Quarmby, T (2011) Safe, healthy and sustainable demolition. PhD thesis, Loughborough University, UK.
Abstract
The £198M demolition industry sector is part of the construction industry, worth approximately £2.2bn in the UK p.a. But, for such a small fraction it is, nevertheless, the largest provider of secondary building products, handling 32 million tonnes (approximately) of waste each year, and is principally responsible for clearing brownfield sites in readiness for new build. Sustainable demolition activities are at the forefront of the UK Government and many NGO s policies on waste reduction, increased recycling and reclamation of waste building products at the end of life cycle. However, there are problems in developing more sustainable demolition processes based on historical methods of working, in particular, those involving manual handling activities. Whilst the UK construction industry boasts reduced accident and incident rates the demolition sectors rates are in the ascendency, rising by 43% overall from 1996 to 2009. That said, it would appear that those working within the sector are unaware of the rise in accidents which has steadily increased by 100% since 2000. Despite the demolition sector s increased use of mechanical applications for structural demolition, the prolonged and prolific method of stripping out buildings by hand remains a major risk and causal factor for injuries. The results of this research have identified the causation of such an increase in accident occurrence and has offered an insight into how the reduction of accident and incident may be accomplished. This research is unique in that practising exponents of the demolition sector have participated in providing exclusive evidence of methodology, accident reporting and waste handling protocols that give clear indications of a gulf in current thinking by government, NGO s and the enforcing authorities. The research has also identified failings in product and building design that create unsustainable conditions for safe, efficient and cost effective demolition, dismantling and handling of materials at end of life. This realisation also opens up the debate on the role of designers and their contribution to a safe and sustainable demolition process.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accidents; demolition; health and safety; interview; manual handling; questionnaire survey; sustainability |
| Index terms: | end of life, survey, interview, industry sector, health and safety, injury, waste reduction, methodology, questionnaire, dismantling, reclamation, evidence, recycling, designer, new build, building design, construction industry |
| Subjects: | research methods, sustainability assessment, land management, health safety and environment, evaluation and assessment methods, waste management, operations management, strategic project management, architectural design, construction integration, health conditions and diseases, industry analysis, data collection methods, profession |
| Topics: | Site Management, Design Practice, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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