Services other than Mechanical and Electrical

Services included are: hot and cold water supplies and water treatment plant, surface water and foul drainage, waste and refuse disposal, fire extinguishing systems etc.

Introduction

There are several significant hazards associated with these services. It is important that the designer identify these and assess the associated risks

Hazards and risks

• falls from height during installation and maintenance (roof top locations) or falls into excavations
• access to equipment in confined spaces such as tunnels or holes, to high level equipment
• confined spaces: equipment in holes, tunnels and ducting
• hazardous substances: gas such as methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphate etc. biological hazards like legionella, fine fibres from insulation
• manual handling: tanks and other equipment can be large and heavy
• slips trips and falls: inadequate lighting, protruding equipment and confined spaces are contributing factors
• hot surfaces such as hot water, steam etc

Some design considerations

• allow working space around plant and tanks for ease of installation and maintenance
• specify sectional tanks for bulk water storage to allow ease of handling
• design to allow key components such as valves to be operated from floor level
• locate drainage access points where they are easily accessed
• provide protected stairs, catwalks and ladders to high level plant
• minimise depths of excavations
• consider the use of plastic pipes at high level where possible