What does QHSE mean?
QHSE stands for Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental management as defined by ISO14001, ISO9001 and OHSAS18001 standards. It has different names around the world, such as SEHQ and QESH, but the central concept is always the same.
Simply put, QHSE is a detailed system that provides a concrete context within which all companies manage their health and safety operations, as well as all aspects of their activities that are related to quality and the environment.
QHSE (or SEHQ/QESH) is based on the idea that prevention is better than cure and perceives all errors on and off-site as situations that could be avoided by implementing the correct systems and processes.
Thus, the health and safety management system can effectively protect people working in the field and ensure that planned and ongoing work operations harm the environment as little as possible. This vigorous approach to health and safety also results in higher quality training and project management methods.
What is the job of a QHSE or SEHQ manager?
A QHSE manager is an integral part of designing, developing and eventually monitoring the implementation of an intuitive quality, health and safety system in a construction company. QHSE managers must continually ensure that required standards are followed so that all project tasks are carried out under safe circumstances and that the end result of work carried out on site meets the customer's quality expectations without having a negative impact on the environment . .
It goes without saying that this is an ongoing process and for this reason, QHSE or SEHQ managers need to always be vigilant to ensure that everyone is following the agreed guidelines.
In a way, QHSE managers should be seen as ambassadors of the health and safety culture, as it is their responsibility to mobilize everyone and keep them aware of quality, health and safety requirements.
The biggest health and safety risks in construction
Before we delve into how you can keep your QHSE process up to date, it's a good idea to take a closer look at some of the most common health and safety risks in construction. In a few words, we could summarize them as follows:
1. Falls and slips
Construction sites are full of all kinds of traps and obstacles for those who are not very careful. That said, it is extremely important that all workers and visitors to the field follow the safety instructions given by the site manager and the QHSE manager.
This way, local crews can perform dangerous tasks such as digging holes and transferring equipment more safely.
2. Accidents at height
Falls from height are the leading source of fatal accidents on construction sites, as reported by the Construction Research and Training Center. People who work on cranes, scissor lifts or scaffolding need to undergo special training to know how to avoid accidents.
And this is an area where a proactive QHSE (or SEHQ) manager needs to focus to establish a standardized training process for each individual working on these tasks.
3. Movement of materials and equipment
The Infrastructure Health and Safety Association reported an average of 2,000 lost-time injuries due to falling objects over a five-year period. A construction site is full of moving objects, constantly changing with various equipment lifting heavy loads overhead or dumping loads everywhere. The dangers are therefore inherent.
The most common falling objects range from steel beams to small hand tools and cause various injuries such as bruises, fractures, strains and sprains. Limiting the number of injuries related to moving objects includes two types of controls: physical controls that prevent objects from falling or falling too far, and procedural controls that change the way tradespeople work so that objects do not fall.
4. Electricity
Statistics say that, on average, three workers are electrocuted every year in the construction industry during renovation work on domestic and commercial buildings. Working near power lines and cables increases your risk. Workers who are not qualified to work as electricians but perform electrical work are also increasing the number of electrocutions in the industry.
Safety committees have reduced risks by implementing the use of non-conductive materials near electrical lines and cables and by requiring safety training. Electrocution hazard warning labels have also greatly reduced this problem.
5. Noise
Noise is one of the main “silent” hazards. The noise doesn't have the shock value of a fall, but excessive, repetitive noise can cause long-term healing problems. They can also be dangerous fun at work that can lead to other accidents. Earplugs do not provide complete protection against hearing damage.
By law, businesses are required to adhere to noise regulations, which include implementing and documenting comprehensive noise risk assessments and issuing appropriate personal protective equipment.
QHSE on construction sites: 5 steps to success
Setting up a successful QHSE process is a long and demanding effort. The good news is that with the advent of digital technologies, things can be done faster and simpler. That said, implementing a modern, digitized QHSE process allows you to standardize your compliance processes and make them easier for everyone to execute.
With the right digital solution by your side, you can streamline the flow of communication between your QHSE manager and on-site employees, introducing a unified process for everyone in the field.
In summary, here are five steps you can take to ensure the success of your QHSE process:
1. Promote the role of the HSE across your organization and prevent accidents
By automating the SMS process, you can suddenly make it a vital part of the daily on-site routine. This way, you can raise awareness and significantly reduce the number of incidents during a construction project.
2. Get rid of administrative work
All construction projects involve a lot of administrative and mental burden. QHSE processes are no exception to this. For this reason, it is extremely important to reduce administrative work as much as possible if you want to be successful.
Digital tools are again part of this paradigm shift, as they can help you maintain a clear view of compliance actions in one place, so you don't have to waste time connecting fragmented and outdated information.
This makes compliance checks much simpler for staff and saves you from having to chase down site teams for updates.
3. Find the right tool
One of the golden rules of success when it comes to onsite quality checks is finding the tool that will help you get the job done in the easiest way possible. In other words, you need to find a tool made for the area.
Simply put, everything your teams need is at their fingertips with just a few clicks on their mobile devices or tablets.
4. Follow checks closely
You should always keep an eye on your checks and make sure they are completed in accordance with existing regulations. Once again, digital solutions could play a substantial role in this effort and pave the way for the standardization of on-site inspections, adding precision to the entire process.
5. Document all activities and issues with photos
A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes. Avoid having your visual documentation spread across different devices and endless email threads. You need a reliable tool that lets you collect, store, and manage project photos in a central, secure digital ecosystem.
On our platform, you can easily do this by quickly taking a photo and including it in your progress report as documentation. Plus, a detailed audit trail makes it easy to scroll through your entire task history and find the visual documentation you're looking for with just a few clicks.
What is a health and safety checklist?
A health and safety checklist is a crucial component of the construction process, regardless of the size or purpose of the construction project. With the help of health and safety checklists, project teams can define and implement HSE best practices in their projects. This way, they ensure that all agents perform their tasks in safe conditions and in accordance with existing specifications.
Failure to comply with agreed regulations may result in serious injury to field personnel and/or severe legal consequences for the entire project team and its organization.
3 Health and Safety Checklist Templates You Should Be Using
In an effort to help people in our industry keep their QHSE processes up to date, we have gathered and presented below three security checklist templates that you can access and implement for free in your projects:
Work safety inspection
Use this security inspection checklist to review and verify your activities and controls that could pose any type of security risk. You can even customize this template to customize specific safety inspections.
Incident Report
In the event of an accident on the construction site, a form will be prepared with a general description of the location of the accident, how and when it occurred and, most importantly, who was involved. You will be asked for a description and its context, whether this will have an impact on the smooth running of the project from a budgetary and planning point of view.
Security instructions
This form is for briefings that may occur at the beginning or during the project. The objective here is to improve site security, avoid conflicts and reduce risks. Thus, this briefing form can allow teams to learn about the main points related to safety, determine emergency exits, learn about the equipment in the first aid kit and whether everything is in accordance with regulations.
Do you want to learn more?
By now, you have a good idea of what it takes to build and implement a successful QHSE process in your construction projects. If you want to learn more about how digital tools can help your team improve QHSE performance by up to 47%, we highly recommend you download our free Guide to a Digitalized QHSE Organization app!
