066 Coral Homes P/L Submission – Managing Risks In Construction Work Code of Practice (Preamble) This Submission is written exclusively from a Housing Industry point of view. The writer has 40 years experience in Construction covering, Civil, Mining, Marine, Structural Steel, Commercial High Rise, Rebuild/Renovation (Embassies) and Single Dwelling Residential Housing both in Australia and overseas. For twenty years, the writer’s roles have included Site Safety Management in addition to Supervision/Project Management - and for the last 10 years, Safety Management has been an virtually exclusive role. It is of considerable concern that the volume of Legislation and numerous Codes of Practice that need to be read (and understood) by an ordinary Housing Builder/Worker, will deter a significant number from firstly reading and even using these documents – leading to a potential reduction in practical safety on Housing Sites. Workers have voiced their concerns that maintaining a complying Safety Management System and satisfying Auditors, is becoming of more importance than actually dealing with and promoting practical safety onsite. The more complicated and difficult it is to deal with Legislation (the wording, the number of documents needed to be consulted etc) the less likely it is that compliance will be possible. A normal Housing Industry Builder/Worker, does not have the access to in-house Safety Professionals that the Commercial Builder/Trade does. There are basic and distinct differences between Commercial Construction (including multi-level and multiple dwelling residential works) and Single Dwelling Residential construction, for example : Housing Brick and timber construction Commercial Concrete, reinforced core filled block and structural steel construction with details and facades in exotic materials Similar work in similar locations One-off work, differing work in vastly differing locations, with differing materials One or two levels Multiple levels (including high-rise and below ground works) involving lifts etc Workforce of two to five persons on site at a time Workforce up to several hundred in on site at one time One Trade on site at one time Multiple Trades on site at any one time Trades that consist of a Sole Trader Trades that consist of National Companies with significant resources for Safety Management and Training A single Mobile Plant onsite on four to five separate occasions Multiple Mobile Plant operating at any any time over the length of the project 066 Coral Homes P/L Av. site area of approx 300 – 400sqm Site dimensions vary from approx 4000 – 50,000sqm and above Traffic Management Plans are generally very basic and simple Traffic Management Plans can be very complex and require road closures It is believed that this Code is relevant to the Commercial Construction Industry, however, in general, a number of sections and references are not reasonably practicable for Single Dwelling Residential construction and this will lead to confusion, misinterpretation and confrontation between Builders, Workers and the Regulator (something the Industry and the Regulator have worked very hard together to eliminate over the last few years). In fact, housing itself, is only mentioned twice in the entire Code – and both instances are purely in reference to another Draft Code, with no relevant guidance on conducting a business safely on such a small scale as a Single Dwelling Residential site. Concerns Page 6 (1.1) What is a Construction Project? From discussions with the Regulators and Industry Bodies in various States (and also with Safe Work Australia Representatives), it was my understanding that due to the specific circumstances of a Single Dwelling Residential site, most of the requirements resulting from work being classified as a Construction Project could not reasonably be serviced and therefore, it was not intended that they be included under this classification. The $250,000 threshold for a Construction Project is manifestly inadequate, due to the average cost of building a Single Residence in SEQld and NSW is currently in excess of $300,000 (refer to Reed Construction Data – MAT Council Building Approvals 2011). The cost is even higher elsewhere in Australia. This is expected to rise significantly with the introduction of this, and other State and Federal Legislation affecting Construction over the next twelve months. Using an “un-indexed” dollar value to define a Construction Project is fundamentally flawed, due to the major differences in construction and transport costs in different locations, it may be far more relevant to use a threshold based on the number of workers AND/OR the number of Trades scheduled to be present onsite at any one time during construction. From experience, a typical Commercial or Multi-Residential Project will have a significant number of workers and multiple Trades working onsite at the same time. A typical Single Dwelling Residential site will normally have only one (and rarely, two Trades) onsite at any one time, with two to three workers present (Roof Tiling and Concrete works that involve one day on site each, usually will have more). Therefore, by sheer numbers, the risks involved are dramatically reduced in Single Dwelling Residential works. 