A School Named, Accident!

 

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“Oogway:  There are no accidents.
Shifu: [sighs] Yes, I know. You've already said that twice.
Oogway: That was no accident either.
Shifu: Thrice.”
… Kung Fu Panda

If you don’t know above names, then Kung Fu Panda is animated movie & Oogway & Shifu are characters from it, for now that’s sufficient as or else that will be separate subject of sharing & if you have seen the movie then there is no need to explain further more about the references of these names! Indeed, the term accident itself send jitters in the minds of most people & that’s natural because accident mean damage, loss of life as well property & if the accident is related to some business place like ongoing construction of a project, then one more factor gets involved that is law & which often means more ugliness which goes beyond loss of life & property i.e., loss of image or reputation & the list is unending! That way a lot has been written about the accidents as well construction safety & fact is, nobody wants any accident to happen at his (or her) site, yet when an accident happens then we have to analyse it as that’s the best (and only way) to prevent (read as delay) or to avoid the next accident! In the outset let me be clear, this sharing is regarding my role as a member in a recent accident analysis (fact finding) committee & the case is used as symbolic only. My sharing isn’t to blame somebody or make some agency look guilty but to have a take away for the entire fraternity of which govt agencies along with investigation agencies are too part of when any accident happens!

Recently an accident happened on a construction site in Pune & some eight workers lost their lives & I know many people (apart from builders) will say, what’s big deal, it’s a routine for construction sites, & nothing will happen only it’s the poor labours which has lost the lives & culprits will be free etc! I don’t blame these people as that’s how even the media thinks & trust me it’s a nightmare for the builder 9and his entire team including consultants) when an accident happens at site with fatality involved i.e. loss of human life. Right from police to law to local governing bodies to media, all are there to take enforcement action thinking only the builder is guilty & must have been ignorant that’s why the accident happened & the project work is shut down. In addition to all these losses, the biggest loss is negative publicity & damage to reputation which is directly related to booking i.e., revenue of the project & every builder (and his team) knows this & yet accidents happen! First blow or outcome of the site accident is arrest from police dept, of which every builder (read as anybody) is afraid of & here is where this accident case is different & subject of my sharing. Govt in new UDCR (Unified Development Control Rules) has made of provision of forming a committee of technically qualified personals in the case of site accident & Hon Collector is supposed to be chairman of this committee & the committee will analyse the accident & submit the facts to chairman & then only necessary actions will be taken by the concerned authorities. Thus I was invited as a member of Credai (Association of developers) as well as an engineer & there were others technically qualified members from different depts as well engg college too & sr police officer. We have been given a period of neary 15 days for making a preliminary report & 60 days for a detailed report of the accident & during which we were to conduct site inspections as well introgate ( mild word is interview) all or any concerned person with the respective site’s work.

 

This whole episode was an eye opener for me even after spending 30  plus years in the construction industry & being a civil engg by myself. First I came across many fronts which I realized I too was not aware of in construction & second many more aspects which I was taking care of at my end & being hailed as over cautious, which proved right in analysing this accident! And big names were involved as well, who have experience of handling big projects too & the owner was non-technical (just the way many builders are) which makes the analysis more important from the perspective of the developers! So, what I will do is, will cover the case from each role’s view point (major stakeholder, I mean).

First entity to start with is obviously, the owner or the developer (in most cases) of the project. Mainly, when you are technically qualified by yourself then many things you learn & adopt faster related to construction (or supposed to) but if you yourself have never been at site as a work team then how you can know what can or will go wrong yet you are responsible as principal employer by law. So, first & foremost thing is be very clear in allotting the responsibilities to all the agencies related to the work, especially safety & quality & workmanship related activities. Make a detailed document for all important work aspects & get it done via professional lawyer which many developers don’t do. Reason is one, they think they know it all & second is to save money but do mind when any mishap happens, the most important aspect is who was responsible for what & this can be safeguarded only by a lawful document which we can call a work contract or work order. May it be the appointment of a construction management firm or principal contractor or licenced architect or structural designer or any such agency, what has been agreed in between you & that agency must be very clearly drafted & documented & observed with periodical record! As an owner-developer, keeping perfect record of everything is a must for you, however small or big the project size is, because an accident doesn’t happen depending upon the size of your project neither the law differentiates on such scale!

