RISK MANAGEMENT AND FATAL FALLS IN CONSTRUCTION

Risk Management in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is a vital part in mankind 's desire to live comfortably in this planet . It is also an industry that would allow man to fully harness the resources of the earth to create something useful and beneficial , while at the same time provide structures that would encourage and sustain development

The only problem with the construction industry is that it is still in a stage where the people working in it could not be insured of living a long healthy life . This is

because studies ha

Construction Industry

As the saying goes , numbers does not lie and in the case of the construction industry there is ample evidence to show that working in this industry is like asking for a death wish . It has come to such a level where the contractor could no longer guarantee an accident free site . Two researchers , Guberan and Usel (see Lingard ,2005 ) determined to find out the real extent of the problem initiated a study in 1998 where they followed a cohort of 5137 men in Geneva within a twenty year period . In the said study they discovered that apart from the alarming number of deaths , .many construction injuries lead to long-term disability . that only 57 percent of construction workers reached 65 without suffering a permanent impairment (Lingard , 2005 ,

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Before going any further it is important to understand the scope of the construction industry . By doing so the work of UK 's regulating body when it comes to risk management will also be fully understood . The following is a basic definition of the types of job falling in this category (Grice Fink , 2004 ,

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the construction , alteration , conversion , fitting out , commissioning renovation , repair , upkeep , redecoration or other maintenance

the preparation of an intended structure , including site clearance exploration , excavation and laying or installing the foundations of the structure

the removal of structure or part of a structure resulting from demolition or dismantling

installation , commissioning , maintenance , repair or removal of mechanical , electrical , gas , compressed air , hydraulic telecommunications , computer or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure

and finally , construction work does not include the exploration for or extraction of mineral resources or activities preparatory thereto

The definition is extensive enough to cover a wide range of activities while at the same time it is narrow enough to exclude other industries that may cause overlap in terms of risk management that requires the help of government agencies . Moreover , the definition given above by Grice and Fink allows for a basis to critique current UK regulatory laws

Accidents in the Workplace

Accidents in this industry is something that should not be taken lightly and consider to be just part of the hazards of working . One has only to consider the following statistics , The construction industry produces 30 of fatal industrial accidents across the European Union (EU , yet employs only 10 of the working population . In the United States of America...