Construction Safety Week

MANY ROLES – ONE VISION – WORKING SAFELY TOGETHER

The management and awareness of safety and health issues has progressed enormously in the construction sector in the past 18 years. Employers and workers have invested time and money to drive improvements, endeavoring to ensure all workers can work safely on construction projects in Ireland.

As an example of this commitment, up to 107,481 workers completed the SOLAS Safe Pass Programme in 2018 alone –  no other industry sector in Ireland can compare with this level of focus.

10,600 extra workers joined the construction workforce in 2018, up 8% year on year and bringing the total workforce to 145,500. This was on the basis of €26 billion investment in building and construction in Ireland during 2018, up 20% year on year. With investment in the industry expected to reach €41 billion in 2023, we will see more workers enter the construction industry, some of which will be inexperienced in construction.

This will bring about challenges in terms of skills and competence (i.e. knowledge, experience and training) and in terms of supervision. Experienced construction workers have a responsibility to mentor new entrants or those returning to the sector, particularly in terms of ensuring their safety and well-being.

Construction Safety Week is an opportunity to reflect on aspects of safety, health and overall well being and to promote its importance throughout the workforce. It is recommended to review past activities and to learn from successes, failures and near misses. By sharing experiences, we may eliminate avoidable accidents, enhance worker morale and increase productivity.

Focus Areas for Construction Safety Week 2019

The CIF Safety and Health Sub Committee to the Executive Body identified five key topics, which are recommended to focus on during Construction Safety Week 2019; these are:

  1. Mental Health and Wellbeing in Construction
  2. Working Safely with Electricity
  3. Working Safely at Height
  4. Vehicle Risk & Safety in Lifting Operations
  5. Working Safely with Hazardous Substances

Construction Safety Week 2019 – Mission

Our collective mission for Construction Safety Week 2019 is to partner together to;

  • Eliminate accidents and incidents on construction sites in Ireland.
  • Promote a healthy culture of sharing lessons learned and best practice case studies in safety, health and wellbeing.
  • Reflect on the positive initiatives taken and celebrate achievements in good safety performance, whilst appreciating the potential consequences of failing to act responsibly in terms of safety and health.
  • Continue to work with colleagues and others to strengthen the construction industry’s safety and wellbeing culture.

Get Involved

CIF is calling on construction companies of all sizes and workers to get involved in Construction Safety Week in 2019.

What can you do? – here are some ideas:

  • Organise a safety event during this week – e.g. a safety talk , invite one of your suppliers in ( ladders / MEWPs / PPE etc.) to give a talk on safety and their product – anything that will highlight safety and health during this week. There is a theme to each day – why not pick a topic associated with the theme of the day.
  • Tell us about it ! – tell us what you intend to do and we will publicise it in the “Safety Week Activities” section of our website and on social media. Also use #CIFSafety19 when posting on social media and we will share on CIF pages.
  • Again this year, we also have a specific ‘Partner Logo’ which you will receive when registering as an official partner to Construction Safety week, contact mcourtney@cif.ie to become a partner.
  • Send us your logo (using form on the right) so we can include it on the partner section of this website.
  • Visit resource page to download posters and other materials.
Upload Your Logo:

About Safety Week

Construction Safety Week is an initiative of the Construction Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (CSPAC). This is a grouping of all the main stakeholders in the construction sector in Ireland – Employers, Unions, State Bodies ( in conjunction with the Health & Safety Authority ) and Professional Bodies.

Our collective objective is to continue to highlight the issues of health and safety in the Irish construction industry and to drive continual improvement.

Good health and safety depend on co-operation between all parties on a project – from client to designers and contractors – everyone’s safety depends on their co-workers or the person working beside you or above you.

The mission for this week is to re-focus on health and safety and it’s a call to action for companies of all sizes to run a safety event this week.

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ACTIVITIES
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