This report has been written for 'Smiths Builders Ltd' who wish to focus and improve on Occupational Health within their organisation.

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Anthea Carlisle                Safety Tech 1 – Construction Safety

                                                                                                           Assignment

This report has been written for ‘Smiths Builders Ltd’ who wish to focus and improve on Occupational Health within their organisation. Work related ill health; also known as occupational ill health describes any illness an employee suffers because of the hazards they have been exposed to at work1. The European Construction Institute (ECI) recognises that there is a fundamental need to examine the extent, causes and management of the problem of occupational ill health in the construction industry and to improve the health culture. Clients, designers, contractors, other experts and the workers themselves need to be involved.

Historically, less effort has been directed towards health matters in the construction industry in favour of the more immediate, high profile (and perhaps more solvable) problem of safety. Nevertheless, ill health continues to disable and kill large numbers of construction workers. In fact, the delay in the effects becoming obvious is one of the main reasons why the subject should be taken seriously2, e.g. 36000 people in the UK suffer from ‘Vibration White Finger’ and over a million are at risk. – HSE 1998, UK and US construction workers have the third highest rate of skin disorders – Buckhart et al 1993.

Clients and contractors have a statutory and common law duty to develop health risk management systems, which should be based on full and careful appraisal of the health risks to which all their employees (including subcontracted workers) will be exposed.

Some of the health and safety legislation that applies to construction is as follows:

  • Health and Safety at work Act 1974
  • COSHH Regulations
  • Noise at Work Regulations
  • PPE Regulations
  • Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations

Construction rightly has a reputation for being a particularly unhealthy industry because its rate of work-related illness is one of the highest of all occupational groups. Health problems within the industry are prevalent because of the number of high-risk work activities involved and the peripatetic nature of the workforce. The key risks are asbestos, musculoskeletal disorders, hand-arm vibration, dermatitis, respiratory sensitisers, skin cancer (from exposure to sunlight), and noise (these will be discussed later in the report). Action regarding risks should follow the normal hierarchy (elimination, substitution, and control) and risk assessments should identify circumstances in which health surveillance in required3.  The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) underpin the HSE’s approach to both health and safety in construction. CDM is the key to improving health in the industry, through the reduction of risk by improved design, and the encouragement of better planning, which should have long term impact on improving standards of occupational health.

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The primary aim of managing health is preventing ill health: the axiom ‘prevention is better than cure’ must remain uppermost in the minds of those involved in health risk management4.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

This includes work-related back pain usually from manual handling activities and work-related upper limb disorders i.e. injuries to shoulder, arm, elbow, wrists and hands and is the result of repetitive activities such as those involved in trades like plastering, carpentry and bricklaying. The most prevalent of these is back pain. Work related back pain is rarely caused by a single accident or injury, but by a series ...

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