👲 💹 👋🏾 Labor protection in construction: norms, rules and requirements 💉 💤 ⛰️

Labor protection in construction is a very broad concept, which includes compliance with safety and labor legislation, fire and sanitary-hygiene measures, as well as supervisory and monitoring functions. This is not just a separate discipline, but a real life textbook that every person who is engaged in such activities should know thoroughly.

What does the employer owe?

This question must be answered first. The main provisions of labor protection in construction require the employer to provide at his own expense:

Protective equipment (for employees) that has passed certification or declaration of conformity.
Safety during the operation of buildings, equipment, as well as materials and tools used in the process.
Personal protective equipment, as well as neutralizing agents for those workers who work in dirty conditions or at an uncomfortable temperature.
Comfortable and safe working conditions for each employee.
Conducting a special assessment of working conditions.
The mode of work and rest.
Medical and sanitary services for workers.
Conditions that meet the requirements of labor protection in construction, as well as their subsequent control.

rules on labor protection in construction

In addition to the above, the employer must create instructions and approve them with local regulations.

General Provisions

In order to thoroughly understand the topic under discussion, one must turn to order No. 336n. Rules on labor protection in construction are listed in it. Here are the key points:

When carrying out work that involves exposure of workers to hazardous or harmful production factors, the employer must take all possible measures to eliminate or reduce them.
The authorities have the right to establish additional safety requirements if they improve working conditions.
If methods, technologies, materials, inventory, equipment and tools that are not regulated by the rules are used in the work, the employer and builder are required to develop and approve measures for labor protection.

There are high risks in construction, and every employee is aware of this.

But before starting the design of production, especially dangerous zones are sure to be identified, once in which you can be exposed to hazardous factors. Moreover, they may not be related to the nature of the work performed. These zones are specially designated so that no one accidentally gets into them. So what are these zones?

Territory Requirements

Talking about the rules on labor protection in construction, the topic of the territory should be addressed first of all.

Each production area must be prepared to ensure safe work. And, of course, before the start of the construction process itself. Here are some requirements:

The site must be fenced so that outsiders do not get on it. The protection height should be from 1.2-1.6 to two meters, depending on the type of territory (ordinary site, industrial site or in crowded places).
There should not be any openings in the fences, not even lockable gates.
A protective visor is required to withstand the snow load, as well as the fall of small objects. The angle should be 75 °.
Near the territory leading to the production site, it is important to establish a scheme indicating the passage to the location of the fire water supply, storage of building structures, materials, as well as where vehicles can turn around.
On roads it is necessary to put signs that regulate the movement of construction and conventional machines.
Cranes must be equipped with additional means of limiting the working area.
Driveways and walkways are important to keep clean, regularly cleaned of snow and debris.
The area should be lit even at night.
Platforms for recreation, production, as well as the provision of sanitary and domestic actions must be located outside the hazardous areas.
On the open air sites there should be shelters from rainfall.
Excavations, ditches, trenches and pits must be fenced. Through them it is necessary to install transitional bridges, at least 1 m wide. Handrails should reach a height of 1.1 m.
Boreholes, wells and other ditches must be covered with shields or covers.
Any fences and what is an obstacle to safe walking on the territory should have their own lighting.
Sites, sites and premises that are territorially isolated must be equipped with telephone communications.

The last rule on labor protection in construction is the most obvious - unauthorized persons, as well as workers who are intoxicated, drugged or alcoholic, are never allowed to go to the place where the work is carried out.

Hazardous areas

They also need to be discussed. Hazardous areas that are associated with the operation of hoisting machines must be indicated in the PIC. All others are in PPR. These include:

Places close to electrical installations that conduct current that do not have insulation.
The area next to unshielded swings, a height of more than 1.8 m. The border from them should be closer to two.
Places near swings with fences below 1.1 m.

labor protection and safety in construction

If we talk about hazardous areas in which exposure to hazardous production factors is possible, then these include:

Plots close to the construction under construction.
Floors and tiers over which the installation / dismantling of equipment and structures is carried out.
The area over which cranes move goods.
Zones of movement of cars, working bodies, other equipment.

Whatever the danger zone, it is always marked with safety signs and signal guards.

