Tutorial

1. You are the manager of a large construction project in North America which employs 1000 people working two 12 hour shifts (approximately 500 people on day shift, 500 people on night shift). The construction site is in a remote area close to the Arctic Circle and workers are housed in a town approximately 25 kilometres from the worksite. Road conditions are poor with heavy traffic at peak times and extreme cold temperatures, snow and ice for five months of the year. You have to choose how workers travel between town and the construction site. You can either:

Option 1. Provide a bus service operating between town and site at each shift changeover; or

Option 2. Allow workers to use their own private cars for the journey and provide a car park at the entrance to the construction site.

a. Conduct a qualitative risk assessment, including use of a risk assessment matrix, for options 1 and 2 and record it in a suitable hazard register. On the basis of your results, which option would you choose and why?

b. Conduct a simple quantitative risk assessment for options 1 and 2, using publically available data and clearly stating your assumptions. On the basis of your results, which option would you choose and why?

2. Critically review the qualitative and quantitative risk assessment techniques you used in Question 1. Does your preferred option change depending on which technique you use? What do you believe are the potential problems and advantages of each technique? Which do you think is the best technique for this scenario and why?

Word count:up to 4,000 words