Health and safety (H&S) in housing
Loading...
Date
Authors
Smallwood, J.J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAHS
Abstract
Paper presented at the XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing, 27-30 September 2005,"Transforming Housing Environments through Design", University of Pretoria.
Inadequate or the lack of H&S negatively affects cost, environment, productivity, quality, and time. Conversely, optimum H&S is the catalyst for enhanced performance relative to the aforementioned, as a result of, inter alia, tidy sites, optimum access, and loss prevention. Accidents result in direct and indirect costs, the latter being up to twenty times that of the direct costs. Both the direct and indirect costs add to the cost of housing. The paper reports on a study conducted among members of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) in South Africa to primarily determine H&S related perceptions and needs. The paper concludes that there is a general need for assistance relative to H&S. The assistance required is primarily in the form of the development and implementation of an H&S programme, training of management, supervisors and workers, content and interpretation of H&S legislation, development of project H&S plans, and to a lesser extent, risk assessments. The paper recommends that the NHBRC should inter alia: develop a housing oriented H&S programme; develop housing oriented H&S guidelines; present H&S seminars and workshops; train NHBRC ‘inspectors’ in H&S; include the assessment of H&S in site inspections, and develop an H&S competition.
Inadequate or the lack of H&S negatively affects cost, environment, productivity, quality, and time. Conversely, optimum H&S is the catalyst for enhanced performance relative to the aforementioned, as a result of, inter alia, tidy sites, optimum access, and loss prevention. Accidents result in direct and indirect costs, the latter being up to twenty times that of the direct costs. Both the direct and indirect costs add to the cost of housing. The paper reports on a study conducted among members of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) in South Africa to primarily determine H&S related perceptions and needs. The paper concludes that there is a general need for assistance relative to H&S. The assistance required is primarily in the form of the development and implementation of an H&S programme, training of management, supervisors and workers, content and interpretation of H&S legislation, development of project H&S plans, and to a lesser extent, risk assessments. The paper recommends that the NHBRC should inter alia: develop a housing oriented H&S programme; develop housing oriented H&S guidelines; present H&S seminars and workshops; train NHBRC ‘inspectors’ in H&S; include the assessment of H&S in site inspections, and develop an H&S competition.
Description
Authors of papers in the proceedings and CD-ROM ceded copyright to the IAHS and UP. Authors furthermore declare that papers are their original work, not previously published and take responsibility for copyrighted excerpts from other works, included in their papers with due acknowledgment in the written manuscript. Furthermore, that papers describe genuine research or review work, contain no defamatory or unlawful statements and do not infringe the rights of others. The IAHS and UP may assign any or all of its rights and obligations under this agreement.
Keywords
Health and safety, Housing oriented H&S programme
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Smallwood, JJ 2005, 'Health and safety (H&S) in housing', paper presented at XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing 2005 - Transforming Housing Environments through Design (HUE), University of Pretoria.