Three ways to ensure a safe construction site for workers

Health and safety must be top priority in construction sites. Those who are working in these areas face potential hazards such as falls, collapsing structures, electrocution, and other injuries. As a civil engineer who has worked on numerous projects, Reddy Kancharla believes that implementing strict safety measures speaks volumes about a firm’s management practices. Below are three ways to ensure a safe workplace for those in the construction industry:

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Require employees to undergo health and safety training

Health and safety training is necessary, especially for those who are always on the field. Employees will be taught first aid and basic life saving steps that will empower them to respond properly when problems arise. During the training, employees must be taught how to properly operate machineries. Trainers should also reinforce the use of personal protective equipment.

Create a safety plan

Civil engineer Reddy Kancharla and other workers in the construction industry are always exposed to risks in project sites. Having a safety plan in place will guide everyone in times of disasters. Though different projects require different safety plans, the management must ensure that the plan is systematic, understandable, and doable.

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Maximize the use of technologies

Availing the latest technologies can be a costly but worthwhile investment. These innovations can help make construction processes more efficient. Maximizing the latest tech can also reduce safety risks especially with tasks involving heights and electricity. The use of drones, for example, no longer requires engineers and project managers to climb up structures, as they already provide accurate information and images. Automated systems can also be programmed to perform potentially hazardous tasks.

Reddy Kancharla is equipped with a comprehensive knowledge on engineering theories, principles, and practical solutions of engineering problems in civil engineering and the construction industry. For more updates like this, follow this page.

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The qualities of a dependable construction team

Reddy Kancharla knows just how important a dependable construction team is to the development of a project. For a construction team to hit its deadlines and goals, some qualities should be present, from professional leadership to reliable workers.

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Here are some of the qualities of a dependable construction team.

The team practices safety above all.

While efficiency is important, it’s only secondary to safety. The best construction teams are always governed by safety above all. Since construction sites are extremely hazardous work environments, workers are always at risk. Any injury can deal a severe blow to the advancement of a project.

The team should be able to collaborate fluidly.

Reddy Kancharla notes that as soon as the project is underway, members of the construction team should be able to fluidly work with one another. As in any endeavor in life, members of a team work closely with one another, even if they come from different backgrounds. In construction, this is true as well.

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The team’s leaders always foster constant communication.

It’s the role of foremen to oversee the progress of the team and to relay whatever issue there is with the higher-ups. This is fairly simply with smaller projects such as houses. But with bigger structures, the moving parts are multiplied. The team’s leaders should always be aware of everything that’s happening. And this can be done – through constant communication.

Reddy Kancharla has more than 25 years of experience in civil construction, geotechnical consultation, and construction QA/QC, and more than a decade in senior management for civil engineering firms. Subscribe to this Twitter page for more updates.

A look at the safety measures in construction sites

Reddy Kancharla is an engineer who has been around construction sites for over two decades. He knows all too well, just how dangerous the job of a construction worker can be, and the significance of safety measures in a construction site.

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This blog discusses some of the most important safety measures people are required to observe while in a construction site.

Always wear protective equipment

First of all, everyone in construction sites needs to have hard hats and other protective equipment. There are hundreds of things that can happen and people in construction sites need to protect their bodies at all times. Depending on the job, workers should either wear goggles, gloves, appropriate footwear, harnesses, or a combination of these.

Always complete tasks properly

Reddy Kancharla knows just how dangerous it is to take shortcuts in construction. Not only will workers be compromising their own safety, but they’ll also be putting the future integrity of the structure at risk. So many accidents and disasters have happened because of shortcuts taken during construction.

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Never work under the influence of alcohol or drugs

While this applies to anything anyone does in life, it goes double for construction workers. They have to remember that in their line of work, they’re not just responsible for their own safety, but for the safety of everyone in their vicinity as well.

Reddy Kancharla has more than 25 years of experience in civil construction, geotechnical consultation, and construction quality assurance and control. He also has a decade of senior management experience. For similar updates, follow this Twitter page.

Increase construction efficiency in five steps

Construction projects are a hotbed of disputes often arising from inefficiencies in different parts of the chain. Going over budget and failing the deadline are signs of unproductive techniques and methods. No contractor and client desires such delay and inconvenience for their developments.

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The following are general best practices to secure successful project completion in construction:

Improve the planning process. It’s imperative to commit a generous amount of time to reviewing information, manpower, procedures, equipment, and materials before the actual construction takes place. A construction manager can be a cause of delay upon failure to plan and coordinate successfully with everyone involved in the development.

Utilize good construction development management software. Reddy Kancharla believes that such technologies are nowadays indispensable in keeping the work organized and cutting out unnecessary steps and documents. This technology-aided streamlining permits the construction manager to focus more on the actual progress of the building.

