Lunar International College

School of Business and Economics

‘Practices and Challenges of Risk Management effectiveness on work

at Height activity’s in Huawei Ethiopia’

By. Serkalem Tesfaye Hailu

Advisor: Tesfaye Etensa (Asst. Prof.)

A Proposal submitted to the school of Business in Partial fulfilment for the

requirements for the award of Master of Science Degree in Project Management of
Lunar International College

March 2023
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Table of Contents
Chapter one.................................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of the study..............................................................................................................1
1.2 statement of problem.........................................................................................................................2
1.3 Research Objective............................................................................................................................3
1.3.1 General Objective.......................................................................................................................3
1.3.2 Specific Objective.......................................................................................................................3
1.4 Research Question.............................................................................................................................3
1.5 Research scope of the study...............................................................................................................3
1.6 significance of the study....................................................................................................................4
Chapter two.................................................................................................................................................5
Literature Review........................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Concepts and definition of Health and Safety in the Workplace....................................................5
2.1.1 work at heigh Activity................................................................................................................6
2.1.2 Global concept............................................................................................................................7
2.2 empirical literature.............................................................................................................................8
2.3 conceptual farm work........................................................................................................................9
Chapter three.............................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Research Design and Approach.......................................................................................................10
3.2 Population and Sampling Techniques..............................................................................................10
3.3 Types of Data and method of Data Collection.................................................................................11
3.4 Procedures of Data Collection.........................................................................................................11
3.5 Data analysis & interpretation.........................................................................................................11
3.6 Model specification.........................................................................................................................12
3.7 Ethical clearance..............................................................................................................................12
Research budget and schedule...................................................................................................................13
Schedule....................................................................................................................................................14
Reference...................................................................................................................................................15
1
 Chapter one
1.1 Background of the study
Telecom industry have a great role in the development of one country the success of
development would contribute toward the economic growth of generating additional demand of
telecom project .thus it also has a significant impact on the health and safety or EHS of work
which makes the telecom industry have important for the society .In Ethiopia telecom industry
play an important role by generating Job opportunity and economic growth by improving the
quality of Nation lives .different foreign company’s investing in this sector like that of
Safaricom, Huawei, Nokia ,ZTE ,Ericson and others .among listed telecom company researcher
need to conduct the study in Huawei .Beside the socio economical use the sector have a lot of
risk in each year to much incident registered from near misses to fatality which is caused by
electrical activity, working at height ,driving by (EHS (team, 2015).And from November 2022 to
January 2023 two fatality report recorded on OSP (outside planting project ) one by Huawei
team and the other one Safaricom "(Huawei office, 2023). The concept of managing risk in
telecom projects for working at height activity is excellent in developed country like that of
china, USA and UK but when we come to our country since the technology is expanding some
risk managements and assessment systems are on progress because we are not familiar for the
technology but at this time sharing experience with foreign companies things are changing.

OHS (occupational safety and health) is not implemented regularity in our country. peoples are
not aware about how there working environment is safe. every people work without securing his
safety.in telecom project like tower erection, telecom installation and OSP (outdoor service
plant) the activities are on height. according to working at height regulation. (HSE 2017)

HSE life NL participants, definition of working at height are being used from 1.80m to 2.00m to
2.50m any of those. (hemsley, 2022) To manage the risk of height activity Huawei works
remotely by using ISDP (integrated service Delivery platform ) people will submit pictures
which shows they are ready to work or not and Huawei RQC remote quality control team will
review the picture once they get the approval they will proceed the work. (sadik, 2021) The
system is good but most of the time team onsite will remove the PPE (personal protection
Equipment after they get the approval Due to this different accident happened on site. Project
team and EHS (environment, health, and safety) teams they are not collaborated. Project team
worries about project completion mean delivering on time only so peoples work in stress they do
not give concern what will happen if they are not working in safe place. There is gap on
inspecting team on site because the team members like that of Riggers They didn’t have
educational background most of them they are not able to write and read English and they are
not awred about Risk management so it makes things difficult .so the purpose of the research is
to assess Practices and Challenges of Risk Management effectiveness on work at Height
activity’s .

1.2 statement of problem

According to Huawei telecom limited the top risks are working at height, electric work and
driving those activities need strong risk management techniques and the implementation of risk
management are quite hard due to different reason (mawizi, 2022).

