Revision as of 10:35, 18 February 2023

Building construction sites are some of the most dangerous places to work in where unfortunately roughly 60.000 people lose their life every year around the globe^[1] due to the high number of objects, heavy machineries, equipment, tools, moving trucks and so on. Nevertheless, a huge responsibility is placed upon the project manager to ensure that all the potential risks workers might encounter are eliminated and, if not possible, they must be minimized.

Before digging into the concepts, it is relevant to understand what a risk is; according to Macquarie Dictionary, risk is the chance of an adverse event depending on the circumstances and its impact can be measured as the likelihood of a specific unwanted event and its unwanted consequences or loss^[2] and it can be identified mathematically as follows .

There are multiple types of risks in a typical construction site that could affect the safety of the workers, such as: vibrations, noises, respiratory, handling of heavy materials, electrocutions and many more. These risks may lead to different types of immediate consequences, from a small injury to even death; however, some complications caused by the constant exposure to one of the risks mentioned above, such as noises, could manifest in months or even years, known as professional illnesses.

Given the importance of such topic, there are a few steps explained in this article that can be followed to guarantee the safety of everybody working in the construction site. The points are the following: identification, assessment, treatment, inspections/maintenance and prevention. It must be said that, regardless of how thorough and accurate the safety risk management may be, some incidents can not be avoided due multiple factors, for instance their unpredictability or also, in certain circumstances, the low level of attention or carelessness of the workers themselves. This process is meant to find the sources of the risks and eliminate or minimize them, but it can not fully solve the issue.

Overview of safety risks

A construction site can be a rather chaotic place with plenty of risks that can pose a threat to the health and safety of the workers. Some of the most common risks workers can face in a construction site are^[3] :

Management of safety risks

== Identification ==

== Assessment ==

== Treatment ==

== Inspections/Maintenance ==

== Prevention ==

Limits of the safety risk management process

Here we will mention some of the limitations or discrepancies that can emerge when using the process described. Can we actually make a construction site 100% safe thanks to the safety risk management tool?

Conclusion

Recap of the whole article.

Annotated bibliography

1) Matej Mihić (2020). "Classification of construction hazards for a universal hazard identification methodology". Research gate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339107995_Classification_of_construction_hazards_for_a_universal_hazard_identification_methodology

2) Anthony Mills (2001). “A systematic approach to risk management for construction”. Emerald Insight. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02630800110412615/full/html?casa_token=jWz-aT1-efAAAAAA:lmJT0vBRzG_Bq9cGElDnvDB5tVEFMtXJgCZHgv3brjA2U24WqKFpqg4GM3JlMkTS3E-s5hs8zD1wgcbXzeOrQ0J3wf1_q70KR6agbCkPaowsRJPNQw

References

1. ↑ Helen Lingard. “Occupational health and safety in the construction industry” (2013). Research Gate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263552916_Occupational_health_and_safety_in_the_construction_industry#:~:text=According%20to%20statistics%2C%20the%20death,worldwide%20every%20year%20%5B5%5D%20.
2. ↑ Anthony Mills (2001). “A systematic approach to risk management for construction”. Emerald Insight. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02630800110412615/full/html?casa_token=jWz-aT1 efAAAAAA:lmJT0vBRzG_Bq9cGElDnvDB5tVEFMtXJgCZHgv3brjA2U24WqKFpqg4GM3JlMkTS3E-s5hs8zD1wgcbXzeOrQ0J3wf1_q70KR6agbCkPaowsRJPNQw
3. ↑ European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. “Construction safety risks and prevention” (2014). OSHwiki. https://oshwiki.osha.europa.eu/en/themes/construction-safety-risks-and-prevention