Construction health risks: Key points

There have been big improvements over recent years in reducing the number and rate of injuries to construction workers. Despite this, construction remains a high-risk industry and accounts for a high percentage of fatal and major injuries.

What is less recognised is that construction is a high-risk industry for health issues too. Below are some key points about these risks, why they are so significant and how to manage them.

The big picture

Every year more working days are lost due to work-related illness compared to injuries. The statistics reveal that construction workers have a high risk of developing diseases from a number of health issues.

Underlying causes

There are many reasons why construction workers have a high risk of developing occupational disease. This includes:

Common principles

The risks of ill health can be managed by following the simple steps outlined in the rest of this website. These steps follow a few essential common principles:

So…how healthy is your business?

Not adequately controlling health risks can cost you:

Organisations are already taking steps to tackle occupational disease.

Updated 2022-11-01