Since the concept of EHS is very sensitive in a country like china and India risk management
techniques implemented well. each project has EHS supervisor from both Huawei and their
subcontractor, Qualified team leaders and professional certified riggers means the team have
person who guide things asper the rule. Beside this the RQC remotely Audit environmental
health and safety and QC (quality check), QA (Quality Assurance) by ISDP (integrated service
Delivery platform) so the frequency and the existence of accidents are very low.

When we come to our country before a year working at height activities was implemented
without sufficient PPE, and with poor inspection riggers climbing a tower without full body
harness one person passed from wireless project when he is rigging wrongly after that Huawei
start implementing ISDP in Ethiopia branch 2019.and until 2022 project and safety department
working together under FSC (field supporting center ) there was few members and it was
difficult to manage risks different risks and many violation was registered from major to critical
but after Huawei start working with Safaricom things become more carious even the culture of
Risk management growing gradually there is gap due to lack of awareness about the safety and
absence of qualified peoples even training centers they have also roles for this the way that they
are certifying teams is not proper due to this different peoples happen on site.

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 1.3 Research Objective
1.3.1 General Objective
 The main objective of this study is to investigate the practices and challenges of risk
management effectiveness on work at height activities in Huawei Ethiopia

1.3.2 Specific Objective

 To assess the practices of Risk Management on work at height activities in Huawei Ethiopia
 To identify factor affecting risk management effectiveness on work at height activity

1.4 Research Question

 What are the practices of risk management on work at height activities in Huawei Ethiopia?
 What are the main factors affecting risk management effectiveness on work at heights
activity Huawei Ethiopia?

1.5 Research scope of the study

The significance of health and safety plan on the telecom project is not thoroughly recognized,
either by workers or by managers. It is only the responsibility of the expert site managers to
supervise and control the Health and Safety issues. Hence, knowing how to control and apply the
occupational health and safety plan on telecom site specially working at height activity sites is
very important. And I can assess Practices and Challenges of Risk Management effectiveness on
work at Height activity’s in Huawei Ethiopia’ basically the research focused on tower erection
(TE) telecom installation (TI) and Outside plant (OSP) and for this research I will get the Data
from Riggers ,Team leaders ,EHS managers ,site engineers and DQAs(data and quality
assurance ) of Huawei projects.

3
 1.6 significance of the study
This research is significant it helps the workers and subcontractor engaged in the telecom project
how they can manage risks in projects having work at height and making the site safe while they
work at site.

As we know telecom project is expanding in Ethiopia different tower is installed and have a plan
also to erect 5000 towers with coming five years. it is good benefit if we work properly. hazards
in the industry is inevitable. Nevertheless, efforts made by the various players not enough to
mitigate safety and health risks in the working at height activities. Thus, this study helps all
stakeholders to understand the need for managing the risk of safety and health in high risk
activity’s like working at height it affects lives of many individuals and the task of minimizing
the hazard requires collaborative effort. Since research conducted in different sectors like
construction but I need to focus on telecom because now a days we have two operators Ethio
telecom and Safaricom next year MTN will join. means we will going to have so many tower
erection and installation projects, so we need to see how company’s aye managing risks on
working at height.

1.7 organization of the thesis

The paper is organized in to five chapters. The first chapter of the study deals with the
introduction which includes background of the study, statement of the problem, significance of
the study, Research question, scope of the study and organization of the study, The second
chapter presents the review of related literature, the third chapter deals with the research design
and methodology, the fourth chapter deals with presentation interpretation and data analysis,
The fifth chapters present the summary of findings, conclusion drawn from the summary of
findings and recommendation

4
 Chapter two

Literature Review
2.1 Concepts and definition of Health and Safety in the Workplace
OSH stands for occupational safety and health. According to the International Labor
Organization (ILO) OSH can be defined as the discipline dealing with the prevention of work-
related injuries and diseases as well as the protection and promotion of the health of workers.