Second entity is the Construction Management Firm. Here, if you are running one such firm, then see that your duties are clearly defined & definitions of the terminologies such as safety & quality are covered not in general terms but in pointers & do’s as well don’ts' related to site. As well there has to be a clear mention of the way you will be supervising the day to day work at site & keeping a record of the same. Because when an accident happens then whether it's an accident or a mishap caused by ignorance (read as negligence) of the concerned can only be verified by going through the site supervision reports if they are recorded properly. Also, as a construction management agency you are dealing with all other agencies such as contractors or consultants as well with govt agencies (in some cases) as an owner on behalf of him, so you have to be very particular in defining what is your role & what responsibility you have given or transferred to another agency. Because as per the owner you are solely responsible for everything good or bad associated with the project, so recording & documentation of all these responsibilities is your main responsibility from the accident angle.

Third & most important entity (though may not be by law) is the contractor or, say principal contractor. Here in many construction companies there is one main contractor which is responsible for the base structure i.e. foundation, rcc (slab/beam /columns), masonry & plaster. And it's these activities, where more manpower is required & accident chances are also more due to the nature of the work. And that is why the selection of such contractors should be done not just on the basis of cost saving but quality & of which safety is an inherent part. At the same time it’s the contractor who is handling major labour force at site  & duties of the contractor regarding safety aspect must be documented very clearly & a system has to be there to follow the same as most civil contractors themselves are not technically qualified & follows what's been  practice without understanding the quality (read as safety ) aspect of the workmanship! Some rupees saved in negotiating cost of construction per sft with the contractor can prove distster if the saving is done at the cost of the quality, just do mind this fact, is all I will say. Even the contractor also should be careful while working & employ skilled workers for jobs of high risk such as shuttering workers or steel fitters. A periodical safety training is a must as well as surprise checks & mock drills to test the workers response at the time of accident. At the same time keep record of all such training & drills, if possible, keep video recording as nobody expects the contractor to be at site full time but that is why training is important & your efforts for the same, right? If you try to save on these small things then you end up paying a lot more, do mind, is all I can say to the contractor fraternity. You are a contractor & you have accepted a certain contract to make some money & not to lose whatever you have got, don’t forget it! Oh yes, compliance with all legal things such as insurance, registration with the labour office etc, don’t neglect these smallest things which matters most after an accident as a contractor!

Fourth entity is, consultants which includes structural designer, architect as well various services such as electricity, air-conditioning, fire, landscaping etc. All these are technically qualified (supposedly) and if you guys fail to make a system of keeping the right track of workmanship then nobody but you yourself are at blame at the time of accident, mind it! Because at the time of the most accidents it’s the drawings as well working procedures which either are not followed properly or not conveyed to the actual work team, is the main cause & respected consultant or agency becomes directly responsible for the same! Also, periodical as well surprise site visits are a must with proper record of your observations at such visits to the concerned site staff or agency as this can avoid lots of trouble ahead in case of mishap, which was the case in the respective site accident also. And please do mind, don’t keep records to pass on the buck or to blame others but records whatever genuine observations are done at site related to workmanship & safety! At the same time don’t overlook minor details such as change of staff looking at a certain project, notify all the concerned agencies (even govt agencies) about such change so all of them will take necessary action from their side.

In the end the most neglected entity in case of an accident & which is ignorant about its own roles is, the site engineer… Guys I myself have been a site engineer for more than decade & equal years and was responsible for everything related to sites of which safety is an inherent part & I have understood the importance of systematic work & I was lucky also a bit, which may not be the case with you all! A site engineer is responsible or say prime responsible for safety at site & that makes him or her most vulnerable in the case of an accident! If you are under pressure of not following proper work systems such as having cctv cameras in place or lack of safety equipments’ or safety training at site from your employer (builder, contractor or consultant) then keep it on record or refuse to accept any order which compromises safety of workers which are like your team! As a site engineer, keep knowledge of good practices about quality & safety & don’t wait for someone else to do it or arrange it for you because in case of an accident, no one else will go behind the bars for you, mind it!

The system (read as govt agencies) also must learn that it's only after some accident if you take action then its skin saving, instead like formation of fact-finding committee, have a safety audit committee also in place which will certainly help to save many future accidents! I am personally thankful for the role played by present Hon Collector Mr.Rajesh Deshmukh, IAS & Sr police officers like DCP Rohidas Pawar, as well PMC officers Mr.Sudhir Kadam & Mr Gavane for their balanced approach & freehand they gave us to work impartially!

Lastly this is what I will share as my conclusion from the fact-finding committee working experience for the real estate fraternity, there is a difference between accident & a mishap. Every accident is a mishap which happens even after taking all due care at work but not all mishaps’ can be tagged as accident, as some are outcome of negligent, ignorant, overconfident attitude of the entire team towards the site work which makes all of the team pays very dearly for such attitude, mind it! 

 

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at You Tube link below..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

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