UK Construction Blog talks to Tim Turney, Global Marketing Manager at occupational hygiene and workplace hazard monitoring expert Casella, about the use of boundary monitoring to identify potential hazards, ensure compliance and protect workers from health risks.
What is site boundary monitoring, and where is it used?
Site boundary or ‘fence line’ monitoring is used widely on construction sites and other high-risk locations including demolition projects, mines and quarries and environmental remediation sites. Boundary monitoring units are set up on the exterior perimeter of the worksite to monitor for potential hazards that might cause compliance issues for the site, or present a health risk to workers and site neighbours. It’s an essential part of the safety and risk management ecosystem of these sites, and helps control and mitigate potential environmental, health, and reputational risks.
What hazards can be monitored for?
Hazards that are typically monitored for include excess levels of dust, noise, vibration and, in some cases, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Volatile organic compounds include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects, and if these are present on a site or work their way into soil or groundwater they can present a hazard to future development or remediation of a work site or property.
Why is site boundary monitoring important?
There are two main aspects to this – health and compliance. From a compliance point of view, there are stringent legal and environmental controls surrounding levels of noise, dust and vibration that construction projects cannot exceed. Local environmental health bodies will require work sites to prove their regulatory and legal compliance through accurate reporting and data sets for given hazards over specific time periods.
Site-wide compliance is vital across the construction and demolition industries. Civic and legal responsibility to measure site emissions is backed by legislation and governing authorities. In the UK, sites will need to comply with their section 61 notices. These are a proactive measure that can save a contractor or developer time and money, improve environmental performance and prevent prosecution by keeping sites compliant with law and legislation[1]. Site monitoring must be recorded and reported on, and action taken if limits are exceeded – sites must be able to evidence compliance and maintain their reputations, and local communities must be considered. Alongside the human cost to health, fines of up to £20,000 ($30,000) per violation are possible if preventable noise and dust exceed agreed emissions levels, not to mention the long-term potential costs of a damaged business reputation.
What kinds of boundary monitoring equipment are available?
There are a variety of different solutions available for site boundary monitoring. Many are dedicated to specific individual hazards, including dedicated dust, noise or vibration monitoring systems. While a variety of different monitoring solutions can be employed and combined to give a full picture of site emissions and risks, increasingly project managers and occupational hygienists are turning to combined solutions, such as the Casella Guardian2.
These combined monitoring solutions bring together several real-time hazard monitoring devices in one enclosure, which can be easily installed at the edge of a site and, once powered, require minimal further interaction. Data capture continues seamlessly, and reporting can be entirely customised to suit the needs of the end user. These units can be easily relocated as site boundaries change or redeployed to new projects. Having a constant source of monitoring data gives projects a safety net in terms of accountability. Data is always on hand to prove that sites have been compliant, and give a full and accurate picture of the site’s potential emissions.
What are some important factors to consider when purchasing a boundary monitor?
Site managers are of course busy people, so as little manual maintenance of environmental monitors is key. Having a single unit that can measure parameters such as noise, dust and vibration (plus others) means only one unit to install, and one set of software with which to interact and learn, making the process easier and saving time. Once units are installed at a site boundary, they need very little interaction – ‘set it and forget it’, as the phrase goes. They enact monitoring 24/7 without input, running either from mains, battery, or even solar powered configurations.
Users can then receive automatically generated, customised reports to a set schedule, or when specific emissions limits are reached, preventing issues with surrounding residents and subsequent complaints to authorities. Limits can be used to trigger preventative measures such as dust suppression. Managers only need to check a single unit or combined data report, a more efficient method than checking multiple monitors and data sources. Alerts can be sent instantly via text, allowing sites to monitor levels around the clock and react quickly to reduce levels of dust or noise that exceed set limits and mitigate potential negative outcomes, and give site managers a reliable data source that can be accessed any time. Daily, weekly, or monthly reports can be sent directly to an email inbox in graphical or tablature format, and can even be supplied directly to local authority or environmental organisations – getting ahead of potential site-visits from inspectors.
These remote reports allow managers to check data streams across multiple units and multiple sites remotely, reducing physical time spent on site. By being able to provide data in email/file formats to environmental and local authority inspectors directly, this also reduces the time having to spend managing data and ensures environmental incidents are prevented, and data is reported in a timely manner.
About Casella
Casella is dedicated to reducing environmental and occupational health risks by developing equipment and technology for dust, noise and vibration monitoring.
Casella’s core purpose is to create technology aimed at improving the working environment of employees, while providing robust data and equipment platforms to enable organisations to remain compliant with health and safety regulations. The company is an expert in the integration of sensor technology and data management systems that further improve productivity and overall safety in the workplace. Casella’s range of instrumentation includes real-time dust monitors, personal sampling pumps, sound level meters, personal dosimeters, hand-arm vibration and boundary/fence-line monitors. Casella is a global business, part of the IDEAL Industries Inc. group of companies, with offices in the UK, US, Australia, China and India.
