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Working around water

We have many clients undertaking water fencing projects this summer. Not just swimming pools, but dams, waterways, and ponds.

What are the key things you need to think about? It’s not just ‘can I swim?’

Preplan the task ahead: This is important – what risk is there to you and the team?
Your first line of defence against water-related hazards is simple awareness.

Set the procedure: describe the methods for all work in areas where there is water below, or nearby, or where workers are required to work in water.

The intent of this procedure is to provide guidelines to minimise the likelihood of injury, to protect personnel working over water, and to prevent waterways from becoming polluted through construction or other work activities performed
over water.

Access ways and access points to places where work over or adjacent to water is carried out must be constructed to standards that reduce the risk of slips and falls. Handrails constructed to standard must be in place where practicable. All workers working over aerated water must be tethered securely to prevent falling.

General Requirements

The need to undertake any work over, in, or near water adds a further risk to those that already exist for the specific task.

WorkSafe says ‘Working near water is a critical risk, and measures need to be taken to ensure the safety of operators in New Zealand’.

In recent years, WorkSafe has investigated two fatal accidents and a number of serious incidents where the mobile plant has unintentionally entered the water. These incidents highlight the potentially tragic consequences of machines ending up in water.

“Working near water is a critical risk for the mining and quarrying sector and other sectors that work near water in large machines. The risk needs to be tackled by introducing effective controls and monitoring their effectiveness,” WorkSafe extractives chief inspector, Mark Pizey, says.

“It’s non-negotiable that critical risks such as ground failure, working at height, being hit, or trapped by moving objects, require controls that everyone understands and apply without exception.

“A discussion should be taking place in boardrooms around New Zealand about the critical risks in their business. Directors should know how their business manages critical risks and what measurement gives them confidence that controls are working.”

What creates a hazard when working around water?

Hazards to consider when working in or near water:

  • Drowning-related hazards such as rising floodwaters, fast currents and deep water;
  •  Slips and trips at the water’s edge with the risk of falling into water;
  • Near-drowning;
  • Fall impact injuries;
  • Entrapment and bodily injury.

The failure to adequately assess risk and provide systems of control that effectively manage those risks may
result in:

  • personnel injury through drowning;
  • hypothermia;
  • contact with watercraft, etc; and/or
  • equipment and material loss or damage.

The hierarchy of controls should always be applied and implemented prior to commencing any work over or near water, including the assessment as to whether the risk can be eliminated.

Appropriate precautions should be taken to prevent people and materials from falling into the water/effluent.

This commonly consists of edge protection, which meets the following requirements:

  • Conduct daily workplace examinations.
  • Know the water depth, subsurface conditions and ground conditions before you begin work.
  • Keep equipment a safe distance back from the water’s edge.
  • Guard rails with a minimum height of 950mm
  • Intermediate guard rails or other rigid barriers such that there is no unprotected gap, and toe boards with a minimum height of 150mm to prevent persons from slipping under the intermediate rail and materials from falling.
  • If fencing or guarding is not reasonably practicable, PPE must be properly planned, and workers trained and supervised.

Risk Assessment and Planning

All persons involved in any work activity over or near water shall carry out a task specific Job Safety Analysis (JSA) prior to undertaking work.

Personnel required to work over, in, or above water must do so only when they are in the company of at least one other person.

Where work is to be conducted in and around inlet valves or pumps, grills should be fixed at points where there is a risk of workers being sucked or swept into pipes/conduits.

Training

Can your team perform the task required? You need assurance all will be OK.
You may include:

  • an appropriate number of workers to be trained for rescue operations
  • workers designated to perform the rescue tasks
  • workers informed about appropriate rescue procedures
  • workers trained in rescue procedures and the use of rescue equipment
  • workers may need to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

All personnel must wear an approved floatation jacket at all times when performing any work in, over, on, or
above the water under any of the following conditions:

  • Standing or wading in any water body, including lagoons or inlet channels
  • Outside of the confines of hand-railed platforms
  • Within 3 metres of an unprotected edge
  • Not restrained through the use of a fall restraint system

WORKING IN WATER

When working in water (standing, non-diving activities), the JSA process shall include assessment of hazards associated with:

  • Slips and falls into the water
  • Inundation by upstream waters – where water is flowing sufficiently fast to carry a person away, physical protection should be used, such as a bar or chain across.
  • Where work is on or over water, manually operated hand tools shall be suitably restrained using a tool leash that is attached to the person’s wrist.

