Image 10. Image showing a three-dimensional urban space contaminated with explosive ordnance
Image 10 shows an urban environment that contains multiple types of ‘space’. In addition to open ground, which is soft enough to easily dig in and conceal an IED, there are access routes and buildings. A building’s structural surfaces can be constructed using a multitude of methods and materials (e.g. tiles, wood, concrete, and brick), contain many loose items (furniture, appliances, debris) and can contain different types of household fixings (e.g. suspended ceilings, electrical wiring). Access routes may also be surfaced with different materials such as compacted soil / gravel, tarmac or concrete. All these factors will influence the opportunity that an armed group has to conceal / emplace IEDs in these urban spaces and in turn affect the equipment and procedures required to search for them. 1.4.WORKSITE SAFETY MA has always encountered hazards that may present risks to safety other than those associated directly with EO. The scale of these hazards in urban environments can be severe with the associated risks frequently including the following: • Large-scale bulk fuel storage, hazardous industrial chemicals, biological hazards and electricity supplies; • Hazardous worksite activities such as working at height when a fall would result in injury, or difficult access and egress for emergency and non-emergency personnel in the event of an accident;
• Factors causing lack of oxygen or an increase in toxic substances, commonly found in confined spaces;
• Significant amounts of debris caused by building collapse, construction works, refuse or waste;
• Unavoidably high personnel numbers resulting in worksite control challenges and potential security concerns; • Suitable access and exit points for general work and casualty evacuation in the event of a detonation within a building.
Introduction
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