintained risk register and register of visitors on site at any given time during the development. Signage is seen everywhere which is displayed in accordance with occupational health and safety guidelines and governing policies for construction. Signs are displayed for reasons that include staff safety, public safety, warnings for dangerous materials and/or equipment and/or such things as electrified fencing, and for public safety amongst others (Site visit personally viewed/ communication).

In an era faced by acute land shortage in urban areas, high rise developments have become way too familiar. When dealing with such projects, health and safety is of great importance. One is left to wonder how machinery and materials can present safety challenges, but the truth is that on site, handling these two items could be a nightmare. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on how engineers and construction managers can develop safe methods of handling equipment and materials.

Due to the limited space of most construction sites, it is the role of the engineer or construction manager to develop efficient systems of handling equipment in an organized and safe fashion. In many instances, the size of the structure is almost equal to the size of the compound, and this leaves little room for the safe handling of equipment. Material handling equipment is classified into two categories: earthmovers and haulers, according to the Occupational and Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Earthmovers are used for geotechnical works in preparing foundations of high-rise structures (Execuive, 2013). Compactors are the most common in this category and they must be operated according to OSHA’s safety regulations and procedures. This equipment must be equipped with loud-enough horns that can be heard over the other jobsite construction noises and should be used whenever the operator is moving in the site.

Hauling and lifting equipment include cranes that are used at the site to move cement, concrete, steel among other materials. The engineer should ensure that the crane is working well and that it does not exceed the loading for which it was designed to avoid accidents. It also vital to ensure that there is enough space on the construction site to allow free movement of the crane without posing danger to workers. The various parts of the crane such as chains, sheaves and ropes should be inspected regularly. The engineer should finally ensure that only qualified workers operate the machinery to minimize accidents (Executive, 2013).

Proper planning and handling of materials is important in ensuring a project is completed on time. Handling of construction materials involves different activities such as transporting the material by trucks, manually carrying the materials, and stacking. Different materials are stored differently, and it is the role of the engineer to ensure they are handled properly. For instance, wood should be stored carefully to prevent unnecessary bending, waning and cracking. Haphazard handling of materials can lead to serious injuries. Falling objects, improperly handled materials and poorly stacked materials can cause serious injuries at a site (Stromme, 2010). OSHA requires that debris and other waste materials must be handled and disposed in an environmentally friendly manner.

During storage, it is important to segregate all incompatible materials that may be hazardous to the safety of workers. Flammable liquids must be covered at all times to prevent incidents of fire attacks it should also be ensured that signs of the hazard of falling materials such as debris are put in respective areas (Stromme, 2010). The engineer should ensure that OSHA’s regulations regarding handling of materials are strictly adhered to.

Accidents relating to poor material and equipment handling are frequent. Such issues may appear petty, but they can ruin the reputation of a construction company for good. It is, therefore important to safe operating procedures are followed at all times.

Health and safety is important in the construction management environment due to moral, financial and legal issues. Therefore due to such critical issue health and safety concern has been given much priority in the recent past.

The construction process normally involves onsite storage of equipment and materials and considering that the construction site is limited space, the storage has to be done in accordance to the health and safety regulation. The Figure 1 below shows a construction site that has the building almost equal to the size of the compound. This leave limited space for material and equipment storage and that create more trouble as far as safety is concerned. That is because storage has to be accessible and at the same time allow material and Equipment to access them. Basically the physical hazards form the most common type of accident that is normally extremely hard to avoid. Improper site arrangement leads to physical exposure of the equipment and material to be used. Equipment on the other hand have moving parts that if not handled with care lead to extreme accidents (Wilkins, 2011, Pg.1020). The requirement of the store is that the equipment has to be stacked, racked, blocked and secured at all and floor ensured to meet minimum safe loading. There must be proper passageway in the building to ease movement and enhance safety.

         Fig 4: Construction site showing the compound size and the size

         of the construction project (Lecturer Notes, 2015).

Engineers should be at the forefront of Health and safety management since according to (Poon, Tang and Wong, 2008) most of the workplace accidents are as a .result of handling ignorance that can be shaded off with slight training and light button control. Being an expert, the engineer needs to provide clear guidelines on how to keep safe and the need to train and manage their petty issues. Therefore the Engineers need to shut out the ignorance regarding safety issues through guidance and training of the junior workers to have technical awareness regarding health and safety.

From supervisory level perspective, the engineer should oversee the planning and implementation and ensure the entire storage facility meet all the requirement safe storage (Allan, 2000, Pg.292). Engineers need to employ technically able employees who have a past of similar machine usage. Engineers have the chance to play a role in safety issues right from the design stage. A good engineering design should have safety plan in mind and should balance out the compound in a manner that makes it easier to play out with the safety regulation. Engineers again put a hand in enhancing safety through 3D designs that increase site visualization and planning and inspection more easy (Thorpe, 2005, Pg.143). However the part engineers play in creating awareness among the low skilled workers play a role in safety enhancement as the engineer explain best storage practices for materials and Equipment’s. Lastly the engineers can enhance safety by example by the manner they give respect to the site, leave equipment in the right places and go about his or her site duties in the right PPE (Lingard, 2013).

7.0 Reference List

Full references - Harvard style only - (it’s the easiest).