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Use Building Information Modeling or BMI. The digital representations of buildings allow builders to visualize a development even before actual construction. BIM enables a construction development team to calculate the most cost-effective and labor-saving setup of all building considerations. Be sure to listen to the staff. The workers are a construction manager’s eyes and ears in the area. Seasoned construction workers help managers spot faults.

According to Reddy Kancharla, contractors must prioritize providing training for their workers in order to improve critical skills and guide them and their supervisors toward efficiency. While the construction industry is notorious for schedule delays, successful projects depend greatly on proper planning and effective implementation of techniques and processes.

Reddy Kancharla has more than 25 years of experience in projects involving civil construction, geotechnical consultation, and construction QA/QC, including ten years of senior management experience. For more updates, head over to this blog.

Leading causes of delays in most construction projects

Construction projects usually come with target completion dates which are based on strategic planning of manpower and logistics. However, not every construction project gets completed within its target date. Many things can go wrong in a construction site whether they are forced errors, man-made mistakes, or factors that are beyond a foreman or engineer’s control. According to civil engineer Reddy Kancharla, engineers should always have contingency plans for common construction delays. Here are some of the leading causes of delays in construction projects.

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Bad weather: A foreman can control the electricity supply, construction workers’ schedule, and the flow of materials on site, but they cannot control the weather. Unexpected changes in weather such as rain can slow down or even stop the entire operation. These situations can make the site dangerous for workers and thus work stoppage is warranted.

Budget shortage: Projects often rely on a consistent flow of funds to fuel the construction. Sometimes, finances for projects are cut short, get curtailed, or even stopped altogether. This can delay a project as money used for paying for labor and logistics stop coming in.

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Subcontractors: If a project is big enough, a company could rely on several contractors working together on a single project. It could be possible that a subcontracted construction company may not deliver the same results in terms of progress as the main contractor. According to Redyy Kancharla, some subcontractors may employ workers who don’t have enough training, lack the right tools and equipment, or skills to do the work as efficiently as possible.

Reddy Kancharla is equipped with a comprehensive knowledge on engineering theories, principles, and practical solutions of engineering problems in civil engineering and the construction industry. For more updates like this, follow this page.

Common myths and misconceptions about civil engineering and civil engineers

Civil engineering is a great career choice, which zeroes in on the design, construction, and maintenance of living and working environment. A lot of people don’t realize it, but it’s actually the second oldest discipline in engineering, and with this comes a lot of misconceptions and myths. Civil engineer Reddy Kancharla helps dispel these misguided notions below.

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Firstly, civil engineering is not a career populated mainly by men. A lot of female students pursue this career path, and many have gone on to become some of the most successful civil engineers. Also, one need not have to engage in a slew of fieldwork, as civil engineering likewise has an in-depth research aspect to it. In short, it’s not a career that necessarily involves everyday travel.

Civil engineers don’t wear pocket protectors. They are not as nerdy as portrayed in the movies, nor are they socially awkward. Civil engineers are outgoing in more ways than one. Another stereotype is that civil engineering is exclusively about building and road planning; a huge facet of the profession has to do with dealing with environmental issues, particularly the current call for sustainability or CSR.

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Lastly, it’s very important to establish that civil engineers are not architects nor contractors for construction projects. To be clear, it’s the architects who design the building and the civil engineers who design the site, explains Reddy Kancharla. The construction contractor works on realizing the actual building based on both the designs of architects and civil engineers.

Reddy Kancharla has more than 25 years of experience in projects involving civil construction, geotechnical consultation, and construction QA/QC, including 10 years of senior management experience. Know more about Mr. Kancharla and his work here.

The advantages of using soil cement

Back in WWI, a new material was invented by Benjamin Harrison Flynn which he used to pave roads in Louisiana. Since then, civil engineers such as Reddy Kancharla have expanded the use of the construction material to various applications, including airport pavements, parking lots, and interstate highways. In the past years, soil cement has also been utilized as a facing material for earthfill dams.

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To create soil cement, also called dirt cement, natural soil is pulverized and then mixed with a small amount of any Portland cement and water. The cement should fulfill the requirements of the latest ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) specifications, and the water should have a quality equivalent to potable or drinking water. The mixture is then compacted and cured.

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There are several advantages to using soil cement in construction projects. For one, the prices of most of the construction materials are on a continuous rise, a challenge acknowledged and reported by experts in the field, Reddy Kancharla included. Soil cement is a low-cost alternative and the resources needed for it are widely available. Furthermore, it requires less maintenance cost.

Soil cement is also durable because of the hydration action of the cement. It is for this reason that the material has been extensively applied in road pavements. It also has increased weather resistance. Although it should be noted that soil cement is more prone to forming cracks.

See more discussions about the construction industry by following this Reddy Kancharla Twitter page.