Safety at construction sites - Essay Example

There is this select group of people who would then by identified as the stakeholders. This group is composed of people who all have stakes in the success of the project and, therefore, are contributors to the success of the project and the safety of everyone involved. This paper is designed to objectively identify the stakeholders of construction projects and their contributions specifically to the overall safety of people throughout the project construction and thereafter. The construction industry has never left its spot as the industry with the highest numbers of reported deaths and injuries. The U.S.

data has reported that there were 1,178 casualties from the sector in the year 2007. In the country's construction industry, the recorded rate of 3.7 percent is computed for the fatal injuries that occurred with every 100,000 workers across the country in 2007 (DCN Archives, 2008). Industry players have been trying in vain to lower the rate of occupational injuries that occur in their respective construction sites. In spite of all the efforts and mechanisms undertaken, the construction industry remains to be the biggest source of casualties at work.

The stakeholders of construction projects include the project owner, the creditors or investors backing up the project, the project management organization, the contractor, the designing company, the local government units where the project is located, the community residing at the project site, and the eventual occupants or users of the project being constructed. The construction project can enjoy a greatly improved level of safety if there is a change in the attitude and culture of its current stakeholders.

Stakeholder Empowerment The empowerment of the stakeholders as prime movers for ensuring safety throughout the construction period would benefit the project. Not many projects, though, are undertaken using this approach. In most cases, only the project management teams and the contactors are doing their utmost to secure safety at the construction site. If only the stakeholders would be motivated to do their part in sustaining the safety of the people and in ensuring that an effective construction management system is in place, a marked improvement would be felt.

Change of Attitude Amongst StakeholdersChange of culture Amongst StakeholdersRecommendations The project owners and the project management organization should be encouraged to tap the support and help of the stakeholders so as to keep them involved and interested in ensuring that project safety is maintained all throughout the construction period. The stakeholders would serve as the pillars of the success of the project; their involvement can mean the difference between getting no help and getting all the help that is needed at the construction site for all concerns including safety.

The stakeholders also would have particular reasons of their own to want to be involved as allies that would concretely contribute to the project's well-being. After all, the project would eventually bring in benefits and merits to the local community through the activities that would be facilitated by the project structure. For this reason, the stakeholders would want to do what they can to bring the project to a successful