It aims at the improvement of working conditions and environment. The OSH Framework
Directive (89/391/EEC) [2] on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the
safety and health of workers at work obliges employers to take appropriate preventive measures
to make work safer and healthier. Safety it is very difficult to define but simply it is the state of
being "safe" free from harm or risk, but in practice this state is never obtained. Therefore, safety
must be a value judgment regarding the level of risk of being injured which is acceptable. Health
in relation to work, indicates not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; it also includes the
physical and mental elements affecting health which are directly related to safety and hygiene at
work so OHS is about minimizing Occupational health and safety risk combination of the
likelihood of occurrence of a work-related hazardous event or exposure and the severity of injury
and ill health that can be caused by the event or exposures. so, Risk assessment mandatory to
process and evaluating risks to workers’ safety and health from workplace hazards. It is a
systematic examination of all aspects of work that considers (Health and sefty excutive , 2023)

5
 2.1.1 work at heigh Activity
Working at height is the performance of any type of work at an elevated position where the
worker is at risk of falling and getting injured because of insufficient or non-existing safety
precautions. Different countries have their own definitions and rules for what they consider as
working at height, but they all agree that working at height is one of the leading causes of
occupational injury and fatality across industries. In Huawei it has defined us any activity
implemented more than 1.8mfrom ground level is working at height. than Working at height is
one of the most dangerous types of work and is recognized by the International Labor
Organization (ILO) as one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and fatalities. Almost 900
fatalities occurred within a year due to falls, slips, and trips in the workplace according to the
most recent data provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The latest HSE data from the UK reports that falls from a height is the leading cause of fatal
accidents for workers. Safe Work Australia states that working at height accounts for 13% of all
work fatalities between 2015 and 2019.Due to the inherent risks brought by working at height,
countries have established their own guidelines for what they consider to be working at height.
(Francisco, 2018) .when we come to telecom The assembly of towers and installation of
antennae can pose a physical hazard to workers using lifts and elevated platforms and those
located below due to the potential for falling objects.

Recommended management strategies include the area around which elevated work is taking
place should be barricaded to prevent unauthorized access. Working under other personnel
should be avoided Hoisting and lifting equipment should be rated and maintained and operators
trained in their use. Elevating platforms should be maintained and operated according to
established safety procedures that include such aspects as equipment and use of fall protection
measures like railing movement of location only when the lift is in a retracted position, repair by
qualified individuals, and the use of effective locks to avoid unauthorized use by untrained
individuals; Ladders should be used according to pre-established safety procedures including
proper placement, climbing, standing, and the use of extensions. (Ribeiro, R. F., Barkokébas
Junior, B., Lago, E. M. G., Martins, A. R. B., Cruz, F. M., & Zlatar, T. , 2021)

6
 2.1.2 Global concept
On an international basis, the regulations address all aspects relating to work at height including
the selection and use of work equipment, and the way the work is planned, organized, and
managed. Regulations are generally intended to minimize the risk of falls whilst working at
height, which is one of the most common causes of fatalities and injuries at work. Given that
falls from height typically account for a sizeable portion of fatal injuries and major injuries to
workers, most countries report that the potential benefit of preventing these injuries is
significant. The cost of a workplace accident is higher than is immediately obvious. The injured
worker faces costs in terms of pain, grief and suffering, and loss of income. Employers face costs
in terms of lost output, equipment damage and disruption. There are also resource costs to
society in terms of medical treatment, social security administration and payments and
compensation payment.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of America
has a section on its web site devoted solely to fall protection. The OSHA notes that, each year,
falls consistently account for the greatest number of fatalities in the construction industry and are
always a major concern in other industries. On an international basis, the regulations address all
aspects relating to work at height including the selection and use of work equipment, and the
way the work is planned, organized, and managed. Regulations are generally intended to
minimize the risk of falls whilst working at height, which is one of the most common causes of
fatalities and injuries at work. In most jurisdictions, there are a large, proportionate number of
fatalities from falls reported to enforcing authorities is a variety of control measures for work at
height, including the use of ladders, fall arrest equipment, scaffolds, and work platforms. The
following generic measures have been reported as being used either in isolation or combination
to reduce falls from height accidents: Elimination of the need to work at height e.g. clean from
ground level using jet washers, Design in permanent measures to permit safe work at height e.g.
where maintenance must be done at height, design in permanent access. avoid temporary access
to permit safe work at height e.g. scaffolding, (Francisco, 2018)

7
 2.2 empirical literature
According to some statistical data working at height comes risk, in 2021/2022, 29 workers died
because of an accident caused by working at height. That is 2 per month, which is a slight
decrease on the previous year. Over 60% of deaths during work at height involve falls from
ladders, scaffolds, working platforms, roof edges and through fragile roofs. Despite long term
reductions in the number of workers killed by work activities, each year such cases continue,
with 123 such deaths in 2021/22. This number compares. with 251 twenty years ago (2001/02)
and 495 in 1981. According to the latest HSE statistics there were also 35,280 non-fatal
accidents involving falls from height across all industries. That is 97 accidents every day. With
there being such a large number of products and procedures to consider when working at height
the important thing is to choose equipment which is most appropriate for the task at hand,
complete a risk assessment and make sure the person using the equipment has had the correct
training. (hemsley, 2022)