066 Coral Homes P/L Page 8 (1.2) Principal Contractor Where work is deemed a Construction Project, a Principal Contractor must be appointed. Whilst in general, in Single Dwelling Residential work, a Principal Contractor is currently appointed, there are several provisions under this Code that are not reasonably practicable to comply with on a Single Dwelling Residential site, due entirely to the extremely limited presence onsite of workers in any number and any one time and the widely spaced workplaces (for example, a Commercial Project covering an area of 10,000 sqm may have at least 30 workers, plus Management, onsite at any one time – therefore Site Meetings, Safety Committees, Tool Box Talks involving all workers are entirely practicable. A typical Residential Builder may also have thirty workers “on sites” at any one time. The difference is that a typical residential site is 400 sqm or less and these workers would be divided between 15 or more sites, over an area of 1000 sq kilometres or more – therefore structured Site Meetings, Safety Committees, Tool Box Talks involving all workers under the guidelines in this Code are entirely impracticable). Page 29 (7.1) First Aid The requirement that all workplaces must have First Aid Provisions and “should” have access to a trained First Aider and that these are the (inferred) responsibility of the Principal Contractor is not practicable on a Single Dwelling Residential site, due to the limited number of workers present at any one time and the distances between individual sites. This can be dealt with in an administrative manner but the inference that because High Risk work is carried out, the Principal Contractor should employ Health Professionals or Services on each site (due to the distance between sites) is entirely impractical. Page 31 (7.3) Emergency Plan The requirements of the Emergency Plan, whilst pertinent to Commercial situations, that would be expected to have the personnel and resources available onsite, are not reasonably practicable in Single Dwelling Residential works in their inferred context. Page 35 (8.1) Falls and falling objects A number of references in this section are entirely relevant to Commercial construction and could easily be understood to be required in Single Dwelling Residential works but would not be reasonably practicable to achieve – eg Perimeter Safety Screens fixed to a building, Gantries, Hoardings etc Page 49 (8.10) Lifts and Hoists Whilst relevant to Commercial works, these items are not used in the construction of Single Dwelling Residential dwellings and therefore only serve to confuse those using this Code Page 51 (8.12) Steel Construction Whilst relevant to Commercial works, these items are not normally used in the construction of Single Dwelling Residential dwellings and therefore only serve to confuse those using this Code 066 Coral Homes P/L 066 Coral Homes P/L Page 76 Appendix H – Example 2 The example of Workplace Facilities required for a new single dwelling are seen to be confusing – the example states this is a “New Large Residence”, a “Single Dwelling” and a project value of “$350,000”. a) With an average cost of building an average house in SEQld and NSW being over $300,000, it is not likely that this would be a “large” residence – further reason to increase/change the $250,000 threshold for the appointment of a Principal Contractor b) Eating facilities – this would infer that if Sheltered Public Facilities are not available, a relocatable building should be supplied for the worker’s use. Firstly, the number of workers onsite at any one time ( and indeed, throughout the entire construction process) would make this financially untenable and secondly, the small size of the average residential block would prevent the provision of a relocatable building within the site boundary (unless other Legislated site requirements were ignored or Council/State Bylaws were breached) Recommendation It is believed that whilst this Code is eminently pertinent to Commercial Construction works, many parts of it are unreasonable and confusing when applied to the Single Dwelling Residential Construction Industry. It is strongly believed that due to this confusion and uncertainty (of what actually is relevant and applies to housing), there will be considerable misinformation and potential for legal action resulting from this and numerous other Codes being applied to the Housing Industry. In light of the fact that States have previously cooperated in producing Harmonised “workable” Legislation, Codes of Practice and guidelines that relate specifically to the Housing Industry, it is firmly believed that a separate Housing Construction Code of Practice is now required, that gives relevant and practical guidance to an Industry that is manifestly different from Commercial Construction. This Code could encompass all relevant aspects of the Managing Risks in Construction Code, together with Preventing Falls in Housing Construction, First Aid and other relevant Codes pertinent to this Industry into one document (instead of the currently required several Codes that in general do not refer to the specific conditions and situations found on a Single Dwelling Residential site). There are several documents already in use that could be easily be combined/ redrafted with reference to the new Harmonised Laws, to base this Code on – for example: HIA “LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL SAFE WORK CODE”, Workcover NSW “ERECTION OF TIMBER ROOF TRUSSES”, Workcover NSW “HOUSING INDUSTRY SITE SAFETY PACK” In fact, in light of this Draft Code (Managing Risks in Construction Work) and the confusion with other Codes, it is my understanding that several Industry Safety Committees/Forums are currently finding themselves having to actively consider producing their own “Housing Code” – a single document that encompasses several of the National Codes and addresses all the required obligations (Consultation, Falls, 066 Coral Homes P/L First