Construction Safety In Singapore Taiwan And Hong Kong Construction Essay

In previous chapter, the Cost-benefit anaylsis give out the result while compare between the costs of financial & social and the costs of preventing accident. The ratio showed that the value fair enough to figure out the advance method to protect human life and prevent accident.

Refer to the Chapter One Statistic of accident rate, many of contries had lower rate of accident and rate of fatality such as Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, etc. Except Hong Kong is still high ranking in the Asia. So, These safety contries may had their special methods to improve and implement the safety in their nation. However, try to compare with the Asia contries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Singapore and Taiwan locate in Asia and closed to Hong Kong. And they have special name — Four of the Dragons in Asia. They had their ability to lead the economy and power in Asia. On the other hand, development in Singapore and Taiwan maybe flewness and completely. So, base on above considerations, Taiwan and Singapore were chosen for research in their method of improve and implement construction safety.

Here propose and suggest two of the countries can be the reference to improve the safety culture for Hong Kong — Singapore and Taiwan.

Construction safety implemantations in Hong Kong

Hong Kong construction safety regulations, legislations, safety audit and safety management system has been developed in good condition like codes of practice on safety management, site supervision and monitoring system. Here scan simplifly.

In the safety legislations, the duty of supervisors, like clients, designers, and consultants of building development, who should manage their working area and take up the responsibilities in the project such as Site Supervision Plan System (SSPS) and Technically Competent Person (TCP).

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In the safety regulations, the “Factories and Industrial Undertaking (Safety Management) Regulations” (Safety Management Regulations) formed since 2000. Under the regulation, the employers, properties and contractors have the duties to develop, implement and maintain the safety management system to prepare a safety policies for undertaking. On the other hand, they provided some of new regulations and codes of practice for construction safety such as “The Factories and Industrial Undertaking (Confined Spaces) Regulation and code of practice “Safety and Health at Work in Confined Space”, etc.

In safety audit, Hong Kong Occuptional Safety and Health Council (OSHC) developed the Independent Safety Audit System (ISAS) and using in construction projects.

Construction Safety Award scheme in 2010/2011

The LD and OSHC promoted an award scheme in 2010/2011, which is encouraging the workers and management terms enhance safety awareness and foster a safety culture in construction industry and improving the good occupational safety and health performance.

Construction safety implementation in Singapore

In Singapore, they have their construction safety legislations, regulations and safety management system. But now, they proposed a planning to advance their construction safety further — Working Safety and Health in 2018.

The planning in Singapore: Working Safety and Health in 2018

The National Workplace Safety and Health Campaign was estiblish in Singapore when April of 2009. Mr Gan Kim Yong, the Minister of Manpower (MOM) was launched a planning in the campagin called “Working Safety and Health 2018: a National Strategy for Working Safety and Health for Singapore”. The stategy aims to improve and maintain the best safety record in the World and they want the rate of fatality will drop down or less than 1.8 per 100,000 workers at 2018. By the way, it can make the resources and efforts to everyone and safety and healthy workplace. The strategies outcomes are the reduce the working safety and health (WSH) incident rates, workplace safety and health as the main and life style in part of business, the best working environment & excellent WSH in Asia and create a progressive and pervasive WSH culture.

The planning created 4 of main strategies:

Build strong capabilities to better manage WSH

Implement an effective regulatory framework

Promote benefits of WSH and ecognise best practices

Develop strong partnership locally and internationally

In the guide of WSH: 2018, the construction part figured out and identified with the unique characteristics to improve the WSH target and standard as following:

They set the long-term goal in zero injury with initial self acting WSH culture in construction sector. The immediately goals for the construction industry are:

The rate of fatality will be less than 3.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2013 and 1.8 fatalities per 100,000 in 2018. The expectation is zero fatality in each company.

The rate of injury will be less than 390 injuries per 100,000 workers in 2013 and 200 injuries per 100,000 workers in 2018.

These are great challenges in Singapore. The implement the strategies set in whole nation and details as following.

Strategy One: Build strong capabilities to better manage WSH

Strategy outcome one showed that goals must be set in several levels. They included individual, corporate and enhancing risk management.

In individual level, there divided into different layers: management, workers & supervisors, WSH professionals, designers and architects. They provided education for all layers to enhance their WSH abilities such as knowledge, sensitive and considerations.

In corporate level, there proposed self investigation and managing main & subcontractors. They encourage worker, main and subcontractors can self check with positive will on their equipments, materials, tools before working with certification system.