The number of injuries caused by falls at the same level, including slipping and tripping hazards,
is increasing, and their actual risks have been underestimated. Prior research has shown that the
most common cause of falls at the same level is damage to floors, walkways, or ground surfaces,
with the lower extremities and trunk being the most affected body parts Additionally, the
inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), body activities and a lack of compliant
scaffolding or protection are the top three causes of fall accidents In general, the four primary
elements that contribute to occupational accidents and illnesses in the construction industry are:
human (human physical aspect, experience, attitude and behavior); worksite (worksite
conditions, site layout, equipment and building materials); management (occupational health and
safety policy, resource management, safety management and management culture); and external
(political and legal, economic and social) (nur nadia adila abdul halim,faris abdillah,norhaniza
amil, nur ajrun khalid,kadir arifin,mohamed hafi, 2022).

8
 2.3 conceptual farm work
The number of telecommunication project is increasing worldwide, with expectations for them to
continue to increase as the demand for service requires. This increase will mean that more workers will be
participating in construction and maintenance activities of telecommunication towers. These activities
present high risks for occupational safety, namely related to falling objects (antennas and tools), falls
from height, electrocutions, and attacks from wild animals. However, through the risk management
process, as suggested through this study, it is possible to eliminate and/or minimize the risks. For this
purpose, it is first important to apply different methods and techniques to identify, analyze and evaluate
the risks, and then apply adequate control measures. From the results of the current studies, it can be
concluded that evaluated cases of maintenance activities in telecommunication towers have poor
occupational safety conditions, with only 20% of considered items being in conformity, and 80% in non-
conformity.

This is in accordance with the findings from other encountered studies, which lead to accidents and fatal
consequences. The safety on telecommunication towers should be first improved through the concept of
“Prevention Through Design”, where new technologies as the Building Information Modeling (BIM) and
similar could be applied. For this purpose, the current study offered suggestions for risk control measures.
In addition, it would be beneficial to consult the suggestions developed by OSHA trough the potential
draft of the standard addressing telecommunications tower safety. (Ribeiro, R. F., Barkokébas Junior, B.,
Lago, E. M. G., Martins, A. R. B., Cruz, F. M., & Zlatar, T. , 2021).most of risks comes from different
side one inappropriate use of personal protection equipment’s caused by lack of awareness and
carelessness of the employee beside this lake of managing risk starting from higher management to the

9
casual worker and having poor risk treatment plan this study will show the gaps to manage the risk caused
by the height activity so this study will show the challenges of managing risk in work at height activity.

Chapter three
Methodology

3.1 Research Design and Approach

This study will use qualitative approach it tries to find out the culture and the challenge of risk
management in working at height activity in Huawei ET. This study design as Descriptive and
Exploratory research design since the study conducted in Ethiopia for the first time in telecom
sector as per the knowledge of the researcher, the study use field observation and interviewing
focused Group Huawei have three working region in Ethiopia BD region (Bahirdar),DD region
(Dire Dawa ) AA Region Addis Ababa and around Addis so team leaders ,riggers (person who
climber tower )managers from EHS team of the Huawei ET.

3.2 Population and Sampling Techniques

. The selected samples in the telecom project particular area Huawei projects in Ethiopia. Huawei
have 26 subcon working for Huawei 76.9 percent are foreign companies and 26.1 they are local
company. Project having Work at height will considered as the study population and all the
require information were collected from project population. In Huawei project is done by
outsourcing team mean subcontractors there are all them have EHS Manager and A total of 511
riggers were involved , 20 QHSE (quality, health and safety engineers) means from each three
regions as I listed above and three each region have 3 DQA ( Data Quality Assurance) from each
region ) .(Huawei 2023). the study will use stratified random sampling then the total sample is
279

n=N / Ne2

Remark n=number of sampling

N= population

e=error

10
for this study the researcher uses 0.05 value of error

n=914 /(1+914∗0.05 2)

914
n=
3.285

278.2 mean279

To find the sampling number from each group the calculation and the result is as follow .