Aid, Facilities etc), that will better serve the Housing Industry to understand and comply with the New Legislation. Anthony Lloyd Safety and Environmental Manager – Coral Homes P/L 066 Coral Homes P/L Submission – Preventing Falls in Housing Construction Code of Practice (Preamble) This Submission is written exclusively from a Housing Industry point of view. The writer has 40 years experience in Construction covering, Major Civil works, Mining, Marine Construction, Structural Steel, Commercial High Rise, Rebuild/Renovation (Embassies) and Single Dwelling Residential Housing both in Australia and overseas. For twenty years, the writer’s roles have included Site Safety Management in addition to Supervision/Project Management - and for the last 10 years, Safety Management has been a virtually exclusive role. It is encouraging that the Housing Industry has been recognised by Safe Work Australia as a separate entity (in this particular instance) from Commercial Construction and that the previous confusing situation of having numerous new “Falls” Codes to refer to in order to “try” to determine what measures and work systems were required, has now been partially addressed on an Industry specific basis (it would be even more encouraging if a specific Housing Code were to be developed, that would address all aspects of this separate Construction Industry, including managing the risks, facilities, falls, first aid etc, that are all substantially different from the requirements in the Commercial Construction sector). Concerns Scope and application – other Codes Whilst being useful in addressing the issue of falls specifically within the housing industry (excellent visual work examples given, reminiscent of the Workcover NSW Industry Guide) this Code is still required to be read in conjunction with two other Codes, which can be cumbersome and confusing at best. It would prove far more beneficial to incorporate the relevant sections from those Codes into a single document for the Industry. For example, there is a written reference to the use of Ladders at the end of the Code, whereas, the visual examples of the use of ladders in the “How to Prevent Falls at Workplaces” could have easily been incorporated. There are a vast number of workers in the Housing Industry, with very little literacy skills and a visual representation (even allowing for consultation and guidance from an employer) will prove far more effective at reaching these workers than text – there is currently ample room after the “ladder” section in this Code to add relevant graphics. Fall Arrest Systems There should be a reference in this Falls in Housing Code, to FALL ARREST systems being totally inappropriate for use in Housing Construction. Generally, there are NO locations on a normal house frame that are either suitable or certified to accept an anchor for these systems. The fall heights involved in housing work, would result in an injury from contact with the ground before these systems could deploy. The mere reference to the reader being required to refer to the “How to Prevent Falls at Workplaces” Code for further information, would likely give the reader the impression that it would be suitable to use this type of system and could easily lead to “complications” should an incident occur. There have been numerous occasions in the past, when the writer has observed workers on a Domestic Roof (eg Solar Panel Installation) wearing a harness, with the Bungee/ lanyard/Inertia Reel 066 Coral Homes P/L removed or tied up to the waist band, as there were no suitable anchor points on a domestic roof to attach it to. 066 Coral Homes P/L Recommendations Whilst a Builder (PCBU and/or Principal Contractor) has an obligation to “consult” and assist other PCBU’s engaged on a site to discharge their own obligations, a typical PCBU engaged in the Housing Industry has neither the access to training nor the resources to fully understand their role in safety onsite that a Commercial PCBU has. A typical PCBU in the Housing Industry is usually a Sole Trader/Husband and Wife team or a very small company with only one or two employees, whereas in Commercial Construction, PCBU’s are generally lager organisations with in-house Safety Management and Training personnel employed. Therefore, requiring a “typical” Housing PCBU to fully digest, understand and enact the requirements of numerous different Codes of Practice (some, as in Falls, requiring several Codes dealing with the same subject to be read, disseminated and correctly collated/interpreted) is hopeful at best. The various relevant Draft Codes and Legislation have been shown to a number of PCBU’s by the writer – in every case, the PCBU has found this to be difficult to understand and confusing. As previously stated, a single “Housing Code” (similar to the Managing Risks in Construction Code, with existing, easy to understand Industry examples being readily available) dealing with all aspects of safety on a Single Dwelling Residential Housing site, would go a very long way to maintaining and improving practical safety in such workplaces. In general, as a Code in itself, the “Falls in Housing” should be well accepted (with some minor amendments as detailed above) but could be greatly improved if all the aspects of constructing a Single Dwelling Residential House (a VERY different situation and risk profile to Commercial/Civil Construction) could be combined into a single document that would be far better received, and able to be understood and implemented by the typical housing PCBU and worker. Anthony Lloyd Safety and Environmental Manager – Coral Homes P/L