Construction Safety in Nepal | Laws and Standards of Safety

As construction activities are high risk activities which has a huge sum of investment, construction safety is very crucial. Activities like construction, repair and renovation are all hazardous when safety is not applied. Some of the accidents that typically occur in the construction industry is falling from a height, being affected by heavy construction equipment, poisonous gases and dust in the eyes and mouth.

Construction Safety Standard in Nepal

In Nepal, the standard related to construction safety is NBC: 114- 1994. This standard highlights fundamental provisions related to construction safety Standard

We note safety standards related to escape from fire, escape from harmful chemical, Excavation works , construction of foundation, walls and roofs, construction safety for use of explosives in construction works, and safety during demolition right here.

Construction Safety against Fire

• For safety against Fire, the requirements of firefighting equipment must be done as designated by fire safety engineer.
• Electrical power lines and circuits must be cut off before the beginning of demolition activities in all construction sites.
• Nepal Fire Safety Standard must be followed for determining the number of fire escapes on all sites. A minimum of one fire safety escape should be provided.
• For building sites over four storeys, there must be two fire safety escapes. For large buildings, there must be one fire escape for every 500 square meters of plinth area addition.

Construction Safety during Excavation Works

The following rules should be followed for construction safety in excavation works

• If the trench is deeper than one meter, then at least one escape should be made for every 20-meter length of trench.
• For every work underground, oxygen mask must be compulsorily provided.
• Some measures should be taken to protect service lines during excavation works.
• Loose materials should not be left in the cut slope.
• Physical guards and barriers must be provided for excavations made with mechanical equipment.

Construction Safety during construction of Foundation

• The type of foundation should be adopted so that it will allow safe construction practices for site workers and for the neighboring properties.
• The construction material and method should not harm in any way the health of the workers and the neighbors of the construction site.
• For driving piles, the adjoining properties must first be reinforced so that their foundation will not be having any impact under any conditions.
• Shoring must be done so that accidents doesn’t happen when constructing deep foundation.

Construction Safety during Construction of Walls

• If the height of wall is above five meters, suitable scaffolding with protection against horizontal motion must be provided at suitable height which prevents any accidents to construction workers.
• Walking on top of freshly laid brick wall should be prohibited for construction workers.
• Doors and window frames must be protected using ropes on both sides during the construction of wall.
• If there is a public welfare space adjoining the construction site, a canvas covered guard must be provided throughout the adjoining wall and also up to an extra 1.2 meters length.

Construction Safety during Construction of Roofs

• If the slope of the roof is more than 30 degrees, safety belt must compulsorily be provided.
• Workers should not be compelled to walk without protection in asbestos cement sheet.
• Loose tiles should not be kept in the roof. It must be kept in the scaffolding or horizontal working platform.
• The workers should not be made to walk over the reinforcement. There must be platform for walking over the reinforcement.
• Railing or protective guarding must be provided on all roof edges to prevent construction workers from falling.

Construction Safety for use of Explosives in Construction Works

• The blasting areas must be properly guarded and marked for blasting.
• Explosives must be used only after taking the necessary permission from concerned government authority of Nepal Government.
• Audible signal must be given before doing the actual blasting.
• People and animal must be removed from the blasting scene when blasting is about to happen.
• Records of all blasting works along with the quantity of material used must be kept by the construction company or general contractor who is conducting the explosion works.
• Unused explosives and detonators must not be kept at the site.
• Blasting works must be conducted by the company under the supervision of blasting agency.

Construction Safety Laws in Nepal

Labor law such as Labor act 2074 has got many provisions related to Construction Safety of labor. Some of the provisions are

• No labor should be compelled to work overtime.
• No labor should be compelled to work in places where there is occupational health hazard of any form.
• The employer must form a Safety and health committee if his construction firm has got more than 20 construction workers. The representation of labor in the committee is a must.
• No employee of a construction firm should be taken any act when he or she reports the failure to implement the construction safety at the site to the concerned authority.