36 Air Monitoring BEING NEIGHBOURLY ON CONSTRUCTION SITES
For employers that have a duty to monitor hazards such as dust and noise that escape from the perimeter of their construction sites, how do they eff ectively comply to legislation, appease local communities and protect their people whilst operating their projects?
Construction companies are required by law to conduct business without subjecting the public to unnecessary health risks. Physical boundaries must be defi ned and are usually protected with fencing to prevent curious members of the public accessing the worksite. The issue however is how to deal with the invisible hazards that a construction site presents to the public, like dust and noise.
Generating dust and other airborne particulates is often unavoidable during construction with the right controls and actions in place. Large clouds of dust become an instant and sometimes dangerous nuisance to local communities and regulatory headache for those in charge.
Noise at a high level can be an annoyance to site neighbours and in some cases can present a risk to their health. Vibration presents a unique challenge to those managing a construction site as excessive vibration can also disturb local residents to such a degree they complain, and excessive vibration to nearby structures can cause damage.
Many sites will have limits for particulate, noise and vibration imposed on the site by a local government authority. If these limits are exceeded it may mean the site has to stop work which will always be costly from a fi nancial perspective, but reputational damage also presents risk to future projects.
Boundary monitoring is therefore an essential part of the management on construction sites which helps to control and mitigate potential environmental, health, and reputational risks.
What is boundary monitoring
Boundary monitoring is the use of dedicated systems that detect and analyse levels of noise, vibration, dust through sensor technologies at the perimeter of a construction site. Depending on the size of the construction site, multiple units may be required around the boundary to ensure full coverage of all contaminants leaving the site and accounting for the receptors near a site. the receptors being local buildings, such as houses, schools, commercial and other buildings. This covers changes in wind direction, emissions from particularly active parts of the site and will identify areas where concentrations are higher than others, allowing for changes in working practices where necessary.
Real-time monitoring systems also replace the labour-intensive practice of manual monitoring conducted by on-site experts.
IET SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024
This allows site management to react immediately to any levels of pollutants exceeding standards, preventing violations and community complaints. Easy to set-up and requiring little maintenance, modern boundary monitoring devices are a cost- effective solution to the requirements of monitoring.
Boundary monitoring units
Monitoring units come in a variety of solutions, with some dedicated to individual hazards and others combining hazards to provide a comprehensive idea of emissions and risks. Site managers are increasingly favouring systems that offer combined results for ease or deployment, management of data as well as their cost effectiveness.
Boundary monitoring systems can be programmed to send alerts via SMS or email when certain thresholds are reached. Limits for each worksite pollutant can be set by companies, including decibel (dB) limits for noise and concentration levels for dust. By setting alerts blow permitted thresholds, intervention can be achieved before the issue becomes a problem. For example, this may take the form of starting dust suppression or changing work patterns to reduce noise levels.
Boundary monitoring systems are often also used in conjunction with other technologies, integrated with wind speed and direction sensors, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of environmental conditions. This integration can help in adjusting construction activities based on weather changes to minimise the effect on surrounding communities.
Many modern boundary monitoring devices are designed to be energy-effi cient, often powered by solar panels, which makes them adhere to sustainability goals and easy to maintain in remote or off-grid construction sites.
When mounting boundary monitoring units, installers should consider how the immediate surroundings will affect the results of the recorded data. Microphones, dedicated to monitoring noise escaping the confi nes of the site should not be mounted against a fl at surface, which will refl ect sound back towards the device, increasing the recorded level. They should also be mounted higher than the casing of the boundary monitoring unit with a clear line of sight to the nearest receptor. Noise monitors should meet the IEC 61672 Class 1 standard and be calibrated regularly with an acoustic calibrator to ensure ongoing accuracy.
Inlets for any real-time dust measurements should also be 1.5 to four meters above the ground and must be unobstructed, because any object between the source and the dust monitor can ‘shield’ particles
from entering the device causing measurement inaccuracies. When measuring vibration, the sensor should be mounted fi rmly attached to the ground to ensure measurements remain accurate and unaffected by the instability of the mount.
Setting boundaries
It’s essential for site management to understand the surrounding area of the site, especially taking into consideration any ‘vulnerable buildings’ and densely populated urban areas. For example, sites with nearby receptors such as schools, hospitals, or housing, will host individuals more sensitive to disruption and require extra monitoring points. You may also have to measure vibration to avoid disruption or damage if less structurally sound buildings or if people are often present around the site.
It’s crucial to monitor the prevailing wind conditions around your site. Ideally, place dust monitors both upwind and downwind to track dust levels entering and exiting the site. By pairing these monitors with a wind speed and direction sensor, you can gather precise data to address and mitigate potential complaints, providing clear evidence on whether excessive dust is a result of your site’s activities.
Compliance
Regulation varies with different countries as to the requirements to monitor around construction sites, what instrumentation may
Fixed or portable mounting on a construction site
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