Background Information

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.

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.

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

(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.

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

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.

The lack of appropriate policies is part of the reason as to why the accidents are common.

Recommendations

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.

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:

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.