HEAVY CIVIL SEEKS A NEW SAFETY MINDSET TO COMBAT COVID-19

Even as the country gradually emerges from complete lockdowns, it is increasingly apparent that COVID-19 is not going anywhere and that it would be infinitely better for human beings to learn to live with the virus. At construction sites, work has resumed but requires an entirely new safety consciousness to perform, according to Michael Sanderson,
Head – EHS, Heavy Civil IC. “It is important not only to fully implement COVID-19 checks before starting work, but all necessary safety checks must be completed, before workmen use any equipment, with special focus on high risk activities such as work at height, excavations, working in confined spaces and the like. Returning to work requires a change of mindset,” Michael asserts, “from one which has been in lockdown to one of restarting work, putting the likelihood of injury at its highest during this period.”

Digital solutions to the fore

For a Safe Start at all projects, a COVID-19 checklist is an imperative. Currently, every project is completing this checklist but to make the process easier to report a project’s status and to measure data, the Digital team, along with the EHS team, has created a platform using the EHS App. It is now a requirement to complete the COVID-19 checklist using the EHS App. The project Admin/IR team will submit the checklist in the EHS App for the EHS In-charge’s review and approval. In addition, an EHS App has been launched to ensure compliance with the Corporate SOPs on re-starting projects, that requires to identify any Risk and ensure that the necessary Controls are in place before safe restart of activities. “The goal of our EHS strategy is ZERO HARM,” reminds Michael, “and it is when resuming operations after the lockdown that accidents are more likely to occur.” This checklist ensures that the required safety controls are in place to avoid any incident or even, loss of life. 

Working with the EHS team, the Digital team has released an upgraded version of the Ib4U App (version 2.2 build 7) that has an additional feature of ‘Temperature screening’ to record the temperature of a workman by scanning the QR code on a WISA card or by entering his WISA ID number. This App is already being widely used at almost all projects.

Facing the threat of working during the lockdown

The two packages of the Mumbai Coastal Road project did not face much of a lockdown as pre-monsoon preparatory work continued almost continuously, which gave rise to several issues. At the firing end, Senior Manager – Accounts & Administration, K Hari Narayan, quickly felt the heat. “Remobilisation after the first few days of the lockdown was difficult as lots of administrative issues cropped up and day to day affairs were difficult to manage due to the lack of manpower especially during the initial stages.” After having sourced the extra labour, people like Jai Sharma, Assistant Manager – IR & Accounts had several other challenges. “We had to arrange for their food, provide adequate PPEs, support staff movement from residence to site and provide for all the necessary facilities to ensure work at site. All this in the middle of Mumbai which is the most severely affected place. We also had to face so many restrictions and take so many precautions without much support,” he shakes his head. Some of the skilled workmen were even accommodated at site to avoid their exposure to the virus during their commute to and from the site.

An interesting safety precaution taken by the Mumbai Metro, Package 7 under the leadership of Project Director
H Jayarama, to be primed for a quick resumption of operations was to maintain the station box and tunnels to prevent mosquitos from breeding and keep them continuously dewatered to prevent water stagnation. These measures helped because as soon as the lockdown was relaxed, Jayarama’s project team was one of the first off the blocks.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Frequently washing hands with soap is accepted as a potent weapon against the virus which has prompted several sites to set up foot-operated hand wash stations. In fact, at the KAPP Unit 3 & 4 project, unable to face the delay in supply, the project team fabricated their own wash station from the material and scrap available at site which was then set up at several locations. “We spent just INR 850 to make it (in-house fabricated hand sanitizer) while the same thing is available in the market for INR 1,600,” remarks a satisfied, EHS In-charge, S Sairam. An added advantage of this system is that it can save a lot of water too. 

Door handles are perhaps the most touched surfaces, carrying the risk of spreading the virus. “How many times can you disinfect a door handle?” asks Sairam, “So, we in-house fabricated and fixed a foot puller to open and close doors at our office with which we have reduced the threat of transmission to a great extent.”

Ensuring the new normal

Project teams across Heavy Civil are ensuring that the new normal is maintained during operations that include staggered duty schedules and mandatory safety inspections before start of work. Other measures include daily medical check-ups by the project doctors, daily temperature monitoring of the site and office staff and workmen, daily disinfecting the premises, fumigation, sanitization of vehicles, hand sanitizers for equipment operators, using biomedical waste bins for the disposal of  used face masks and hand gloves, distribution of immunity boosters, and frequent awareness lectures to the workmen and employees by project doctors and paramedic staff. As a matter of abundant precaution, at the P1 Project, only workmen from the safe zones are called for duty after obtaining self-declarations from them, thereby ascertaining their health condition, travel history and contact history with any outsiders, family members and/or neighbours.

“As we move into a new phase to support a safe return to work, all of us have accepted the challenge of adopting preventive measures to help achieve a safe and healthy workplace and contribute to mitigate the transmission risk of COVID-19,” Michael sums up. “Our first line of defence is a set of simple measures like maintaining social distancing, following strict hygiene norms and respiratory etiquette, sanitizing contact surfaces and self-monitoring our health and if these are religiously and rigorously followed we should be OK!” He smiles.