scholarly journals CHILD RIGHTS AT CONSTRUCTION SITES IN INDIA: A CRITIQUE

Author(s):  
Dr Vikrant Sopan Yadav

In the words of Mr. V Sashikumar, general secretary of the Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI), there are 6 crore construction workers in India. Only 3.5 crore of them are registered with Welfare Boards. All these unregistered and even many of those who are registered, do not get benefit of all welfare schemes. Majority of construction workers and their families are languishing in poverty with no or very limited access to basic necessities like nutritious food, healthcare facility, potable water etc. This has adverse impact on the growth and development of children of construction workers. Often it results in blatant violation of human rights of children. Recent on foot migration of thousands of workers alongwith their children (on account of hasty and sudden lockdown) to their hometown due to lack of food and money is an example of how their rights are neglected. This research paper is an attempt to critically analyse the law in India on prevention of child labour and offering welfare measures to the construction workers and their children’s. It also contains an analysis of judicial trend on rights of children’s in construction industry. Author has also suggested many reforms in current legal and administrative framework for improved protection of rights of children’s of construction workers. KEY WORDS: Construction, Workers, Children, Rights, Welfare

Author(s):  
Federico Ricci ◽  
Giulia Bravo ◽  
Alberto Modenese ◽  
Fabrizio De Pasquale ◽  
Davide Ferrari ◽  
...  

We developed a visual tool to assess risk perception for a sample of male construction workers (forty Italian and twenty-eight immigrant workers), just before and after a sixteen-hour training course. The questionnaire included photographs of real construction sites, and workers were instructed to select pictograms representing the occupational risks present in each photograph. Points were awarded for correctly identifying any risks that were present, and points were deducted for failing to identify risks that were present or identifying risks that were not present. We found: (1) Before the course, risk perception was significantly lower in immigrants compared to Italians ( p < .001); (2) risk perception improved significantly ( p < .001) among all workers tested; and (3) after the training, the difference in risk perception between Italians and immigrants was no longer statistically significant ( p = .1086). Although the sample size was relatively small, the results suggest that the training is effective and may reduce the degree to which cultural and linguistic barriers hinder risk perception. Moreover, the use of images and pictograms instead of words to evaluate risk perception could also be applied to nonconstruction workplaces.


Author(s):  
SungHun Kim ◽  
Changwon Wang ◽  
Se Dong Min ◽  
Seung-Hyun Lee

In the Korean construction industry, legal and institutional safety management improvements are continually being pursued. However, there was a 4.5% increase in the number of workers’ deaths at construction sites in 2017 compared to the previous year. Failure to wear safety helmets seems to be one of the major causes of the increase in accidents, and so it is necessary to develop technology to monitor whether or not safety helmets are being used. However, the approaches employed in existing technical studies on this issue have mainly involved the use of chinstrap sensors and have been limited to the problem of whether or not safety helmets are being worn. Meanwhile, improper wearing, such as when the chinstrap and harness fixing of the safety helmet are not properly tightened, has not been monitored. To remedy this shortcoming, a sensing safety helmet with a three-axis accelerometer sensor attached was developed in this study. Experiments were performed in which the sensing data were classified whether the safety helmet was being worn properly, not worn, or worn improperly during construction workers’ activities. The results verified that it is possible to differentiate among wearing status of the proposed safety helmet with a high accuracy of 97.0%


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro del Águila

Argentine enterprises subsume Paraguayan migrant workers into the construction industry in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, subordinating them to the demands of production by temporarily housing them on the construction sites themselves. Ethnographic fieldwork carried out on various construction sites between 2006 and 2015 shows how this practice overlaps with wider processes of global transformation in labor relations. The lodging of workers on construction sites is an increasingly widespread strategy for capitalist entrepreneurs to exploit the migrant workforce even further. Las empresas argentinas han incorporado a los trabajadores migrantes paraguayos a la industria de la construcción en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires y los han subordinado a las exigencias de la producción, alojándolos temporalmente en las obras mismas. Un trabajo de campo etnográfico realizado en varias obras entre 2006 y 2015 muestra cómo dicha práctica se entrelaza con procesos más amplios en la transformación de las relaciones laborales a nivel global. El alojamiento de los trabajadores en las obras es una estrategia cada vez más extendida para que los empresarios capitalistas puedan explotar la mano de obra migrante aún más de lo que ya hacen.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romuald A. Rwamamara ◽  
Ove Lagerqvist ◽  
Thomas Olofsson ◽  
Bo M. Johansson ◽  
Kazys Algirdas Kaminskas

