Health and safety

Construction sites can be dangerous places and the implementation, and proper management, of adequate and appropriate health and safety measures is vital in the construction industry to reduce the risk of accidents and illness.

Health and safety must be taken into account from the very beginning of a project, before work on site has even begun: it must be considered during the planning stages of a project, in the setting up of the construction site and, of course, during the actual construction phase. See Practice Notes: Health and safety requirements—preparing to begin works and setting up the site and Construction phase—site management and on-site health and safety requirements.

Those responsible for a project must ensure that work on site can happen safely and also that members of the public are not placed at risk. It is crucial that those involved in construction projects understand, and can identify, the main causes of accidents and ill-health in order that key hazards can be identified and the associated