SAFETY IN CONSTRUCTION

Health and Safety in Construction Management



Health and Safety in Construction Management

Question No 1

Safety Measures to Enter Large Cement Silo

A Cement Silo can be defined as a structure that is used to store huge quantities of Cement. Bulk amounts of cement is stored in these silos which are waterproof, protected and clean from contamination, dry with the stock rotated in a chronological order with the dispatch dates mentioned and marked on the delivery documents.

Potential Hazards

Silos are hazardous where there are a number of factors that are responsible for people injured or killed every year during the procedures of both filling the silos and maintaining the cement stored in them. One of such procedure that exposes the workers to potential risks is the preparation for the silo filling which requires the workers to directly work underneath several ton-heavy machine suspended overhead of the worker from a steel cable. Hence, if the unloader falls, the worker is most likely be instantly killed.

The Cement stored in the silos can buildup or stick to the walls of the confined space. This dried cement can make the silo release, collapse and unexpectedly fall. Besides the presence of various hazardous gasses that are trapped within the Silo. These gasses can react with the cement, which will only result in the further worsening of the atmosphere.

The dust can also accumulate within the silo's atmosphere and can be explosive especially when the humidity is low. However, any ignition sources, such as smoke can result in this explosion. Moreover, there have been various cases when the silos explode because of such incidents. If the inside air becomes laden with the finely granulated particles including grain dusts, a spark occur which in turn can trigger an explosion that will be strong enough to blow apart the concrete cement silo and even the adjacent buildings, typically setting the adjacent building and silo on fire. These sparks can also be caused by the metal rubbing (Knabbe & Garcia Luna, 1994, pp.240).

Precautionary Measures

Effective preventive measures must be taken in order to ensure the safety of the workers. Firstly, individuals must never enter the silo unless the task is necessary. While entering the silo, the individuals or teams must seek professional assistance from individuals who are qualified, trained and knowledgeable to make safe and secure confined space entries. These individuals must ensure that sufficient checks have been conducted before issuing a worker with a task in the confined space of the cement silos. In addition, the air in the silo must be measured for the hazardous vapors and gases and the oxygen levels before entering to avoid both suffocation and explosions. Hence, to prevent burial or suffocation, a silo, which contains or stores cement must not be entered without ensuring proper safety measures.

Moreover, workers must never enter the cement silo before making sure that the auger is isolated and turned off while entering and this should also be ensured that it stays off while a worker is ...