Construction, as an industry, has come late to the field of lean logistics. It is unsurprising given that most projects are seen as one-offs with contractors and labourers moving from site to site, each with a different set of conditions and regulations, which has driven inefficiency throughout supply chains to respond. However, it is because of the fragmented nature of typical construction supply chains that one of the quick and early wins in streamlining construction logistics is in transportation.
It has been identified that many vehicles, from white-vans to HGVs, deliver to sites with less than even a half-load, and quite often deliveries consist of one or two items, which obviously increases the amount of traffic necessary to service a site. This practice would be unthinkable in other industries that rely on road haulage such as retail and produce distribution. Ensuring vehicles are better optimised through consolidation or otherwise and arriving on a Just-In-Time schedule, ensures that sites are more able to receive a continuous flow of deliveries.
An effective traffic management system radically reduces site local congestion due to vehicles hanging around waiting for a delivery slot and prevents costly delays to site productivity; not to mention the cost of wasted journeys due to vehicles being turned away because a delivery could not be received. Best-practice now dictates that you know what is coming, when it is coming and that your site is ready to receive it.
There is a dangerous side to the traffic management system as each year within the construction industry, approximately ten people die as a result of being struck by vehicles on site. In addition, there are hundreds of preventable accidents and injuries. Accidents occur from ground works to finishing works and managers, workers, visitors to sites and members of the public can all be at risk. Inadequate planning and control is the root cause of many construction vehicle accidents. The majority of construction transport accidents result from the inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles. This can usually be avoided by careful planning, particularly at the design stage, and by controlling vehicle operations during construction work. The following actions are designed to help keep pedestrians and vehicles apart:
• Entrances and exits - provide separate entry and exit gateways for pedestrians and vehicles
• Walkways - provide firm, level, well-drained pedestrian walkways that take a direct route where possible
• Crossings - where walkways cross roadways, provide a clearly signed and lit crossing point where drivers and pedestrians can see each other clearly
• Visibility - make sure drivers driving out onto public roads can see both ways along the footway before they move on to it
• Obstructions - do not block walkways so that pedestrians have to step onto the vehicle route; and
• Barriers - think about installing a barrier between the roadway and walkway
People who direct vehicle movements, also known as signallers, must be trained and authorised to do so. Accidents can also occur when untrained or inexperienced workers drive construction vehicles without authority. Access to vehicles should be managed and people alerted to the risk.
