Safety in the Construction Industry: A Comprehensive Analysis Report

This report examines the critical impact of safety issues within the construction industry, focusing on the Australian context. It highlights the high-risk environment faced by construction workers due to strenuous tasks involving heavy materials, machinery, and awkward postures. The report emphasizes the importance of safety measures to mitigate risks such as falls, accidents, and musculoskeletal disorders, and it discusses the financial implications of safety lapses, including increased project costs. The report also presents statistical data from Safe Work Australia, illustrating the prevalence of workplace injuries and the associated consequences, such as lost workdays and the impact of not using PPE. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the importance of workers' adherence to safety protocols and the role of training programs to improve safety practices. The report also provides recommendations for improving safety, including the promotion of PPE and education regarding safety processes. The conclusion reiterates the direct effects of safety on both worker well-being and the economic burden on employers, underscoring the importance of maintaining a safe work environment.

Running head: SAFETY IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Safety in Construction Industry
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the impact of safety issues in the construction industry. In
Australia, construction industry is one of the major area of work for the workers and a good
number of people in the country is engaged in this industry as workers. In this industry
workers are involved in various strenuous works such as handling of heavy materials,
machineries, demolition of building, handling of vibrating machines. Risks are associated
with several factors such as fall from a height, accidents during handling of heavy materials
by stressing of the body, handling of heavy machinery ( due to the vibration of the machine),
and risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders due to prolonged holding of awkward
postures. So it is very important to maintain safety measures in a construction industry.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Safety Issues in the Industry..................................................................................................................3
Importance.............................................................................................................................................4
Recommendation...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
In Australia, construction industry is one of the major area of work for the workers
and a good number of people in the country is engaged in this industry as workers. In this
industry workers are involved in various strenuous works such as handling of heavy
materials, machineries, demolition of building, handling of vibrating machines. As a result,
the workers of this industry are exposed to extremely high risk condition. In this industry the
main risks are associated with the fall from a height, accidents during handling of heavy
materials by stressing of the body, handling of heavy machinery ( due to the vibration of the
machine), and risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders due to prolonged holding of
awkward postures. Safety issues in the construction is highly associated with the monetary
issues and it will increase the overall cost of the construction projects (Sanchez, Pelaez &
Alis, 2017). In this report, the importance of safety in the construction industry is discussed in
a brief manner.
Safety Issues in the Industry
In the construction industry, lack of safety issues can cause work related injuries,
work related diseases and in some cases, fatality is also experienced by the workers.
According to a report of Safe Work Australia, it is observed that, in 2009-10 year almost
8.7% of total 12 million workers of Australia work in the construction industry. In that same
year, almost 56900 workers have reported about work related injury due to lack of safety
issues in the construction industry. It is again observed that almost 59.2 workers per 1000
workers have faced injury due to safety issues in the construction industry in Australia. It is
reported that, the main consequences of the work related accidents in this industry is open
wounds or cut that comprises of almost 31% of total accident cases. In addition to this, the
sprain is associated with 21% of total injury cases caused due to lack of safety in the

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construction industry (Safe Work Australia, 2015). The prevalence of cut injury in the
construction industry indicated toward the fact that the workers are not maintaining proper
safety processes that is using of personal protective equipment (PPE) during their job. On the
other hand, it is observed that, the 1/3 of the work related injury in the construction industry
is due associated with lifting, pulling or pushing a heavy objects in the construction sites. As
a consequences of such incidents in the construction industry, it is observed that, such injuries
in the construction industry can also affect the working days of the workers. From the report
of the government, it is observed that, 13% of construction workers are absent from their
work for 1-4 days, 14% of the workers are absent from the work for 5-10 days, 15% of
workers are absent from their work for more than 11 days. In addition to this, it is also noted
that, the after the injury in the construction industry almost 12% of the workers do not join in
their work (Safe Work Australia, 2015). It is reported that, the main reason of workers’ injury
in the construction industry is the careless approach of workers in terms of not using proper
safety equipment and this factor contributes almost 69% of the total accidents. Next, the
workers casual behaviour during performing any manual material handling process. Lack of
safety behaviour in terms of risk taking behaviour of the workers. The unsafe practices by the
workers of this industry is associated with almost 21% cases of work related injury among
the workers of the construction industry. The report of the government also reported that,
almost 18% of the work place accidents is due to the lack of not having proper equipment
that is PPE (Safe Work Australia, 2015).
Importance
According to the study of Choi and Carlson (2014 ), investigated that, the lack of
safety issue and related accidents in the construction industry can increase the cost of the
employers as the employers are responsible to compensate the workers if they face any injury
due to their work. In Australia, the work and safety legislation act is quite strict so that the

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employees can have compensation due to their loss. Along with this, the study of Pillay
( 2016), also identified that, the safety issues in the construction industry also hampers the
costs of the accidents in the construction industry. They found that, if the work place safety
practices are good in the construction industry then the cost of the accidents are also less in
that particular industry and vice versa. The costs of the construction industry injury is
associated with mainly three type of costs that are, the direct costs, indirect costs and costs of
H&S. The direct costs include the costs of physicians, hospitals, health services, medical
equipment and medications of the workers, burial costs. On the other hand the indirect costs
of the accidents in the construction industry due to safety issues comprises of wage losses,
sick leave of the workers , loss of productivity from the victim of the accidents. Other costs
of such incidents comprise of fines and rehabilitation costs of the victim. In a study by Umar
(2016), conducted in Oman showed that, the overall costs of the construction industry due to
work related accidents in Oman was almost US$1055600. So, it can be said that, in order to
make the work place safe and to reduce the cost of, safety in the construction industry is very
crucial.
Recommendation
As a part of the recommendation it can be said that, the use of PPE in the construction
industry is highly promoted and on the other hand education regarding safety process is also
required. In order to implement this, training program can be launched for the workers so that
they can be serious about their safety issue in the construction sites (Pillay, 2016).
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that, safety issue has direct effect on construction industry
in terms of workers’ safety and as well as it is associated with the economic burden of the

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employers. So it can be said that maintenance of work place safety is very crucial for both the
workers and the employers.

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References
Choi, D. S., & Carlson, K. (2014). Occupational Safety Issues in Residential Construction
Surveyed in Wisconsin, United States. National Institute of Occupational Health and
Safety, 52(6): 541–547.
Pillay, K. (2016). Investigating the True Costs of Construction Accidents. Journal of
Engineering, Design and Technology , Vol. 14 Iss 2 pp.
Safe Work Australia (2015). Work Health & Safety Perceptions in Construction Industry.
Safe Work Australia. Retrieved from-
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/whs-perceptions-
construction-industry.pdf
Sanchez, F. A. S., Pelaez, G. I. C., & Alis, J. C. (2017). Occupational safety and health in
construction: a review of applications and trends. Industrial health, 55(3), 210-218.
Umar, T. (2016, December). Briefing: Cost of accidents in the construction industry of
Oman. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Municipal Engineer (Vol. 170,
No. 2, pp. 68-73). Thomas Telford Ltd.