Managing occupational health and safety in the civil engineering constructions

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most important economic activities in most of the countries. Nowadays, society demands civil engineering works to be carried out under quality criteria, with respect for the environment and assuring the safety and health of construction workers. All of this should be done within a sustainable development framework. Construction’s labor accident indexes are very high and produce important social and economic costs. The integration of labor risk prevention into construction procedures may contribute to reduce work accidents and to improve the work conditions at construction sites This paper examines the importance of an adequate labor risk prevention in civil engineering construction projects, which must start at the planning stage of the project and continue during the execution of the work and during the maintenance and conservation of the infrastructure.