Health and Safety in the Construction Industry Essay

Health and Safety in the Construction Industry - Essay Example The requirements could be in the form of legal provisions of the state, environment protection measures or in the form of the stipulated needs of the customer. In order to safeguard the interests of the workers, the respective governments come out with measures safeguarding the interests of the employees. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, also known as HASAW or HSW, is one such legislative measure adopted by the government of UK, which covers occupational health and safety in the United Kingdom1. A company requires able people to carry on with the business in the best possible manner. Therefore, the relationship between the two parties is of mutual benefit and for the relationship to work, both parties have to agree to certain terms of agreements. The construction industry is no exception. The construction industry is known as a labour intensive industry with people from different skill levels contributing their bit towards the project. There are the labours who might not be educated enough to know about what's happening around them. Quite often, while working against time to meet tight deadlines or to save on the costs, the workforce happens to be at a disadvantage. The agency carrying out the construction activity and the company having accepted the terms for the project are required to manage the project in such a manner that the project is completed and handed over to the customer within the stipulated time period, without any untoward incident/s. Project Management as such is the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of company resources for a relatively short-term objective that has been established to complete specific goals and objectives (Kerzner, 1995). Producing high levels of productivity and quality and low levels of uncertainty additionally are objectives of project management. The uncertainty arises mostly out of ill planning and unwarranted delays on account of a reasons like disputes or accidents. The successful construction project management will therefore be the management of all the factors that surround and enable the construction as well as the technical work to be accomplished. This form of management as such is a set of principles, practices, and techniques applied to lead project team and control project schedule, cost, and performance risks in order to delight the customers. The customer will feel delighted when the project management team displays its expertise in the planning and successful i mplementation of the project and hands over the finished product in a hassle free manner. In one of its report the National Audit Office (NAO) has enlisted some barriers which need to be overcome and bring about changes in attitudes within the construction industry towards improving the health and safety performance. The NAO report states that, "Under health and safety legislation those who create risk are legally responsible for controlling and managing that risk" (NAO, 2004). This specifies that the responsibility of coming out with measures for controlling and management of the risk lies with everyone involved in the supply chain. In fact in today's context when globalisation and competition happens to be a rule rather than exception, every company desires to retain the best working hands while making all efforts to remain out of controversies. The reach and impact of media