Book Description

Health and safety has always been important in the construction industry, which suffers from a higher incidence rate of death, injuries and ill-health compared with other sectors. In recent decades there has been a concerted and increasingly successful effort to improve performance, following legislation, industry improvements and societal change. Harm to people is no longer considered an inevitable by-product of constructing. Companies and individuals have striven to improve performance and they have had some success. However, much remains to be done.

In 2009 the HSE commissioned CIRIA, working in partnership with Loughborough University, to carry out a wide-ranging study of the subject of catastrophic events in construction, with particular focus on the issues that the industry needs to address. The research report Preventing catastrophic events in construction was published by the HSE in January 2011. This report is reproduced here and forms the core of this publication.