Thinking health and safety

The changing skyline in Port-of-Spain spells out much more than development, progress and pretty silhouettes in the setting sun.

Architects and other planners monitoring the rise of various mega-projects in the capital have been trying to ensure that developments can be fitted into an already-crowded city, without ill effects anywhere from highway to office space.

The T&T Institute of Architects this week expressed concern about the lack of urban planning in both public and private sector projects. Particularly where Government’s projects for the capital such as the large Richmond Street Government Campus and the waterfront plan are concerned.

TTIA head Joanne Murrell, confirming that concerns exist, said yesterday: “In developing countries politicians format such plans in conjunction with architects, business people and other members of the community. When this doesn’t take place, the planning emerges as an ad hoc arrangement.”

She said a TTIA meeting on Thursday discussed the issue and agreed to request a meeting with government planners to examine this.

Murrell also expressed concern about the potential of the two mega projects to create traffic bottlenecks. Works Ministry’s Director of Highways Roger Ganesh said the Government Campus will have a multi- storey car park on Edward Street: “This houses 1,600 vehicles and has two entrances. The waterfront project will have parking for 800 vehicles.”

The second solution, he added, is the ministry’s current project of widening Wrightson Road with lanes from St Vincent Street to Colville Street, and up to Sea Lots.

But concerns go deeper. Planners are also focused on ensuring projects are as free of sick building syndrome as they are aesthetically pleasing.

Architect David Fojo, particularly, has been highlighting SSB—the term given to ill health effects which poor design, layout and services in buildings can cause.

Under international health and safety standards, the keys to a “healthy” building (and a corresponding type of worker) are air and light quality, Fojo said. Studies have confirmed the body’s requirement for sunlight to access the beneficial effects of Vitamin D.

He added: “Research shows we need to have more natural light in spaces. The quality is particularly important. Western light is hot, harsh and glaring. It can be physically uncomfortable and has been shown to contribute to irritability.

“While there are international standards, these haven’t been met very well here. For instance, air conditioning systems without the addition of enough fresh-air flows only recirculates the same canned air, so it’s necessary to have air flows in-between to keep the air fresh.”

He added: “But generally, local engineers and architects don’t design buildings to allow for enough fresh-air changes and there aren’t laws to enforce this.”

TTIA’s Murrell suggests ensuring that a building has adequate operable windows for fresh-air flows: “We are also moving away from darkened environments and using a lot of natural ventilation to allow daylight as well as to assist with fresh-air flows.”

Other culprits also contribute to SSB. Murrell added: “Photo-copying machines must be placed by windows since they emit toxic gases. Paint should be lead-free. Certain adhesives are toxic . Water tanks must be cleaned regularly.”

Peter Beckles of Planning and Associates is concerned that the local air-conditioning sector, for instance, isn’t governed by standards although the global industry adheres to standards formulated by the American ASHRAE body .

“So quite a bit of junk is used and people get sick. If an AC system is badly designed, moisture gets in, mold forms and that’s dangerous to inhale. It costs a bit more to get the best systems, but I’ve found contractors tend to go for the norm and are surprised when people want the better systems.

“In one of the commonly used system—a mixed system—there’ a combination of fresh-air flows and recirculated air . So it’s possible if someone has a cold 300 feet away, you can get it. The only way to avoid it is redesigning the system to using 100 per cent fresh-air flows.”

His company is introducing the idea in a government project: the E-Tech facility governing the University of T&T being developed.

“The system will use 100 per cent air from outside instead of a mixed system, so stale air isn’t recirculated and will be expelled from the building,” Beckles added.

How to tell a good AC system from a bad one?

“If the air feels very cold and heavy, sort of muggy,.e minute and cold another.” he said.

Dr Carol Bhaggan, one of T&T’s four occupational health and safety doctors, has noted an increase in the number of patients with SSB symptoms. She said the situation calls for enactment of the Occupational Health and Safety Act which was passed in Parliament last year but has not yet been proclaimed as law.

Labour Minister Anthony Roberts said Thursday that OSHA contains various standards concerning buildings. But he was uncertain when the Act would be made law.

Roberts had said in February that several things still have to be done before the legislation becomes law. He said a council was appointed to handle various regulatory issues.

Roberts also denied Opposition allegations that Government is delaying implementation of the law to facilitate “big business friends.”

Yesterday, Employers Consultative Association executive member Martin de Gannes said employers have asked Government to review the Act two years after it is implemented.

Admitting the OSHA will have a cost impact on employers who may have to adjust buildings to meet its stipulations, De Gannes denied employers have anything to do with its delay.

He added: “Some of our suggestions on the bill were taken into account, some weren’t. We feel there may be a need to amend the bill after a couple years of seeing how it works, because we maintain that you cannot put the onus on meeting the conditions of the bill solely on the employer and not the employee also. The responsibility should be shared. Safety is everybody’s aim.”

He added: “When we requested the review the minister gave us the feeling our view would be considered. The Industrial Relations Act was never reviewed and some clauses are unfair so we don’t want the OSHA to become like that—stuck with unfair provisions.”