Exclusion zone

Establishing exclusion zones when using explosives in demolition, Construction Information Sheet No 45, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states in relation to an exclusion zone: ‘When designing for demolition using explosives you need to plan for the possible fly of projectiles. An exclusion zone should be established at a distance from and surrounding any structure which is being demolished using explosives. The zone needs to be designed and managed as part of the overall approach to the demolition. People outside the exclusion zone should be safe from the demolition work. Everyone, with the possible exception of the shotfirer, should be outside the exclusion zone at the time of the blast. If the shotfirer needs to remain within the zone, he or she should be in a safe position.’

An exclusion zone is built up from four areas:

• Plan area.
• Designed drop area.
• Predicted debris area.
• Buffer area.

NB Safety in the storage and handling of steel and other metal stock, second edition, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in August 2016, defines an exclusion zone as: ‘A clearly defined area around a vehicle being loaded or unloaded from which all pedestrians and unauthorised persons are excluded while (un)loading is taking place.’

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Buffer area.
• Dangerous buildings.
• Decommissioning.
• Demolition.
• Designed drop area.
• Dismantling.
• Explosives.
• Health and Safety Executive.
• Plan area.
• Pre-demolition and pre-refurbishment audits.
• Pre-demolition audit.
• Predicted debris area.
• Structures at the end of their design life.