The specifics of working with a crane

This topic is also discussed by the order on labor protection in construction No. 336n. In order to prevent falling of materials, structures and products moved by a crane from a height, the project must necessarily determine:

Container for transporting bulk and piece substances, concrete, mortars. Containers are also allowed. Mandatory accounting for the mass of the transported cargo and its nature.
Devices for capturing cargo. They must comply with the dimensions of the cargo, the conditions of installation and slinging.
Methods of implementing the above tasks, which will ensure the supply of structural elements during installation and storage in accordance with the solutions indicated by the project.
Cassettes and pyramids necessary for the sustainable storage of structures.
Methods for garbage collection and disposal of construction waste.
Ways of storing and securing structures.
Installation locations, as well as the design of protective devices (nets, ceilings, visors).

But, of course, before starting all of the above actions, the employer and the owners of the production facility must issue an admission certificate, which will allow us to proceed with the design tasks. According to the provisions of the order on labor protection in construction, otherwise it will be illegal.

Air analysis

The need for this event is also described in the SNIP. In construction, labor protection is the most important discipline, and it requires a mandatory analysis of the air environment. Since in any collector, pit, trench or well, hazardous gas may appear.

After analysis, it will be possible to determine whether polymer products and materials, as well as substances with toxic or explosive properties, can be used in the construction process.

In any case, all of the above in the workplace can be stored exclusively in quantities that are sufficient for a shift need. If it is explosive substances or solvents, then they must be kept only in sealed containers.

Job requirements

All employees are required to be as safe as possible. This item is the most important provision of labor protection in construction. The main aspects include the following aspects:

Technological equipment should be placed rationally, in compliance with safe distances.
Places of permanent or temporary residence of workers who do not participate in the construction itself should be far from danger zones.
Workers should be able to remotely control noisy cars. The authorities are obliged to issue funds to reduce sound pressure and personal protective equipment, as well as possible to minimize the time spent in such places.
The harmful effects of vibration should be reduced. To do this, they give out means for its absorption and isolation.
Premises in which dust regularly accumulates must be constantly cleaned with the help of mobile dust-collecting machines. Also in them must be ventilation and suction systems.
Mechanisms for the processing of gypsum, cement, lime, etc., must be controlled remotely.
Elevator shafts must be blocked on each floor.
For work on roofs with a slope exceeding 20 °, it is necessary to install ladders of at least 0.3 m in width.
The location of racks, machine tools, workbenches and other equipment should not create return, intersecting or oncoming movements. When installing mechanisms, it is important to consider the dimensions and weight of the processed materials.

It should be noted that the order regulating the features of work in construction for labor protection contains several dozens of the most important points. The installation of technological equipment, the observance of the dimensions of the openings and passages, the placement of conveyors and other aspects are given great attention.

And it is very important that the employer respects each item, since the safety of the entire construction site may be compromised due to any of them. Even if one warning light is not positioned correctly.

Work at height

There is also a certain specificity. According to the instructions on labor protection in construction, work at heights are required to be carried out in accordance with all provisions approved by order of March 28, 2014 No. 155n.

Prior to the start of construction, all employees must be trained in safe techniques and methods in order to subsequently apply them, taking into account all the requirements prescribed in the notorious law.

All means of "scaffold", including scaffolding, are made according to standard designs, taking for inventory purposes.

Winches must be loaded with ballast, weighing at least two times the traction. It is fixed on the frame. All jacks are tested immediately before the start of operation, using a load exceeding the load capacity by 25%.

In places of lifting on the means of "scaffold" and scaffolding, posters should be placed indicating the values of permissible loads and the evacuation scheme in case of an accident. There should also be stairs for lowering and raising people.

Of course, in addition to all of the above, the norms and rules of labor protection in construction include equipping workers with all the necessary equipment and protective equipment to ensure maximum safety at height.

Excavation

In this case, it is important that discretion is taken to prevent the exposure of workers to hazardous factors such as:

Falling pieces of rock.
Collapsing soils.
Moving cars, objects moved by them.
The location of the workplace of employees near the edge (in the absence of protective fences).
High voltage in the electrical circuit, which can be closed through the human body.
Chemical manufacturing factors.

Before starting work, it is necessary to carry out responsible measures: to determine the safe steepness of loose slopes, types and structures of fastening trenches and pits, select the types of machines for excavation, install them, ensure the stability of slopes, etc.

It is also necessary to eliminate the erosion of the soil, the collapse of the walls and the formation of landslides, to clear the area of trees and boulders, to determine the need for operation of trench and bucket-wheel excavators. And this is only a small part of what the provision on observance of safety measures in construction and labor protection implies.

Labor protection in construction: norms, rules and requirements