New HSE website for construction students

HSE Press Release E171:02 - 12 September 2002

A new online teaching aid for construction students and practitioners has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The website: http://www.learning-hse.com, contains valuable information on health and safety in construction, including legislation, safe working practices and case studies.

Developed as a result of recommendations in HSE's contract research report 'Identification and Management of Risk in Undergraduate Construction Courses', published last year, it is designed to supplement existing undergraduate courses by supplying an easy to use and constantly updated resource for students. It is also anticipated that the site will prove valuable to people already working within the industry.

The material is not designed to represent an entire module or course; instead it provides background data, explanations, case studies and reference material to illustrate common principles in health and safety risk management, on which students may draw to further their research and study. This freely available material will form a useful starting point for anyone embarking on a career in the construction industry.

Trevor Allan, HSE principal inspector who initiated the research report, said:

"The website is an excellent tool for studying the identification and management of risk in the construction industry.

"A wide range of sources has been used to put together a clear and coherent package which will be invaluable to undergraduates and those who teach them. We are launching the website to coincide with the start of the academic year and we believe that the people we are targeting will find its content of immediate use in their studies.

"Industry has been crying out for graduates who have an understanding of health and safety risk issues in construction, and proper use of the material on this website will go a long way to fulfilling that need."

The authors of last year's research report, consulting engineers Symonds Group Ltd, who also helped develop the website, found that the quality of delivery and the support given to health and safety risk concepts within construction undergraduate courses were generally inadequate, and that substantial improvements needed to be made. They concluded that there was universal agreement between teaching staff and students that some form of teaching and learning support was essential to the overall delivery of health and safety risk management within the curriculum. Of the options looked at, the most popular was web-based material and case studies.

Notes to editors

1. The online teaching aid at: http://www.learning-hse.com supports Action Point 34 from the 'Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy Statement', published in June 2000. Action Point 34 states: "The Government and the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) will act to ensure that safety-critical professionals such as architects and engineers receive adequate education in risk management. This will be delivered through a programme of direct approaches to relevant higher and further education institutions and professional institutions." 2. 'The Revitalising Health and Safety strategy statement', is a Government and HSC initiative, which sets targets for the nation to reduce work-related deaths, ill health and injury in Great Britain. More details can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/revitalising/index.htm

3. In 2000, following concerns that health and safety was not being given due regard in undergraduate construction courses, HSE commissioned a research report into the delivery of health and safety teaching, 'Identification and Management of Risk in Undergraduate Construction Courses, Contract Research Report 392/2001'. The report confirmed the need for better delivery of health and safety teaching. The resulting website is intended to be applicable to all disciplines within the built environment.

4. The website builds on the work of the construction safety summit, which took place on 27 February 2001. The summit was called by the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, because of his awareness and growing concern about the industry's poor health and safety record. Called 'Turning concern into action', it acknowledged the concern over the industry's performance, and agreed the industry had to improve.

5. The construction industry has set the following Revitalising targets for improvement.

To reduce:

• fatalities and major injuries by 40 per cent by 2004/5 and 66 per cent by 2009/10;
• work-related ill health by 20 per cent by 2004/5 and 50 per cent by 2009/10:
• working days lost from work-related injury and ill health by 20 per cent by 2004/5 and by 50 per cent by 2009/10.

6. Provisional figures for 2001/02 show that there were 79 fatal injuries to construction workers, accounting for 32 per cent of all worker fatalities. The provisional figures show 47 per cent of fatal injuries to workers in construction between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002 were caused by falls from height; 15 per cent - struck by a moving/falling object; 14 per cent - struck by a moving vehicle; 24 per cent - other.

Copies of 'Identification and Management of Risk in Undergraduate Construction Courses', ISBN 0 7176 2148 0, price £15.00, are available online at: http://books.hse.gov.uk

HSE's Contract Research Reports are also available on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/noframes/crr/index.htm

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