Summary of EHS Seminar on Construction Safety by Department of Civil Engineering

A seminar was arranged by the Department of Civil Engineering on Construction Safety under the series of seminars by Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) on November 17, 2021. Faculty and staff members of the entire institute were invited to the subject seminar through announcement on the Institute’s webpage and email circulation.

The faculty members, staff and students of the GIK Institute were among the attendees of the seminar. Dr. Waqas Arshad who has a PhD in Construction Engineering and Management was invited as the speaker for the seminar. He is working as Deputy Director in Provincial Expressways, KPK and has a vast experience of working as a leader of teams committed to ensure international safety standards at mega projects including motorways, metro lines and multistorey structures.

The seminar covered multiple aspects related to construction safety. The importance of health and safety was discussed in context to construction industry. The role of different regulatory authorities such as Occupational Health and Safety authority and Pakistan Occupational Health and Safety to implement standard safety practices globally was elaborated. A formal practice was conducted to enlighten the attendees about general methods to quantify and minimize the risks involved in each task related to the construction. The concept of unsafe acts and conditions was elaborated for the attendees through animations. The standard safety requirements in practice at global level and the loopholes in terms of safety at the local projects were also presented. Moreover, the role of an engineer in ensuring and reporting the poor practices was discussed concisely. Different types of standard safety equipment were explained. Emphasis was laid on their manufacturing, functionality, and usage. The session concluded with explanation of advanced technologies which are in use globally to ensure construction safety. The role of building information modeling (BIM) was explained in depth. Different models were discussed wherein virtual reality had been used in conjunction with BIM models to foresee the projects and prepare the relevant safety requirements in advance.

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