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Project Milestone | 1 Million Man Hours Without Disabling Injury

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Based on statistics from the Labour Ministry’s HASAWA (Health and Safety at Work Act), this is the first time a project has reached this milestone on any construction projects in the Fiji Islands.

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Safety Achievement at New American Embassy Site: 1 million man-hours without disabling injury.

Local and overseas contractors and workers at the new American Embassy complex site in Tamavua, Suva are celebrating a truly remarkable achievement, after reaching a million work hours without any disabling injury. This has also meant zero delays in the project through injury related incidents or stoppages.

The US Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), which is directly supervising the new project in Tamavua, said this safety milestone is a direct result of Telesource SHBC (Fiji) Limited, the Project’s General Contractor, along with other contractors’ commitment to Health and Safety awareness and practices.

“Safety is a key element of our global building program. A safe work environment increases worker morale and productivity”, said OBO Project Director Tracy Thomas.

“The importance we place on safety is also a means to show respect to the local host community. We recognize ourselves as guests in Fiji for this endeavor, and the project would not be a success without the local construction workforce,” she added.

The new Embassy site, worth over thirty million FJD, employs 50 overseas and 400 local workers and staff members through Telesource (an American general contractor registered in Fiji since 2000) and its major sub-contractor Fletcher Construction.

The last accident we had on site was over 50 years ago now, and as a business we learnt a lot from this. Fortunately, there are many solicitors who specialise in accidents happening at work (one example we have found for you is: https://smithjonessolicitors.co.uk/accidents-at-work/construction-site-claims/ )
meaning the victim of this accident was not out of pocket, and he has managed to have a quick and stress free recovery. It’s not just here in America that lawyer’s specialise in these sort of things, even in Spain there are lawyers that specialise in electrocution at work for example, or as they would say accidente de electrocucin.

“Following this, we realised the math is simple. When man-hours increase, risks & injury exposure increase. But it is a fact that organizations that care about their employees and their contractors’ employees continually look for ways to make their construction environment safer.”

“We would have not achieved this very important milestone without the commitment and hard work of our local workforce. We also thank the management of Telesource SHBC (Fiji), Ltd and their major subcontractor Fletcher Construction, as we owe them this very important achievement.”

“Based on statistics from the Labour Ministry’s HASAWA (Health and Safety at Work Act), this is the first time a project has reached this milestone on any construction projects in the Fiji Islands.”

Telesource Chief Executive Officer Nidal Zayed said that safety is their most important core value, and the team was doing an exemplary job. “We will focus even more so now and ensure that our record is preserved, and of course more importantly, that all site personnel remain safe and out of harms way.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Telesource Safety and Health program Manager Allen Fabricante said, unprecedented team effort was the key and they are determined to stay on the same trend until final completion.
Background information for Journalists / Editors
• When completed, the 4.3 hectare compound will host a state-of-the-art embassy facility set in a lush garden with both American and local design elements, providing 4,600 square meters of safe, secure and functional office space.
• According to Construction Industry Institute (CII) estimates, the total cost of construction – related injuries worldwide exceeds USD 17 Billion annually.
• According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses for year 2007 – NAICS Code 236 (Construction of Buildings) = 4.5, based on 40 hrs/week work.
• The NAICS Code is the same for this project. At the end of October 2008, this project was over the 1 million worked hours, from February 2007. This project’s Incidence rate of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses (Based on figures from November 2007 to October 2008 with 849,508 Hours) = 0.57, based on 48hrs/week work, and 2 recordable injury cases.
• An incidence rate is an equivalent average number of safety incidents expected to occur in a year based on the level of labor and the specific industry. In this case, our project value of 0.57 compared to a US national figure of 4.5 for construction makes a good indicator of the safe environment at our project.

In high risk work environments, workers should have undergone training on how to best deal with such situations. Courses are readily available like this for health and safety representatives (HSR)