Construction work-related deaths and injuries continue to rise, according to study

Despite advances in technology and safety management systems, construction workers continue to suffer a persistent incidence of work-related deaths and costly injuries and illnesses.

The Australian construction industry accounts for 9% of the Australian workforce; but, in 2008-09, it accounted for 11% of all serious workers compensation claims, according to RMIT University.

In the same financial year, construction recorded more fatalities than any other industry and the fatality rate was more than twice the rate for all industries.

RMIT's Prof Helen Lingard says the construction industry is characterised by intense competition, conflict and pressure to drive down prices, all contributing to the industry's poor OHS performance.

To help improve things, Lingard has teamed up with Prof Ron Wakefield and Assoc Prof Nick Blismas to undertake an investigation of the ability of construction clients to drive OHS improvements through their procurement and project management practices.

The three are engaged in an international collaboration with researchers from the Center for Innovation in Construction Safety and Health at Virginia Tech in the US.

Lingard says this research involves an international benchmarking study of construction OHS practices and performance in the US and Australia over five years.

"In one review of 100 incidents in the UK construction industry, researchers identified client requirements, design criteria and the project procurement environment as contributing factors to incident occurrence," she says.

"So far, the majority of OHS efforts in construction have been implemented at the level of the construction firm, although there is a growing recognition that the root causes of OHS incidents can be traced back to problems inherent in industry-level systems of work.

"Addressing the whole of the construction industry work system has the potential to lead to real breakthroughs in the reduction of construction accidents, injuries, illnesses and fatalities that remain at an unacceptably high level in both the US and Australia."