The company has provided precision instrumentation since 1799 and supplied eminent figures, including Charles Darwin, with instrumentation for exploration and scientific work. Casella works with a network of specialist distributors to provide local service and client support to those searching out solutions for risk reduction and management.
Continue Reading
Health and safety in construction is getting a much-needed boost courtesy of funding from HS2 via the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
A new customisable online training tool is now in development by specialists in cloud-based Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital twins, 3D Repo, in collaboration with 4D consultancy, Freeform, and Balfour Beatty Vinci JV.
The new tool will replace generic training videos and presentations with live walkthroughs of site-specific 4D (construction sequencing) visualisations based on existing BIM models that can be understood in any language.
Generic safety training will be replaced by real-time, site-specific visualisations delivered via an easy-to-use cloud-based user interface. Health and safety aspects will be coordinated with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Discovering Safety Programme, to enhance opportunities for compliance and reusability across other contractors.
Funding for the new training system is provided through a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) innovation competition funded by High Speed Two (HS2) and managed by Innovate UK. The competition aims to deliver innovation that will drive project efficiencies and process for use during the design and construction phase of HS2.
Dr Jozef Dobos, CEO at 3D Repo said:
“Inductions and onboarding in UK construction are usually delivered using generic PowerPoint slides, pre-recorded videos and printed questionnaires. Our new training solution will enable site personnel to quickly and easily generate engaging site-specific induction materials that are easy to comprehend and therefore reduce accidents and near-misses through better quality training.”
Dan Fawcett, Head of Innovation & Transformation at Balfour Beatty Vinci said:
“Our number one priority is to be ‘Be Safe and Well’ when constructing HS2, and BBV’s work on 4D Constructability Reviews with 3D Repo to date is a great example of innovating to improve health and safety. Introducing further collaboration with Freeform and HSE to build on this work is yet another step forward in ensuring no injury, ill health or incident is caused by our work activities.”
James Bowles, Founder of Freeform, said:
“4D models use graphical and non-graphical project information including time, resource, and logistics management to create more predictable, robust plans and sequences. With 3D Repo, we are developing a novel online tool which allows for simple planning and visualisation of intricate tasks to improve health and safety not only on HS2, but for the entire construction industry.”
Using the power of the cloud, the new training system will also provide centralised tracking of induction performance with full audit trail and reporting to measure effectiveness.
Work on the new 4D health and safety tool began in March 2021 and follows on from a recent announcement about adoption of new SafetiBase 4D technology which allows workers to safely identify and resolve issues using immersive 360º screens.
About 3D Repo
3D Repo is a multi-award-winning company offering a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform to bridge the gap between Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Digital Twins (DTs) in the cloud. Instead of architects, consultants and contractors sharing massive proprietary files in a costly and time-consuming manner, they can simply point their web browser to an encrypted knowledge base to examine each project stage virtually. With 3D Repo, users can manage model revisions and highlight potential issues using live collaboration tools, which allow the whole project team to work from a single source of truth. 3D Repo also includes patent-pending technology to identify real-time changes and clashes in 3D models. By comparing the actual geometry of a model rather than underlying, software specific object IDs or labels, 3D Diff Change Detection can identify changes between models from different sources. 3D Diff Clash Detection automatically highlights intersections, and therefore potential conflicts, between different types of models.
About FreeForm
Freeform is a specialist 4D modelling and planning company that builds high detail 4D models. We work with teams at all project stages, from concept, through design, procurement, and into construction. We use a range of solutions including Synchro 4D, 3D Repo, Fuzor, Unity, and Rhino 3D. We’ve worked on over 500 projects in 13 years and have a portfolio that includes projects of all scales and sectors.
About BBV JV
BALFOUR BEATTY VINCI is a long-established joint venture between two global leaders in the delivery of critical infrastructure. We started working together over 30 years ago to deliver the Channel Tunnel as members of the TransManche Link consortium. Balfour Beatty VINCI is responsible for designing and building part of the most exciting and challenging railway project in Europe: HS2. We are building the West Midlands section of HS2’s Phase One route, spanning approximately 80km from Long Itchington in Warwickshire to the centre of Birmingham and on to Handsacre in Staffordshire. We will be employing thousands of people in the area to design and build the civil infrastructure for HS2 through the West Midlands area.
About HSE
With roots stretching back to 1833 the modern HSE is an independent regulator with over forty years’ experience helping Great Britain work well. Using world leading science we have helped protect millions of people from devastating injury and suffering. HSE leads the way but doesn’t act alone. Everyone has a part to play – employers, unions, trade associations, professional bodies, academics, and others. The world of work is always changing. We use science to understand these changes. And that understanding helps us all prepare for the workplaces of tomorrow so Great Britain continues to be one of the safest and best places to work and do business. HSE also jointly delivers the Discovering Safety programme with the University of Manchester and other partners to use data to derive impactful insights that can be used to improve health and safety performance.
Continue Reading