S/N Participant Population Percentage Sample

1 Riggers 511
( 511
914 )
100=¿55.
279∗0.559=¿ 156

2 DQA 3
( )
3
914
∗100=¿
279∗0.0 032=¿ 1

0.32

3 QHS 20
( 914
20
)∗100=2.1 279∗0.021=¿ 6

4 TL 385
( 385
914 )
100=¿42
279∗0.421=¿ 118

.12

Total 914 279

3.3 Types of Data and method of Data Collection

This study will use both primary and secondary data. The primary data include survey,
questionary and interview While the secondary data includes Risk treatment plan of Huawei and

11
other documents. the research instruments used Questionnaire for team leader, Riggers, DQA
and QHS of working at height

3.4 Procedures of Data Collection

Data will collect by using a structured questionnaire and observational checklists. The data
collection tools will be taken from other similar published studies and it will be modified. The
questionnaire consists different things according to their job description as per what the research
required. the data will be collected by the researcher. Both quantitative and qualitative data will
be collected by structured questionnaire, consisting of both closed and open-ended questions and
by in depth interview The data were collected by using the Amharic‖ language .questionnaire for
the rigger because most of them they are not able to read English.

3.5 Data analysis & interpretation

The study will use both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics like
frequency distribution mean and Percentage calculation was made for most of the variables.
While multiple linear regression will be used form inferential statistics. The study explains the
values with clear paragraph.

3.6 Model specification

There are two variables’ which is dependent and independent in dependent variables are what we
expect will influence dependent variables. A Dependent variable is what happens because of the
independent variable.

In this research the Dependent variable Lake of risk management will create different problem
from minor to critical. specially at working at height activity peoples will be exposed to disable
or they will have high probability to death. Whereas

Independent variable are -Risk management techniques: - it is method Avoidance Retention.

Spreading. Loss Prevention and Reduction.

Lack of awareness about risk management; -people who did not have enough awareness about
risk and occupational health and safety they will affect the risk management productivity
12
Poor management; - having a negative impact on employees and the company. Instead of leading
them to success, a poor manager holds them back

3.7 Ethical clearance

This material is the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published
elsewhere. The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.it reflects the
authors' own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner. And regarding All sources
used are properly disclosed (correct citation). Literally copying of text must be indicated as such
by using quotation marks and giving proper reference and finally the data’s gathered from each
person is confidential.

Research budget and schedule

S/N Material needed Price Description

1 Double A paper 1250 One package

2 Pen 575 One package

3 Recorder 500 per day =5,000 For 10 days

4 Assistance 3000 per month For questionary

5 Transportation 15,000 Because of the

currant situations I
may use air transport
for BD region

6 Accommodation 10,000 For hotel, food and

13
 other

Total =34,825 ETB

Schedule
Time in Months

Research Activity Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Title submission Done

Concept paper Done

submission

First proposal Done

Literature review

Develop Question for

data collection and data
collection

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 Data Analysis

Write final draft

Submission

References
Boyle, T. (2015). Health and Safety: Risk Management. Taylor & Francis.

Breno Burgos da Rocha Leão,2Bianca M. Vasconcelos, 2Béda Barkokébas Jr,. (2019, November
20). RISK MANAGEMENT OF FALLS FROM HEIGHT BY USING THE BIM
PLATFORM: A.

Francisco, E. B. (2018). SafetyCulture .

Health and sefty excutive . (2023, feb 14). Retrieved from www.hse.gov.uk:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/search/search-results.htm?query=Risk%20management
%20#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Risk%20management%20&gsc.page=1

hemsley, l. (2022, jul 14). HSe. Retrieved from

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causinj/index.htm

15
Hughes, P. (2009). Introduction to Health and Safety at Work. https://www.google.de/search?
hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=work+at+height&pg=PA366&printsec=frontcover&q=inpublisher:
%22Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann
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CBgQAg.

hussine, A. (2021). Height Safety. National press.

nur nadia adila abdul halim,faris abdillah,norhaniza amil, nur ajrun khalid,kadir arifin,mohamed
hafi. (2022, december 14). Risk assesment of falling from height . p. 5.

Ribeiro, R. F., Barkokébas Junior, B., Lago, E. M. G., Martins, A. R. B., Cruz, F. M., & Zlatar,
T. . ( 2021, July 5 5). Occupational safety risks during maintenance of telecommunication
towers.

team, E. (2015). Huawei EHS high risk .

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