Studies on Labour Safety in Construction Sites

Construction industry has accomplished extensive growth worldwide particularly in past few decades. For a construction project to be successful, safety of the structures as well as that of the personnel is of utmost importance. The safety issues are to be considered right from the design stage till the completion and handing over of the structure. Construction industry employs skilled and unskilled labourers subject to construction site accidents and health risks. A proper coordination between contractors, clients, and workforce is needed for safe work conditions which are very much lacking in Indian construction companies. Though labour safety laws are available, the numerous accidents taking place at construction sites are continuing. Management commitment towards health and safety of the workers is also lagging. A detailed literature study was carried out to understand the causes of accidents, preventive measures, and development of safe work environment. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which was distributed among various categories of construction workers in Kerala region. The paper examines and discusses in detail the total working hours, work shifts, nativity of the workers, number of accidents, and type of injuries taking place in small and large construction sites.