FEATURE
TACKLING CONSTRUCTION’S EMERGING RISKS
Cross- industry collaboration will drive up safety standards to ensure
construction practices continue to evolve, suggests Matias Jarnefelt, General Manager (Northern Europe) at Hilti.
Construction is an industry that is fundamentally dangerous. But with safety risks under greater control than ever before – the 30-recorded construction related deaths in 2018/19 was the lowest number on record – attention is now rightly shifting towards educating workers on how they can protect their long- term health.
Certainly, the conversations we are having with some of the construction industry’s largest contractors indicate that long-term health is becoming, if not already, firmly established on their list of priorities in addition to accident reduction.
HIDDEN HAZARDS Key to this new focus are the wide range of hidden occupational health hazards that may take years or even decades to become apparent, with exposure to silica dust featuring heavily.
Construction has undoubtedly been a major contributor to the 20,000 new cases each year of people living in the UK with breathing or lung issues, and our own research and development has supported the progress of new products and technology-led solutions to tackle long-term health issues in recent years, supporting compliance while also encouraging vital behaviour change.
It’s clear that introducing measures and initiatives onsite to improve long-term health can be challenging. This is particularly the case when you consider the often-complicated nature of construction supply chains, which are characterised by widespread sub- contracting.
While larger players, often principal contractors, are generally well-aware of their legal duties when it comes to the health of their workforce and have robust strategies in place to protect them in the long-term, this level of caution is often less common among smaller firms.
Lack of resources among smaller contractors means that the responsibility generally falls to main contractors to make sure everyone working on their sites is compliant and not putting others at risk – a task that is generally easier for issues regarding safety than for less immediately visible health concerns like exposure to dust.
Encouragingly, it’s a challenge that many are embracing as they look to make major construction projects, which potentially employ dozens of smaller
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subcontractors, beacons of best practice, lifting standards across the industry.
INSPIRING CHANGE THROUGH TECH Technology has been a major enabler in this respect. For example, as well as contractors insisting on tools on their site having hi-spec dust removal systems in place, around 95% of our equipment includes near- field communication technology, much like that in a contactless bank card.
By sending instructions and tailored safety information, such as how-to videos, to the operator’s smartphone, near-field technology encourages subcontractors to use heavy duty tools safely and to the standards expected.
In addition, when combined with an asset management system, the data tracking capabilities of this technology means that site managers have oversight of, and can be alerted, when tools need testing, maintenance or calibration. The technology can also provide a quick easy-to-access insight into safety certification of tools and operatives, and provide a detailed log for compulsory health and safety records.
GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS But while technology has its role to play in reducing risk, ultimately, all levels of the supply chain, from specifiers to contractors and equipment manufacturers, must work together to design potential dangers out of the construction process wherever possible.
There is already a movement within Build UK – the trade body bringing together clients, main contractors and trade associations – to create a common health and safety code that would achieve more consistent behaviour and practices across worksites.
Cross-industry collaboration of this kind: sharing and enforcing best practice for the benefit of all, will only further drive up standards to ensure construction practices continue to evolve. Contractors large and small will then be able to give the long-term health of their workers the consistent level of attention it deserves.
To download Hilti’s Construct The Future: The key challenges facing the construction sector today white paper, click here
https://bit.ly/2OwJWZ7.
www.hilti.co.uk www.tomorrowshs.com
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