The use of a fall restraint system where practical may also be required. Consideration must be given to the nature of the work, the materials and equipment located below and adjacent to the activity and the potential and severity for injury with and without the system.

Footwear

Consideration must be given to the type of protective footwear provided and used to provide maximum protection from slipping on wet/slippery surfaces.

Floatation Jackets

The placement of signs around the workplace is necessary to reinforce the requirement for the use of floatation jackets.

Sufficient floatation jackets should be available for all personnel who are exposed to free fall into the water. Information about types of flotation devices and jackets may be obtained from Maritime New Zealand’s website.

Measures to ensure large vehicle operators and other workers are safe include:

  • Following a ground condition appraisal, a design should be prepared, setting out measures to control ground instability.
  • Ensuring there’s edge protection, barriers, warning signs, and other suitable controls around any water-filled excavation to keep people away from hazardous zones. These controls should be moved as the excavation progresses and the hazardous area changes.

Provision of rescue facilities, which may include equipping the mobile plant with features or tools for emergency use. For example, push-out windows or window breaking tools.

Installing of bunds around water and use of lighting rigs for night work are essential for safety.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Life jackets, harnesses and equipment must be checked every time they are used, i.e., they should be checked to see that the pill is in place and the gas cylinder has not been breached.

PPE should also be regularly checked. Checks should include the general condition and automatic inflation devices. A record of these checks should be maintained. Life jackets should be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Life rings and throwing lines should be checked for deterioration.

Where there is a strong current, a line fitted with buoys or similar floating objects that can support a person should be extended across the water downstream from the work location and securely anchored at each end.

THE PLAN TO RESCUE

Rescue equipment – may include:

  • lifebuoy
  • a rod or hook
  • lifeline
  • life jackets, including one for each of the rescue crew
  • audible alarm
  • maybe a boat that is available for a safe and timely rescue

Guard against drowning

If you work close to water deep enough for drowning, you should have basic rescue gear on hand, at any worksite provided, at regular intervals, and ring buoys attached to at least 90 metres of line.

Another example of simple rescue gear is a shepherd’s hook or pole to pull a drowning victim to safety.

Ensure employees working around deep water know how to swim, and someone on the job should have basic CPR training. Give everyone a chance to earn their CPR certification at least every other year and encourage people to participate.

Reduce electrocution risks

Water and electricity are not a good mix, but it’s inevitable that the two will meet at many worksites. Indoor swimming pools require electric lights, for example, plus electric tools for maintenance and repair. All electrical cords should be properly insulated to meet outdoor weather standards. Electrical outlets and circuit boxes should have ground fault circuit interrupters. These handy devices will cut the current if they sense a water-induced diversion of electricity.

 

Pre-empt hypothermia

If you’ve ever worked outdoors in cold, wet weather, you probably know the virtues of layered clothing. Layers not only make it easier to remove or add garments as the temperature changes, but they also trap warm air close to
the body.

That insulation can save your life, particularly in wet conditions.

  • When exposed to rain, snow or even the spray from hoses, a worker can experience hypothermia even when the ambient temperature is well above freezing. The risk is even greater when someone falls into cold water.
  • Everyone on the worksite should know the warning signs of hypothermia: uncontrolled shivering, clumsiness, confusion and slurred speech. Workers should be encouraged to take regular breaks, from cold, wet conditions, inside a heated building.

Biological

Working close to sewerage or effluent ponds can pose other risks, such as health and contamination. Increase hygiene awareness and how you can protect yourself. Falling in can be an added risk as you will sink more quickly and are harder to see.

Awareness and common sense can go a long way to ensuring a safe workplace, even one with water hazards. Knowledge is the most important tool at your disposal to ensure safety in the workplace. If you educate yourself on potential water-related hazards, you’ll be better able to recognise them where they crop up.

We have had the odd Ute moving swiftly toward a riverbed when the grass was not as dry as yesterday.

Take care out in the workplace teams and if you are lucky enough to build a swimming pool, we hope you get a cold beer and a dip when you have finished the job.

Take care out there team.

Article supplied by: Debbie Robertson, Rural Safe

Published in WIRED Issue 72 / MARCH 2024  by Fencing Contractors Association NZ