This study was very instrumental in assessing the importance of health and safety in the UK construction industry. The measures that are aimed at health and safety in the construction field have created a positive impact, not only to the workers, but also to the society at large. On the same line, there are many factors, which affect health and safety practices both in the construction industry, both in the UK and other global countries. Since the construction industry in the UK has had enormous growth after the 2008 recession, it had accrued a negative output. The study, for this reason, addressed the most important area that will see the construction industry move forward in regard to health and safety.

The construction industry in the UK and any other country comprise of different professional and workers. Examples of different professionals include site managers and health and safety managers. Supervisors and tradesmen (whether skilled or unskilled) are very important in the daily running of the companies’ functions. There are also construction managers among many others. Similarly, the companies can be small, medium or large in relation to the construction industry.  In the industry, workers have different levels of experience. In the study, majority of the workers had an experience of more than five years. With adequate experience in routine work, an individual may end up practicing the health and safety measures appropriately for the good of the company and the society at large.

In most cases, the workers from membership unions and associations if they are working in the same field. Construction industry is no exception. Some of the workers are members of the professional bodies. In the UK,  only 45% are members, a number that is  low compared to other industries. In addition, the workers received training up to different levels. For Graham and BAM construction, most of the workers have attained BTEC qualifications, masters, and undergraduate degrees. A small fraction have had only an A-level, vocational and GCSE/O LEVELS/CSE training.

Health and Safety

According to the study findings, the UK health and safety system in regard to the construction industry is good. That is so from the Graham and BAM Construction findings, which ascertained that about 95% of the worker’s population is happy with the system. However, every road has a bend. Some of the companies have poor health and safety systems in the UK construction field. Depending on how good the systems are, the companies can receive ISO Certification if it meets the standards of the systems among other things. Training is also important for workers, especially in health and safety related matters. In the Graham and BAM construction, most of the workers (97.5%) have received health and safety awareness training.

Similarly, more than 97.5% of the UK construction companies have a safety, health and environmental management policies. The policies are very important to the health and safety of everybody in addition to the environment. With such policies in place, the companies will be at the helm of health and safety and environmental promotion and sustainability. That can be a success if the companies develop overseeing bodies to implement the policies. In the BAM and Graham construction, most the companies already have health and safety committees and EMS.

In the industry, the is more improvement in the areas of health and safety recent past compared to other times. That means that the factors that negate health and safety in construction have been reduced to a great deal. That is why ISO has certified most of the companies in the same industry in the UK. More so, the study  concluded that there are many areas, which require more improvement in health and safety. They include safety communication, training, management and commitment and health and safety policies. If the areas record an immense improvement, then the health and safety of all the companies in the construction arena will in turn improve. For instance, training will help workers to identify potential hazards and react before they become real problems. In the realization of all these, the management, and other stakeholders need to take full responsibility so as to uphold health and safety, in the long run.

Health and safety are very important in many ways. In the case of BAM and Graham, just like many others, health and safety promotes social responsibilities among different stakeholders. That includes the workers and the management team in addition to the owners among others. More so, there can be good business in the UK if the health and safety are observed. With such, the construction industry will see more development. The study is also confident to conclude that health and safety practices save lives by preventing accidents and serious injuries. If accidents and lives are saved, then it means that costs can be saved for development purposes instead of treating victims of the otherwise accidents that could occur. In general, health and safety bring about development in many ways.

Health and safety have a great positive impact on the health and safety performance of the construction industry. The impact can see an increase in the productivity of the construction industry. in addition,  corporate responsibility and the companies’ reputation can increase. The impact is also great in reducing the health risks at the work sites. More so, health and safety can see an improvement in environmental promotion and sustainability. With the positive impact, the UK construction industry will see tremendous growth if health and safety will be upheld.

Accidents have claimed many lives in the industry in addition to leaving many with injuries. In order to reduce the accidents, almost all the UK construction companies have put in place safety regulations. The companies that do so are likely to get ISO certification. This research study concluded that all the UK companies in the industry had Health and Safety Management systems in place. These regulations help the industry to have a reduction in the occurrence of accidents on worksites. However, most of the workers are still neutral on whether the regulations are important in reducing accidents.

In any operating institution, ISO certification is very important. However, some of the workers aren’t aware of ISO. Only 60% of the workforce can tell whether their companies have been certified. Although the UK is one of the top five countries in regard to ISO14001 certification, more is still to be done so that the workers can know what and how it is important.

Accidents which occur in the UK construction industry stem from many reasons. Some of the reasons are the lack of motivation among the workers and other stakeholders, lack of experience to use equipment and lack of safety training. The lack of appropriate policies is part of the reason as to why the accidents are common.

Recommendations

This study came up with several recommendations that will help not only the construction industry in the UK, but also other scholars who may have the interest of researching in this area. First, the UK construction companies should ensure that all their workers are training in areas fo health and safety. That will see a great and tremendous reduction in the number of accidents. In addition, costs that could have been used to handle the accident occurrences will be saved and put to other uses resulting in the development.

Secondly, the companies should ensure that all their operations are guided by health and safety policies. Before doing that, they should adopt good policies and regulations. In addition, the companies need to put Health and Safety Management Systems in place so as to promote healthy and safe practices on the work sites. Thirdly, all the organizations in this industry should strive hard to educate their workers on what ISO certification is and how important it can be to them and the company at large. That is because a good number of the workers don’t have an idea of what it is.

In regard to the scholars who may have an interest in doing more research in this field, this study highly recommends them to do so. The findings of the study aren’t conclusive in that only a small sample was used. That means that the results can’t comprehensively conclude what the factors that affect health and safety are. The scholars should put the strengths that we had at hand. In addition, there were challenges that the study met, which the scholars should look into.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The construction industry has contributed a lot to the Gross Domestic Product of the UK. The industry accounts for 9% of the employment of the UK people. In addition, the nation earns revenue. However, the industry has faced many challenges regarding health and safety practices.

Background: The construction industry is termed as one of the worst industries in the UK. It has had many accidents and other health and safety problems. In the industry, there are factors that affect the health and safety practices.

Objectives: the main objective is to evaluate health and safety practices in the UK construction industry.

Methods: This study was a quantitative study that used questionnaires to gather data. The participants were recruited from the Graham and BAM construction from at the University of Salford. Out of the 80 questionnaires, only 40 were recovered after ten days. The data was then analyzed to give results.

Literature review:

The UK is in top five countries regarding ISO certification. However, there are accidents that have occurred in large numbers in the past years. Health and safety policies to promote health and safety practices have been in place, but they need an improvement.

Results: Most of the workers agreed that health and safety are very important in reducing accidents.  97.5% of the participants agreed that their companies had health and safety policies in place. In addition, 92.5% of the participants said that there was an improvement in health and safety in regard to the UK construction industry. The UK construction industry has an increase in ISO certification because of the improvements.

Discussion: The UK construction industry has experienced a lot of challenges in health and safety. Most of the workers cited that lack of health and safety training among others have led to an increase in the occurrence of accidents on worksites.

Conclusion and recommendations: A lot should be done to increase health and safety of the workers plus other stakeholders in the construction industry. The study recommends further research in the same field.

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