Managing health and safety in construction

Construction is a dangerous industry everywhere. The hazards are many and the risks are great. In Britain, in a recent ten year period, one thousand five hundred people died and over half a million people had accidents which caused them to be off work for at least three days as a direct result of some kind of failure on construction sites. In addition the toll of death and disability from occupational ill health in the industry is more difficult to estimate but is likely to be at least as bad. The author argues that, at a time when construction accounts for nearly a third of all people killed by work accidents in Britain, the need for managers to be adequately trained in health and safety has to be a priority, particularly in view of the proposed Construction (Design and Management) Regulations expected to come into force in January 1994