Many construction work tasks are physically very strenuous and the incidence of work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among construction workers is considerably higher than those in most other occupations. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to contribute to understanding a healthy construction site brought about by the best practices implemented by large construction sites to prevent WMSDs. A triangulation method made of interviews, site observations and studies on company's documents was used to identify the best practices in 13 several construction projects. A range of the best practices both in the pre‐construction and construction phases of the projects were identified in six different areas of the balance of the construction workplace system; however, there seems to be a significant need for good practices in the management of a systematic work environment. It is now established that Swedish construction industry has several best practices to protect work‐related musculoskeletal health. However, inadequate worker participation and the neglect of health and safety issues by designers in the planning process as well as the implications of some remuneration methods on the production schedule were perceived as detrimental to the musculoskeletal health of construction workers. Santrauka Daug statybos darbu yra fiziškai labai itempti, o su darbu susijusiu raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu dažnis tarp statybininku yra kur kas aukštesnis negu tarp daugelio kitu profesiju. Šio tyrimo tikslas – pletoti supratima apie sveikatos būkle ir jos svarba dirbant statybu aikštelese, igyvendinant didelius statybos objektus, siekiant išvengti su darbu susijusiu raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu. Tyrimams buvo taikytas interviu, pagristas trianguliacijos metodu, darbo procesu stebejimo statybos aikštelese metodas, buvo nagrineti statybos kompaniju dokumentai, siekiant identifikuoti 13 skirtingu statybos projektu. Geriausia praktika, prieš pradedant statybas ir jau statant, buvo nustatyta šešiuose skirtinguose statybu regionuose, tačiau tokia praktika yra svarbi darbo aplinkos vadyboje. Pripažinta, kad Švedijos statybos pramoneje taikomi keli būdai, kaip apsaugoti statybininkus nuo raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu. Vis delto mažas darbininku domejimasis šia problema, sveikatos bei saugos problemu nepaisymas planavimo procese, kai kuriu atsilyginimo būdu itraukimas i gamybos veiksniu saraša buvo vertinti kaip faktoriai, žalingai veikiantys statybininku raumenu ir skeleto sistema.


Author(s):  
Xiangcheng Meng ◽  
Huaiyuan Zhai ◽  
Alan H. S. Chan

China’s construction industry has experienced a long period of development and reform but compared to developed countries, safety on construction sites in China continues to present serious problems. Safety consciousness and safety citizenship behaviour are influential factors related to safety issues in the construction industry and may play a direct role in improving the safety of personnel on construction sites. However, recently no research has been focused on the relationship between safety consciousness and safety citizenship behaviour. Therefore, this paper aimed to investigate the relationship between safety consciousness and safety citizenship behaviour for personnel working on construction sites in China by using a questionnaire survey and statistical analysis, so that correlation between safety consciousness and safety citizenship can be demonstrated and effective measures suggested to improve the safety of construction workers in China, and perhaps in other countries as well.


