Hill, C and Ainsworth, A (2001) Health and safety: Academic research and practical application. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001, Salford, UK.
Abstract
Construction health and safety management continues to be a popular and worthwhile topic for research. Many issues have been identified, such as subcontracting and casualization, and the problematic nature of researching the topic acknowledged. This paper reports a case study of an innovative method of Health and Safety training introduced on a construction site in Leeds. The site manager arranged for representatives of all the subcontractors and direct labour gangs to meet at lunch one day every week. Sandwiches and drinks were provided as an incentive, and attendance was very good. The lunch meetings provided the opportunity to discuss Health and Safety matters for the site, and for operations running at that time. The intention was to prevent or minimize the accidents on the site. The discussion of other issues (such as financial problems, delays or damaged work) was prevented by the site manager, who led the discussion. In the case study, the number of reported accidents was less than for similar sites over the same period. The contracting company, Totty Construction awarded the site manager with a prize for the innovation. The conclusion of the paper raises the question of the purpose of research into Health and Safety: developing understanding and dissemination amongst the academic community or developing understanding and disseminating practical advice amongst practitioners.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | health and safety |
| Index terms: | practitioner, dissemination, site manager, subcontractor, health and safety management, health and safety, case study, construction site, subcontracting |
| Subjects: | health safety and environment, knowledge translation, data collection methods, organization, practitioner, work location |
| Topics: | Site Management, Supply Chain Management, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here