Safety clauses in Technical sections

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Author Message Karen L. Zaterman, CDT Senior Member Username: kittiz Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 03:32 pm:    This is an issue I don’t fully understand yet (writing specs for 6 months now) so I need some clarification from more experienced Spec Writers. I keep on coming across safety-related statements in sections that were written “by others” (ha, ha). This is the most recent I have found in Part 3 of an Electrical section written for a past project at one of the Ports we do work for: SECURING SITE WORK: The Contractor alone is solely responsible for securing all electrical site work with adequate barriers, warning indicators, and shoring. Safety should be covered in the owner’s General Conditions, am I correct? The contractor is also bound by law with some safety requirements, right? What I’m not clear on yet is where one does draw the line and include such statements, if one even should. This is where I need your advise & comments. There is a place in MF 2004 at 01 35 29 for Health, Safety and Emergency Response Procedures. Is this a section any of you have used & what can and cannot be covered there? Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 375 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 03:45 pm:    In essence, the contractor is in control of the site, and is responsbile for all related safety issues. Safety overall is an issue to be assiduously avoided by the design professional, except to tell the contractor of situations that may relate to safety. The professional does not make or run the safety program-- the contractor does. OSHA and other employer related isses regarding safety also belong totally to the contractor. "Dabbling around" in safety can get the design professional in a world of hurt!! George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 152 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 04:02 pm:    Yes, it should be in the General Conditions. Example from AIA A-201 Article 10: "The Contractor shall be responsible for initiating, maintaining and supervising all safetly precautions and programs in connection with the performance of the contract." Other forms of General Conditions should carry similar language. In technical sections, language should be directive and result oriented. Safety requirements (aside from leading to "a world of hurt") are also a methods and means issue; means and methods belong solely to the contractor and are likewise to be avoided by the design professional. Tell the contractor you want a wall built, but leave it up to him to figure out HOW to build it and, and moreover, how to build it SAFELY. Karen L. Zaterman, CDT Senior Member Username: kittiz Post Number: 9 Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 01:37 am:    Thank you both -- I appreciate good mentorship! I know I had the gist of that instilled during study for the CDT but couldn't recall the why & how. Ralph said, "except to tell the contractor of situations that may relate to safety". Can someone think of any examples? Have none of you used the Health, Safety and Emergency Response Procedures section in Division 1? And I bet there are a few stories out there from the rest of you... Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 376 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 06:51 am:    Karen, I OFFER THE EXAMPLE THAT AN ARCHITECT WALKING ON THE JOB SITE SEES A SCAFFOLDING LIFT BEING USED, BUT NO SIDE RAILS ARE IN PLACE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, BUT THE ARCHITECT'S ONLY ACTION IS TO INFORM THE CONTRACTOR OF THE SITUATION OBSERVED; DON'T TELL THE WORKERS WHAT TO DO,WHY, OR HOW. Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 358 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 08:57 am:    I remember being told by various architects with whom I have worked that only if it is an immediate life-threatening situation are you to take action to stop the work. And then you proceed to do exactly as Ralph has stated. Never used that Division 1 document; the closest I've come is an Owner's document for specific site safety and health issues. Richard Howard, AIA CSI CCS Senior Member Username: rick_howard Post Number: 78 Registered: 07-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 09:08 am:    Owners occasionally require us to put their safety procedures in the project manual. These documents are fairly generic and don't really get into construction safety. I could put them in Division 1, but I feel more comfortable making them an attachment to the supplementary conditions and clearly identifying them as the owner's in the table of contents. I have seen design-build project manuals with the construction manager's safety requirements included as a Division 1 section. These requirements typically include having each contractor designate a safety coordinator, requiring his attendance at the CM's safety meetings, and describe procedures for reporting incidents. The CM has a different role at the job site than the design professional and is prudent to address the issue. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 336 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 11:55 am:    sometimes if you are working on a large existing campus (hospital campus or university campus or both) the owner may have specific safety response procedures in place that they want followed: for example, the campus police must be called before the city police; or the campus emergency response team prior to calling 911. If you're working on a restricted research facility for example, the procedures may have as much to do with safety response as with security response. Airports have their own fire departments and concerns because of the type of facility that they are. That's the purpose of the Health and Safety response section is to provide a place for those detailed, project specific procedures. this would not be a section typically used for a stand alone office building in the suburbs. As for safety requirements: I have deleted safety requirements when they come to us in sections from either Owners or contractors, reminding them that job site safety is a contractor-specific issue and that our liability insurance will not allow us to be specific about those requirements. I've never had a problem after stating that. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 516 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 12:29 pm:    All of what has been said about designers (architects and engineers) not being responsible safety is correct. This is driven by liability and insurance concerns. As mentioned, some owners have specific safety procedures. Still others have requirements that the contractor develop a detailed safety program conforming to the owner's requirements. Large transportation projects, especially, seem to have extraordinary focus on construction site safety. (Kudos to them! I suppose they are the only owners who can afford this.) Though I doubt that a designer would be developing these, they could easily be part of a project manual, and MasterFormat provides a logical place for them to be.