Management of Occupational Safety and Health in the Civil Construction Industry

Abstract

Our society, in virtue of a new consciousness towards the importance of the global quality concept in its' widest scope, applied to life as a whole, has demanded improvements in the quality of life in the workplace from all organizations. The evolution of new social concepts has become evident. These demands are reflected in the growing requirements from legislation and labor unions. Within the perspective of man's necessities, the quality of life in the workplace has its most basic model in the safety of the workplace.

The Civil Construction Industry when compared with other production sectors can be considered underdeveloped from a technological and management standpoint. In an attempt to modernize, new technologies in the construction environment have replaced many traditional activities. This modernization brings forth many management problems involving the health and safety rules dealing with the modern approach of management. These difficulties arise due to the lack of theoretical support in this area of knowledge as well as the behavior of the workers who hide the risks involved in these new systems.

From this perspective, this study intends to develop a new and improved Occupational Safety and Health vision in the Civil Construction Industry to be used by professionals in the field. In order to reach this goal, a revision of thus published material, as well as national and international legislation has been undertaken in the hope of improving the strategy and applicability of health and safety engineering. With these considerations in mind, improvements in the Management System of Occupational Safety and Health in the Civil Construction Industry have been proposed.