Research Proposal

Dissertation Proposal Form

BSc Honours in:

Building Surveying
Civil Engineering Management
Construction Management
Quantity Surveying
Property Valuation & Management
Energy Management

Year 2016 - 2017

Oct 2016

DEPARTMENT OF the BUILT ENVIRONMENT

BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

BSc (Hons) Building surveying

BSc (Hons) Construction Management
BSc (Hons) Energy Management

BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering Management

BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying

BSc (Hons) Property Valuation & Management
(Please tick box)

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL FORM

Form DR01
Students Name: Anson Ng Xiang Soon
K Number: K00223278
E-mail address: K00223278@student.lit.ie

PROPOSAL STATUS: (to be completed by academic staff)

Mark

67

Remarks: (to be completed by academic staff)

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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

1.

PROPOSED TITLE OF DISSERTATION:

(Mark 6 /9)

Examining Safety Standards in Irish Construction: Weaknesses of the Safe Pass Certification

2.

AIM OF THE DISSERTATION:

(Mark 5 /8)

To assess the failings of the safe pass programme and to analyse potential improvements and solutions that
can be applied.

3.

RESEARCH STATEMENT:
(Hypothesis or Major Research Question or Model Development)

(Mark 10 /15)

The safe pass programme is insufficient at instructing applicants in industrial safety practices and there are
well established programmes whose alternative methods are demonstrably more thorough.

4.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.

OBJECTIVES OF THE DISSERTATION:

(Mark 14 /18)

To introduce of objectives of the safe pass programme.

To recognise the government standards and regulations to which Safe Pass is held.
To review the syllabus of the Safe Pass course.
To discuss international programmes which are analogous to Safe Pass.
To compare the government standards of the international programme, Construction Safety
Orientation Course (CSOC).
To parallel the curriculums of the CSOC and Safe Pass.
To analyse the value of the differences between the CSOC and Safe Pass.
To describe the potential safety improvements as inspired by the CSOC from several perspectives.

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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

5.

RATIONALE FOR THE DISSERTATION:

(Mark 25 /35)

To achieve a higher quality of health & safety in the construction industry around the world, it is
common for developed countries to standardise their safety training programmes and regulations to meet
international standards. In Ireland, the government provides an essential general awareness programme
called Safe Pass for industrial and construction workers.
Safe Pass is a mandatory safety awareness program for construction workers in Ireland. The Safe
Pass program exists to raise standard safety awareness in the construction industry, and all construction
workers can make some critical contributions to preventing accidents and ill health on site. The aims of the
programme are focused mainly around health and safety awareness, while the benefits include an improved
safety culture and attached basic knowledge of health and safety on the employer and employees. (Anon.,
2016)
Safe Pass programme is established under Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Construction)
Regulations 2013 that operated and managed by SOLAS (Further Education and Training Sector
department). The mission of SOLAS is to ensure economic and social wellbeing from the part of progressing,
influencing and supporting the development of a FET sector. (O'Toole, 2015) Furthermore, Safe Pass is also
partnership with Health and Safety Authority that provided by Ireland government with responsibility for
occupational health and safety. (Anon., 2016)
Safe Pass course is a one day safety awareness program. This important training programme must
be attended by people who are involved in Construction Projects including new entrants, construction
apprentices and trainees. There are few important requirements to attend the course such as all participants
are required to have a good working knowledge of the English language, Irish PPS number and so on.
(Anon., n.d.) The course content included many areas of work and care. For example, promoting a safety
culture, responsibilities at work, accident reporting and prevention, working at heights etc. (Anon., n.d.) Other
than that, this programme also provide an exam for the candidates to test their capability. A qualified
candidate must correct at least 14 out of 20 multiple choice questions. Moreover, participants who have
successfully completed the Safe Pass Training Programme will be registered with SOLAS and issued with a
registration card. The validation of Safe Pass card is generally last for 4 years, participants must update their
safety awareness training every 4 years. (Anon., n.d.) This programme could carry out a lot of benefits for
the fresher who wanted to join on site. However, it also helps construction workers obtained basic safety
knowledge on site every time.
Ireland government figured out a National Irish Safety Organisation Training programme to meet
international level, but some people think that Safe Passs syllabus is unhelpful and not strict at all. A lot of
people complaining about the fee of safe pass course is expansive and it seem like not reasonable with the
cost. This is because its only take a day of tutorial classes without having any practical test and
demonstration on safety precaution, even it had multiple choice questions test. Additionally, some people
more prefer their training class can be more tough, challenges and even being more active in the class.
Having this kind of idea could make participants getting interest and fun in the class. It is also creating an
easiest way to delivery safety and health knowledge and tips for the candidates. Nonetheless, there is a
slightly similar course with Safe Pass course, call Construction Safety Orientation Course (CSOC).
By making good comparison of international standard between both course, the CSOC is more
qualified than Safe Pass. There are several reasons on course duration is way more longer as 2 days
course including MCQ and practical exam, strait on syllabus, and examination styles. the CSOC are
accredited by Ministry of Manpower. (Anon., 2013)This course is mandatory for all workers in Singapore
construction industry. Any worker employed in manual labour to carry out construction work in building and
engineering construction worksites must attend the CSOC first before they are allowing to work. The course
contents are more in variety such as identify legal obligations in workplace safety and health, identify
hazards in a construction site, practice safety precautions etc. (Anon., 2013)Moreover, the CSOC also offers
many options for the language of the class such as English, Mandarin, Malay, Bengali and many more. Thus,
foreigner workers can pick their own language classes. In addition, once successful completion and passing
of exam, trainees will receive a safety pass which is valid for a period of 2 years or 4 years depending on the
years of their working experience in related industry in Singapore. (Anon., 2013)
Safe Pass and the CSOC are comparable in how they instruct and assess their respective
applicants. Despite the similarities, there are differences between the two primarily in terms of the
examination, course duration, and medium of instruction. Both programmes conducted MCQ exams
however, the CSOC also organises practical exams. the CSOC has double the course length of Safe Pass.
Finally, Safe Pass offers lecture based classes while the CSOC offers the same in addition to practical
demonstration.
The practical portion of the CSOC examination allow the government to ensure that all industrial
workers submitted to the test are not only adequate in their understanding of safety procedures but also in
their ability to practice them. Next, having extended hours in which to conduct the course allows for benefits
such as time for revision and a much thorough examination. Last but not least, practical demonstration is
important for the workers as it provides real world context for the judgment of what is safe. For example, in
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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