Author(s):  
Charles I. Arum ◽  
Temidayo O. Osunsanmi ◽  
Clinton O. Aigbavboa

The construction industry is known for the high number of accidents occurring within the industry. This is due to the hazardous working processes which have led to severe injuries, disabilities and fatalities. Towards reducing this hazards numerous health and safety regulations have been provided by construction firms in Nigeria. Despite the provision of the regulations hazards and accidents is still experienced on construction sites. Thus, this study appraised the challenges of ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations by construction workers in the Nigeria construction industry. Data were obtained from safety personnel and construction professionals using questionnaires through a convenience sampling method. One hundred and thirty-eight were used for the analysis out of one hundred and sixty-eight that was distributed to the respondents. The questionnaire was analysed using SPSS V 24 adopting Factor analysis and mean item score. The findings clearly show that construction workers compliance to health and safety requirements is below average while the factor analysis shows inadequate safety equipment, low awareness to occupational health and poor compliance to health and safety requirements are the major challenges hindering the compliance rate. The study recommends that implementation of the use of innovative measures and hi-tech devices such as radio frequency identification for effective monitoring of construction workers. It also recommends the involvement of construction workers when making the health and safety policies. This study contributes towards improving the occupational safety experienced on construction sites within the country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 03003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismaila Oladunni Muhammed ◽  
Adegbenga Raphael Ashiru

Construction industry has been attributed to be the growth of Nigerian economic and infrastructural development. Annual reports show that consistent accidents on construction sites in Zamfara State has affected substantial number of workers as they become temporarily or permanently disabled, thereby making many construction sites a death trap. It is as a result of high construction site accident currently experiencing in Zamfara state that this research was carried out to appraise the sustainability of health and safety of construction workers on sites. Subsequently, SPSS Version 20 was used to analyse descriptive statistical analysis. Furthermore, the findings highlighted that the performance and output of construction workers on construction sites depends on proper practice of health and safety. The research findings also recommended ways to enhance employers and employee’s compliance to existing laws guiding health and safety on Zamfara State construction sites.


Author(s):  
Dieter Schlagbauer ◽  
Detlef Heck

The performance of tasks with high physical loads corresponds very strongly with the necessity for breaks, which should be taken depending on the workload. The actual situation on construction sites is totally different, since breaks were traditionally arranged and almost unchanged over the last decades, with no connection to the workload. This claim was substantiated by a recent survey of supervisors (N = 64) and construction workers (N = 177). The results showed that the majority of respondents would not change the current break arrangement, particularly supervisors, who did not see the importance of an evaluated break distribution. However, a need for change is seen in statements of the construction workers’ unions to reduce stress additionally caused by high temperatures. The suggested new approach for customized breaks in connection to physical loads in this study leads to the following: The overall working time should be split into three almost comparable shares, with a duration of 2.5 to 3.5 hours, to reach a total of 9 to 10 working hours. But even if these breaks are changed in the way we suggest, the authors would recommend additional breaks if the construction workers have to perform very strenuous work, or if climate conditions increase the strain.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Hun Kim ◽  
Changwon Wang ◽  
Se Dong Min ◽  
Seung Hyun Lee

In the Korean construction industry, legal and institutional safety management improvements are continually being pursued. However, there was a 4.5% increase in the number of workers’ deaths at construction sites in 2017 compared to the previous year. Failure to wear safety helmets seems to be one of the major causes of the increase in accidents, and so it is necessary to develop technology to monitor whether or not safety helmets are being used. However, the approaches employed in existing technical studies on this issue have mainly involved the use of chinstrap sensors and have been limited to the problem of whether or not safety helmets are being worn. Meanwhile, improper wearing, such as when the chinstrap and harness fixing of the safety helmet are not properly tightened, has not been monitored. To remedy this shortcoming, a sensing safety helmet with a three-axis accelerometer sensor attached was developed in this study. Experiments were performed in which the sensing data were classified whether the safety helmet was being worn properly, not worn, or worn improperly during construction workers’ activities. The results verified that it is possible to differentiate among wearing status of the proposed safety helmet with a high accuracy of 97.0%.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Emma Maano Nghitanwa ◽  
Lindiwe I Zungu

The purpose of this study is to discuss the awareness on the provision of occupational health and safety (OHS) among construction workers in the construction industry of Windhoek, Namibia. A quantitative, descriptive, cross sectional design was applied. Interviewer- led questionnaires were used to collect the data among 549 participants. The study results showed that most construction workers express poor awareness on construction industry OHS provision. The interventions such as OHS training enforcement is needed in order to increase construction workers OHS awareness through training. The employees need to establish OHS programs on the construction sites which include the development of the OHS policies which shows organisation commitment towards occupational health and safety of its workers.


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