Risk Assessment: Construction and Civil Works
Workers Affected by Works Hazards
The ISASTUR Group Management is convinced that a job well done is not only one that satisfies the client’s demands, complies with the Group’s own Quality Standards and is in keeping with the legal regulations in force, but also a job well done is a job done under healthy, safe conditions for all the workers who intervene in its execution.
This conviction has taken the form of an Occupational Risk Prevention Policy with a clear aim: to avoid accidents, prevent the appearance of occupational diseases and watch over the Health and Safety of our professionals, who, in short, are the Firm’s primary and principal asset.
All workers have access to the full, updated Risk Assessment corresponding to their post within the ISASTUR Group. But the aim of the present Safety Manual would not be covered if it did not give the reader an introduction to the principal factors of risk that he may encounter as a worker in the construction and civil works sector. The personnel that this information is aimed at are:
- Management and executives in general
- Technicians, Works Managers, Team Leaders and middle management in general
- Skilled and Specialised workers
The following includes an assessment of the hazards that, a priori, cannot be eliminated due to the nature of the work. This evaluation is carried out determining, on the one hand, the probability of the hazard materializing and, on the other, the seriousness of the possible consequences, i.e. the possible degree of seriousness of any harm done.
According to its likelihood:
- Low (L): the harm will occur only rarely.
- Medium (M): the harm will occur occasionally.
- High (A): harm will always or nearly always occur.
According to its seriousness (seriousness of the possible consequences):
- Slightly harmful (SH): cuts, bruising, slight irritation of the eyes due to dust, headaches, etc.
- Harmful (H): lacerations, burns, concussion, important sprains, deafness, dermatitis, asthma, etc.
- Extremely harmful (EH): amputations, major fractures, intoxications, cancer and other chronic diseases, etc.
Depending on how both variables are combined, 5 levels of risk are to be distinguished (in increasing order of importance). The following table presents a simple method for estimating the levels of risk according to its estimated likelihood and the expected consequences.
| LEVELS OF RISK | SERIOUSNESS OF THE HARM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLIGHTLY HARMFUL (SH) | HARMFUL (H) | EXTREMELY HARMFUL (EH) | ||
| LIKELIHOOD | LOW (B) | TRIVIAL (T) | TOLERABLE (To) | MODERATE (Mo) |
| MEDIUM (M) | TOLERABLE (To) | MODERATE (Mo) | IMPORTANT (I) |
|
| HIGH (A) | MODERATE (Mo) | IMPORTANT (I) | INTOLERABLE (In) | |