the case of fire and electrical hazard prevention, practical instruction offers visual cues for worker to
recognise an unsafe situation.
Improvements which can be applied to the safety standards in Irish construction are diverse enough
in nature that they can be applied from all level of management from governmental all the way down to
personal. At the governmental level, work can be done to be more accommodating to the foreign workers
already in the country. Additionally, legal standards of safety can be made to be more rigorous across the
board. At the Safe Pass level, changes can be made to follow the examples outlined above set by the
CSOC. At the corporate level, specific efforts can and should be made to ensure that site management
receives up to date and regular instruction on safety protocols. At the managerial level, time should be
devoted to ensuring that workers are applying safe practices which had been recently reinforced through
regular instruction. As for the personal level, workers can be very careful to consistently practice safety
protocols and seek out up to date information on safety practises themselves.

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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

6.

WORK SCHEDULE FOR YOUR RESEARCH:

Stage of the Writing Process

Stage 1: Gathering Information Relating to the Topic

a) Compulsory attendance of Safe Pass Programme
b) Interview primary sources in Singapore relating to
the CSOC
c) Deciding on dissertation topic
Stage 2: Roughing out of Dissertation
a) Referencing sample dissertation for general
structure
b) Read provided documentation for dissertation
formatting
c) Filling up objective for specific research strategic
Stage 3: Secondly Research
a) Look up Irish Safe Pass resources
b) Look up Singapore CSOC resources
Stage 4: Writing Up Dissertation
a) Follow out steps listed in Objective section
b) Citations & Bibliography
c) Set up Work schedule
Stage 5: Checklists
a) Proof reading
b) Peer review
c) Prepare for submission
d) Submit

(Mark 7 /15)
Start Date

Duration

End Date

15/10/2016
16/10/2016

1 day
7 days

15/10/2016
22/10/2016

23/10/2016

3 days

25/10/2016

26/10/2016

11 days

05/11/2016

6/11/2016

7 days

12/11/2016

13/11/2016

1 day

13/11/2016

14/11/2016
17/11/2016

3 days
3 days

16/11/2016
19/11/2016

20/11/2016
28/11/2016
29/11/2016

8 days
1 days
5 days

27/11/2016
28/12/2016
03/12/2016

04/12/2016
06/12/2016
08/12/2016
09/12/2016

2 days
2 days
1 day
1 day

05/12/2016
07/12/2016
08/12/2016
09/12/2016

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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

Bibliography
Anon., 2013. Simplysafety. [Online]
Available at: http://www.simplysafety.com.sg/simplysafety/mom_csoc
[Accessed 30 11 2016].
Anon., 2016. Safe Pass FAQ. [Online]
Available at: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Your_Industry/Construction/Construction_FAQ's/Safe_Pass/
[Accessed 26 11 2016].
Anon., n.d. Safe Pass course. [Online]
Available at: http://safepass.training/info/
[Accessed 27 11 2016].
O'Toole, P., 2015. SOLAS. [Online]
Available at: http://www.solas.ie/Pages/WhoWeAre.aspx
[Accessed 26 11 2016].

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BSc Honours Year Three Active Learning Programme

(Please attach any additional documentation supporting the rationale for your topic selection and
outlining the importance of the topic on accompanying sheets)

SIGNED: __________Anson Ng__________

DATE: ______09/12/16______

Notes:
1.

Please submit this proposal through Moodle. In the unlikely event that you are unable to gain access to the
internet whilst on placement, then the proposal needs to be lodged with the Placement Co-ordinator
Ashling Briggs at the School of the Built Environment to meet the submission date.

2.

Textbook (Mandatory): Naoum, S (2012) Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction
Students, 3rd ed, London: Routledge. The proposal template above follows closely the proposal
structure promoted within the textbook. The textbook also offers similar examples of proposals.

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