Helsinki (13.09.2002 - Juhani Artto) Alarm bells are ringing in the construction industry, where the safety record has been deteriorating annually since 1996. Last year the accident rate increased by a further 6 per cent, as the number of accidents rose by 2 per cent, while the total number of working hours fell by 4 per cent.
More than 18,000 accidents were registered for compensation. The number of fatal accidents has also increased. Last year 13 construction workers died at work. In the 1990s the average was 11 fatalities in a year.
The risk of accident in construction is now three times higher than in other industries. Indeed these other industries are characterised by a general downward trend in the accident rate.
One important factor behind the gloomy figures for construction is the new way in which work is organised. "Projects nowadays are divided into small subprojects, with an increasing number of small enterprises exacerbating management problems on construction sites," says Sakari Seppänen, a safety expert at the Federation of Accident Insurance Institutions. "The traditional approaches to accident prevention no longer suffice," he stresses.
Seppänen says that occupational safety must be managed in the same way as other aspects of construction. No sustainable improvement is otherwise achievable.
Comprehensive reform needed
Veijo Huotari, a safety secretary at the Finnish Construction Workers Union, also blames the increased tempo at which workers are expected to perform. "Constant haste, coupled with the division of responsibility between small, separate units, have led to a situation in which safety aspects get too little attention," he complains.
Huotari thinks that a comprehensive reform of safety culture at construction sites is needed: "Both enterprise managers and site supervisors must make a commitment to safety in a different way than at present." "Responsibility must also be demanded of employees," he adds.
Reijo S. Lehtinen, a safety secretary at the Construction Enterprises Association, is especially concerned by the situation on the worksites of unaffiliated employers. He refers to statistics indicating a particularly bad record at such sites. "There is no single remedy that will improve the situation," Lehtinen says.
All parties agree that the present unfortunate trend must be reversed, and they are therefore working together to find ways of achieving this.
Source: Kari Rissa, "Rakennusalan tapaturmakehitys vaatii pikaista parannusta", ["Accident trend in the construction industry in urgent need of improvement"] Rakentaja 5 June 2002, [the magazine of the Finnish Construction Workers Union]