Safety Plan

Q) What all should be considered for safety plan?

a) Construction Safety - whether the construction is safe for decades.

b) Electrical Safety – whether persons are safe from electrical shocks.

c) Fire Safety – whether the building is safe from fire hazard.

d) Theft Safety – whether the building is safe from burglars.

Q) What all should be considered for “Construction Safety”?

There are several things that should be considered for a building to be safe. Few of them are:

1. The foundation has to be very strong.

2. Proper use of cement, concrete, bricks and steel is important.

3. Proper curing should be done.

4. Good materials should be used for construction.

5. Structural Plan should be done before building.

Diagram 1: Building Collapsed due to improper materials and construction

Q) What are the common mistakes in Construction that leads to unsafe building?

This is not an exhaustive list. But few very common mistakes are:

a. Improper structural design.

b. Some not-so-professional builder, to save money, use smaller thickness iron rods for construction (say for example, in place of 8mm thickness rod, some builders use 6mm thickness rod to save money hoping that they could hide this behind the concrete).

c. Some not-so-professional builder, due to delivery pressure, completes the building without proper curing.

d. Some not-so-professional builder use low quality materials in construction which will reduce the life of the building as well make it unsafe. For example, instead of using ISI mark iron rods, they use local iron rods and build it.

e. Some not-so-professional builder, due to lack of skilled labor availability, completes the building with unskilled labor. Such unskilled labor, due to their ignorance, makes the construction unsafe. For example, an unskilled Electrician may damage the concrete strength by improper fixing of the internal electrical pipes. Another example is – an unskilled mason may mix the sand and cement in improper ratio to make the construction weak.

The list can be expanded further. But it is not appropriate to tell only the problems. It is better to add solution to problems. Since I don’t have any readymade solutions, I’m stopping with this list here hoping that the reader is made aware of the fact that there is something known as Construction Safety.

Q) Don’t you know that there are still several buildings constructed with low quality materials and unskilled laborers without any accident (like building collapse, etc)?

Yes, there are such buildings. People should be aware of the term called “fatigue” in building. Those buildings built with low quality materials and/or unskilled laborers may be safer today. But it may not be safe in the long run.

My point is, a building (be it a home / apartment / commercial one) should last at least for few decades. You don’t have to build a Taj Mahal which lasts for few centuries.

Q) What do you mean by “Electrical Safety”?

Electrical Safety means – safety from electrical shocks. Today with the increased number of gadgets, the probability of electrical accidents occurring may be very high. So, it is very important to plan for electrical safety.

Q) What must be done to get “Electrical Safety”?

Before building, the following should be definitely done:

a) “Micro Electrical Plan” (as explained in the chapter below) should be done to identify proper usage of electrical items like Wire, MCB, ELCB, Fuse, etc.

b) An Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) or Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) should be used for the entire building to avoid accidental electrical shocks.

c) Proper combination of Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) [olden days, fuse box were used in place of MCB] should be used to avoid shock due to high current.

d) Another thing is, earthing should be done properly for each and every connection in the building.

Q) What do you mean by “Fire Safety”?

Fire Safety means safety of the building from fire hazards.

Q) What must be done to get “Fire Safety”?

First the root causes of fire should be analyzed. In most of the cases, fire in a building breaks out due to electrical circuit. If proper wires are used and proper electrical plan is done, fire hazard due to electrical circuit may not occur. Also the LPG pipe must be laid properly (if connection is through gas pipes) and LPG cylinders should be placed outside the kitchen, if possible. A fire alarm system can also be installed.

Q) How does selection of electrical wire cause or prevent fire?

Once upon a time, there were very few electrical gadgets like TV, Fridge, etc. But now due to increased number of gadgets, people tend to overload a wire by adding more gadgets unknowingly. Had good quality and high (read it as ‘proper’) thickness wire was used, this may not happen.

The following examples are apt:

The circuit was meant for only one TV. But people extend it and load it without understanding the fact that it may overload the wire and may cause fire. To avoid this proper wire should have been used at the beginning.

Q) What do you mean by “Theft Safety”?

Guarding the home/building from thefts is Theft Safety.

Q) I’m living in a safe home now. What’s new in Theft Safety?

Yes, many of us are living in a safe place now. But with increased exposure to technology, many anti-social elements are finding new ways to steal from a home/building. Is it not wise to prevent them using technology available today?

Q) How do you achieve Theft Safety?

There are various gadgets available in the market to make the home safe. Theft Safety can be achieved in many ways and few of them are:

a) Basic construction should be planned well to avoid any burglar to break into the building. For example the window grills should be well fit in the frame rather than using screws to fit it. Similarly the exhaust fan opening should be blocked with iron grill instead of blocking it only with a exhaust fan.

b) Usage of electronic gadgets like Video Door Phone, Burglar Alarm System, etc should be well planned and provided in the building.

Q) Why should Theft Safety be considered while building?

Certain technologies to prevent theft like Burglar Alarm System may require internal wiring between each and every window and external doors. If internal wiring is done during construction, it would be easier and aesthetically the building may look good. If this plan is not prepared before building, then usage of wireless instruments may be required and cost may be higher for such instruments.

Q) What if Safety Plan is not prepared before building the home/apartment?