Construction Industry Briefing: Issue 13 (April08)
The following topics are covered in this issue: Statistics, Asbestos, Sickness absence, Smoking, and Skin cancer
In the recently published Select Committee report on 'The role of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive in regulating workplace health and safety. Third Report of Session 2007–08’, the construction industry is discussed in Chapter 6 ‘Hazardous industries’ (P31). It reports that ‘… of the main industrial sectors, construction … has the highest number of fatal injuries, 32% of all deaths of workers occurred in this sector. In 2006/07, 77 workers were killed due to construction-related accidents, a 28% increase on 2005/06.' More information is available at...
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/
An article in the Canadian medical journal CMAJ highlights the risk to construction industry workers of getting mesothelioma. The authors state that '...more than 80% of men with mesothelioma were likely exposed to asbestos in the workplace. Workplace exposure to asbestos continues in Canada, primarily in the mining and construction sectors'. The paper is available at...
http://www.canadianmedicaljournal.ca/cgi/reprint/178/6/677
A paper by PC Koopmans and others was published as an open access article in the May issue of the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. The aim of the study was to determine the duration of sickness absence owing to depression in the Dutch working population. The article includes statistics on the construction industry. The full text of the article is available here...
http://www.springerlink.com/content/l63108368kg64h76/fulltext.html
An article on tobacco smoking by occupation in Australia and the United States (1970-2005) was published in a recent issue of 'Industrial Health'. The authors state that 'Detailed examination...indicates that employee sub-groups, such as cleaners and construction workers, are now bearing much of the occupational smoking burden in Australia and the United States. The article may be viewed at...
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/indhealth/46/1/77/_pdf
A recent article published in the ‘Public Health’ journal analyses the reporting of skin cancer risks in the house-building industry. The authors conclude that ‘The establishment of systems within risk assessments to incorporate exposure of construction workers to ultraviolet radiation, and reporting of incidents of sunburn, is essential if this public health issue is to be addressed’. The abstract of the paper can be viewed at…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18207207
If you would like us to feature any specific construction occupational health issue then let us know.
CONSTRUCTION BRIEFINGS ARCHIVE
Construction Briefing (March 2007)
Construction Briefing (April 2007)
Construction Briefing (May 2007)
Construction Briefing (June 2007)
Construction Briefing (July 2007)
Construction Briefing (August 2007)
Construction Briefing (September 2007)
Construction Briefing (October 2007)
Construction Briefing (November 2007)
Construction Briefing (December 2007)
Construction Briefing (January 2008)
Construction Briefing (March 2008)