Recent Trends in Construction Safety and Alternate Building Materials

The Department of Civil Engineering organized a one-day Faculty Development Program on ‘Recent Trends in Construction Safety and Alternate Building Materials’, on 21^st January, 2019, at Seminar Hall six, in which around 65 faculty members participated.  The event started with an Invocation song by Mrs. Tejaswini, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, seeking the blessing of Lord Ganesha. Mrs. Surabi, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, welcomed the Chief Guest and others present at the gathering.  The program was inaugurated with the lighting of the lamp by Prof. M R Pranesh, Retired Professor, IIT Madras, (Department of Ocean Engineering), Dr. Nagraj Sitaram, Principal, MVJCE and Prof. Muralidhara R, HOD Civil Engineering Department, MVJCE.

The Faculty Development Program on ‘Recent Trends in Construction Safety and Alternate Building Materials’ had been planned to improve learning and teaching practices in this area. There were three sessions delivered by various industry experts, which included field studies and use of alternate building materials in Civil Engineering construction.

Session 1
Resource Person: Prof. M R Pranesh, Retired Professor, IIT Madras
Topic: Construction safety in Indian conditions and Occupation safety & health hazards

In this session, the current scenario relating to health and safety issues of Indian labourers working in the construction industry, challenges in the construction industry and control measures were discussed. Construction sector is an integral part of infrastructure development. This sector gives tremendous boost to our country’s economy. A comparison on safety principles vs the ground realities happening daily at site was presented by the Speaker, indicating clearly the dire need of professionals to take on the responsibility of getting various safety and health rules, regulations, acts and principles in place, and at the same time, creating an awareness on these aspects, to brace the industry for the betterment of the projects and humanity.

Session 2
Resource Person: Dr. Chandrashekar Hariharan, Co-Chair, IGBC Bangalore
Topic: Green Buildings Concept

In this session, the Speaker briefed the audience about the importance of Green Building Missions, Design competition, Resources provided by IGBC and Internship opportunities for students in Green Building. He also motivated the participants to become members in the Indian Green Building Concept (IGBC) that facilitates training programmes on Green Building concepts by Chapter members and other experts.

Session 3
Resource Person: Mr. Ananda, Director Apt. Consulting Engineering Services, Malleswaram, Bangalore
Topic: Perceptive Insight of Transportation System for Smart cities

In this session, the Speaker focused on modern Civil Engineering construction materials/ concepts in road construction, such as Geo-synthetics and its Applications, Stone Matrix Asphalt, Precast elements, Smart concepts and projects.

The program concluded with Valedictory function and High Tea. Vote of Thanks was given by Mrs. Dhakshayani T R, Assistant Professor, and Department of Civil Engineering.

Outcome of the Event:
The participants were able to understand the importance of various safety concerns in Civil Engineering construction; they also gained exposure to the recent trends in alternate construction materials.