Construction workers build a skyway in front of the Nay Pyi Taw City Hall in this file photo taken November 29, 2006. Members of a committee under the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development last week called on construction companies to improve workplace safety procedures and provide protective gear and training to employees. Pic: AFP

DEVELOPERS were last week urged to make sure construction workers they employ are adequately protected against hazards in the workplace, with a government body saying not enough was being done to ensure worker safety.

The Committee for Quality Control of High-Rise Building Construction Projects (CQHP) hosted a seminar in Yangon on November 13 focussing on dangers in the workplace.

“There needs to be a safety policy and also a commitment from the heads of management to raise (safety) awareness at all levels of an organisation,” U Win Khaing, a committee member and general secretary of the Myanmar Engineering Society, said at the seminar held at the headquarters of the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development, which oversees the CQHP.

“What most construction sites lack is the use of personal protection equipment such as safety glasses, shoes and helmets. What construction workers often wear is a pair of slippers and a longyi. Not wearing the proper protective gear leads to very unsafe conditions,” he said.

U Win Khaing called on developers to set in-house safety rules, ensure all workers are aware of them, and enforce them at construction sites.

Current safety standards were “weak” and fell short of norms abroad, he said, suggesting Myanmar companies could look to standards in Singapore as guidelines.

There should be policies for the proper storage and handling of materials, reporting of hazards and incidents, efforts to minimise fire hazards and good site organisation to keep areas clutter-free, U Win Khaing said.

“Attractive safety signs illustrated with cartoons and paintings, and banners and posters are necessary to promote safety awareness. Training programs are required as well as refresher training occasionally,” he said, adding that companies that improve safety standards should be rewarded for doing so.

He did not detail what rewards should be introduced but said hazards such as noise, dust, toxic gases, vapours and radiation would need to be addressed.
A construction site safety handbook is due to be published by the CQHP for the first time in January, U Win Khaing said.

Committee members U Tun Shwe, U C. Maung and U San Tin also gave presentations at the seminar, covering construction site inspections, water and sanitation, and electrical safety at high-rises.

U San Tin recommended that high-rises only use well-known lightening rods from established companies, instead of “non-conventional” lightening rods that he said were used by a small number of buildings in Yangon.

A handbook on electrical safety, testing and inspection would be released by the CQHP in early December, he said.