Housing Construction Safety – a $17 Million Issue
Announcement posted by DesignBuild Source 17 Jul 2012
Workplace incidents are costly, eating into the funds of both employer and employee, severely impacting productivity and thoroughlying disrupt on-the-job efficiency.
While this is hardly news, when the numbers are stacked up it is possible to really see the dramatic impact workplace incidents are having on the industry’s hip pocket.
The housing construction sector alone last year was hit by $17 million in medical bills, lost wages and further expenses resulting from more than 1,000 on the job accidents.
According to WorkSafe Australia, even that is a conservative estimate.
“Housing sites are constantly changing with different trades on site for short periods over the life of a project,” says WorkSafe inspector Steve Thornely. “As a result workers can face a continual and changing variety of hazards that require continual management.”
Thornely explains that more than 1,250 safety breaches on housing sites have been found over the past year, which he attributes to poor planning, housekeeping and supervision.