Safety management in construction project. High-rise residential building

The aim of the research was to secure the safety and improve the working conditions of high-rise residential building sites. The key starting point was the examination of safety issues at a more demanding residential building site than usual where experimentation with, and development of, new modes of operation could easily be made part of the project's implementation phase. The focuses of the study were the development of a health-and-safety file for a high-rise residential building project, examination of the safety issues related to production engineering solutions, and the development of an operational model for the planning of safety in subcontracting. In the case of a high-rise building, the importance of the planning of the site's internal logistics was given much emphasis along with the examination of safety and working conditions. The methods and production engineering solutions applied at the Kivenlahden Meritorni construction site in Espoo, the subject of the case study, were compiled into a summary publication. Although the publication focuses largely on the experiences and conclusions related to the Meritorni project, an effort was made to widen its perspective some so it could also benefit conventional residential production. The health-and-safety file produced as part of the project was based on earlier models and was perfected to its final form using the experiences from the Meritorni project. Besides project-specific safety data, the document also presents the owner's views on safe implementation of the project. The owner had the opportunity to affect the safety of the implementation through design control and definition of designers' safety tasks. The definition of designers' safety tasks should be given special attention. The main implementer was responsible for practical safety management on site. New operational modes were developed as tools for the main implementer in safety management. Especially the joint meetings on safety proved an effective and important way of committing the various parties to the project to improving safety. The risks related to the project and methods for solving them were defined in a joint risk-assessment meeting. A joint meeting on the implementation of attic structures solved several problems related to coordination and timing of practical works. Self-implemented safety planning by subcontractors was one of the key development areas. The study showed that the main implementer must lay the proper groundwork and insist that a safety plan be drawn or, at least, that safety issues are considered prior to a joint kickoff meeting. Safety-related issues were either compiled in a separate record or entered in the minutes of the kickoff meeting. The key result of the research is the description of the implementation-phase solutions and the experiences gained from a high-rise project from the point of view of safety. The publication is abundantly illustrated. The conclusions concerning safe implementation were crystallized into seven main points in the summary of the publication. Copyright © Valtion teknillinen tutkimuskeskus (VTT) 2000.