Construction Safety Knowledge for Practitioners in the Construction Industry

The construction industry involves risky and unhealthy operations which result in many human tragedies, discourage workers, disrupt construction, delay progress, and adversely affect cost, productivity, and reputation. Construction managers focus mainly on productivity in terms of cost, quality, and time. Construction project can never achieve its objectives unless construction professionals become aware of the safety-related issues. The main objective behind this paper was to create awareness among practitioners about various safety-related practices in the construction industry. Paper discusses the possible construction site hazards along with their root causes. The significance of safety culture and climate in the mitigation of site hazards has also been discussed. Paper highlights the role of owners and designers to ensure safe construction process. Applications of information technology (IT) based tools in ensuring safety during construction have also been reviewed. Beside this, attention has been drawn towards the importance of safe site layout in ensuring safety. The concepts of prevention through design (PtD) and safety into sustainability have also been elaborated.