High-Risk Work Monitoring: A Tool for Risk Identification in Construction

From Supervision to Partnership: Transforming Safety in Construction

The specifics of the construction industry include high staff turnover, dynamic site conditions, and the involvement of multiple subcontractors with varying levels of competence. Under such conditions, the traditional supervisory approach and dealing with the consequences of incidents prove ineffective. Ilya Krivosheev, Chief Risk Management Specialist at Rudstroy, analyzes a practical case of transitioning to an adaptive risk-oriented concept, which reduced overall injury rates by 40%.

Zoning and Checklist Optimization

For effective territory management, the speaker proposes a fragmentation method: construction sites are divided into zones based on the types of high-risk work (excavation, hot work, work at height). Responsibility is assigned to each area, and control is exercised through specialized checklists.

The presentation details the evolution process of checklists. Initially, they contained up to 90 items, leading to excessive bureaucracy. Optimizing them down to 21 – 25 key criteria reduced completion time to 15 – 20 minutes. This made the tool practical: production managers can quickly assess the situation via a mobile app on the HSE portal without being distracted from their main tasks for long.

Managing the Risk Lifecycle "Here and Now"

A key change in the methodology is the abandonment of the traditional "risk hunt," where violations are merely recorded for subsequent development of measures. The speaker demonstrates by example how the principle of eliminating risks "here and now" is implemented during construction and installation works. If a risk (e.g., the threat of equipment falling) requires time to eliminate, work is suspended until safety is ensured.

To support the system, a multi-level audit structure has been built: weekly walkthroughs by production managers, bi-monthly inspections by department heads, and monthly visits by top management. Risk managers act as supervisors, verifying the correct application of the methodology.

Integrating Subcontractors into a Single Safety Loop

Special attention is paid to working with contractors. Instead of a penalty system, non-material motivation was introduced — a contractor rating for high-risk work safety, which directly affects long-term partnerships. Personnel training is conducted in three modules: territory norm, work norm, and leader norm, with mandatory practical reinforcement of skills on site.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to reduce the volume of high-risk work checklists without losing control quality?
• How to organize a multi-level construction site audit involving line managers and directors?
• How does the "here and now" risk elimination principle work, and how does it affect the risk lifecycle?
• What to do if the safety assessments of the site by the contractor and the risk manager differ?
• How to build a subcontractor rating system for their non-material motivation?