Page 34 - CV June-July 2023 Issue

IMPROVING

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY IN 2023

ndia's infrastructure and construction sectors are crucial to record of the construction industry has significantly improved in
India's economic ecosystem. With the development of world- recent years due to their matured health and safety management
Iclass facilities like roads, waterways, railways, airports, ports, system.
and residences, offices, retail, hotels and leisure parks across the
country, the public and private sectors are playing a crucial role in In the UK, for example, employers are legally bound to assess the
India's growth story. India is poised to become the world's third- risks to their workers' health and safety. If the risks are significant
largest construction market with the sector expected to reach $1.4 then the employer must take steps to remove or reduce them to a
Tn by 2025. reasonably practical level. The regulations also cover the
The construction sector is one of India's biggest job providers. management of risks to workers' health, safety, and welfare during
However, it is also known to be among the most hazardous construction work.
sectors. The number of fatalities reported per day is very high. A
report by researchers at the National Institute of Technology, Surat,
in 2016, estimated that the construction industry accounts for
around a quarter of all workplace accident fatalities in India. The
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in a study in 2019, found
that falls, electrocutions, and collapsing walls and scaffolding at
construction sites are the major causes of work-related deaths in
the construction industry.

In the absence of proper safety standards, protocols, and practices
in most of the medium and small construction companies, the
staggering numbers are not surprising. With proper safety
measures in place, and the top management of these companies
giving equal importance to health and safety of the workmen, as
they do for the progress of work, these deaths can be prevented.
India could learn valuable lessons from developed countries, where
fatalities are significantly lower and where the health and safety

CONSTRUCTION VISION 32 JUNE-JULY 2023