In industry level, there proposed enhancing risk management (RM) and cultivating WSH culture. They expected advance the RM course for education and practical assistance programmes to raise the quality of the RM conducted. In the WSH culture, they will develop a depth study in WSH culture index which is used for give a picture to educate workers and enhance the quality of WSH.

Strategy Two: Implement an effective regulatory framework

Strategy two showed that the implement regulatory framework in different parts to advance the WSH. It included key men, working place, personal and standard.

In the view of key men, like designers and developers, they should take and highlighted the main responsibilty and liability and enhance the capabilities. By the way, the gonernment will develop a programme and leading it before 2013.

In the view of working place, base on many of management heads in-site are lack of awareness, they expected the management heads know more and understanding the health and hazard in constuction industry. From the backing up, industry association will integrate working health (WH) consideration to improve and their WSH management system.

In the view of personal, they know too many of small sectors and multiple subcontractors, so there active the WSH chapter in assiocations to encourage their worker with more and more progressively raising WSH standard.

In the view of standard, The WSH council expected active and review their codes of practice and guidelines to achieve better and received feedback to improve the WSH performance.

Strategy Three: Promoting the benefit of WSH and intergrating WSH into business

WSH has many benefits and it should be applied on their working life. However, they provided several part to improve WSH working life — influence the suppiler and subcontractor from large company, take the safety and health management and accessment before working, business cases for driving impovement in WSH.

In the view of influence the suppliers and subcontractor, they expected the large company can influence their suppliers and subcontractors to improve their WSH. As the same time, the large companies encouraged to show their commitment and prositive impact through “Pledge for Zero” (PfZ). The PfZ plan can show the details the actions and milestones for the target by 2011.

In the view of WSH system, they created a new form called ConSASS, which is a checklist to help auditors assess the quality in WSH and expected implement to 80% of working sites applied I band III.

In the view of case studies, they expected to promoting more successful cases and want WSH benefits knows for stakeholders. It can make the business understanding the positive effort of WSH standards on productivity and competitiveness.

Strategy Four: Creating and building partnerships

Wide range of stakeholders involved in construction project like joint venture (JV) can make a good practices in WSH standards with more sources and implements. While in specific areas of concerns like cranes, they expected to develop more advance planning or ideas to better WSH performance.

Implements and reviews

Strategies translating with planning into programmes and submitted to WSH committee, which is supportted by WSH council and MOM will monitor the implementation of the key areas of work and develop milestones on feedback from key stakeholders to account for the changes in the operating environment and market sentiments in Singapore.

Construction Safety implemantation in Taiwan

In Taiwan, the senario is same as Hong Kong and Singapore. The leading government departments are Industrial Safety and Health Association (ISHA) and Insitute of Occuptional Safety and Health (IOSH). Review the Business Plan in 2009, they major did events for construction safety were education, technical services, authorized inspection and internaltional exchange.

In the education and training, typical events had been finished such as promotion and estiblish OSH trainingcourses, bidding on OSH projects commissioned by government to promote regulatory compliance abd associated training projects, publishing OSH training materials for regulatory compliance and promotional campaigns.

In technical services, it had been finished implementations and promotions in government and private sectors, provided OSH audit and technical consultant services, OSH equipments and materials, some of OSH-related campaign, exhibition, symposium and workshop, developed and research for overseas market, assisting safety department and committee to promote OSH-related activities.

In authorized inspection, they provided the guideline and inspetions in construction industries.

In international exchange, OSH specialists to exchange OSH related technologies, knowledge and ties with European countries, USA, Japan, Australia and other organizations. And they provided international OSH services from internet.

Comparsion construction safety between Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore

As above mentioned, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong have their individual and unique construction safety system. But the expected time of foresee are not same. Here classified the expected time of foresee into short, middle and long-term.

The short-term of foresee is Taiwan. Because they promoted and acted typical events happening in other countries with less special. And they have lack of long-term and exactly target objectives.

The middle-term of foresee is Hong Kong. Most of typical events are same process as Taiwan. In addition, they proposed award scheme to promote and improve their contruction safety with clearly target in several years.

The long-term of foresee is Singapore. The planning and acts are in advance considerations with allow to put more and more resources to improve and implemant the planning. On the other hand, they expected a target and set the objectives to reduce the injury and fatality rate in construction industry. It showed Singapore’s government that is very concern their citizens value of living and life quality.

Conclusion

The result of best planning is Singapore. There highly recommends Hong Kong allow to take reference from Singapore’s planning policy, which should expenditure more resources in construction safety for improve construction industry.