Construction hazards

A hazard is a situation that creates a threat to life, health, property, the environment,

personal integrity, and so on. Hazards differ from risks, in that risks describe the potential for a
situation such as a hazard to cause harm.

From a health and safety perspective, a hazard may be seen as a condition with the potential to

cause physical impairment or health consequences in people (or any other type of life). In
a project environment, a hazard is anything that may affect the success of project activities or
the project as a whole. Similarly, companies, ventures, physical assets,
the environment and society face hazards.

Most hazards are potential or latent but a hazardous situation becomes 'effective', it can cause an

incident, an accident or a even a disaster.

Some of the most common hazards in construction include:

 Working with heavy plant and machinery.

 Working with tools and equipment.
 Working with live electricity.
 Working at height.
 Lifting operations.
 Demolition.
 The presence of hazardous substances such as asbestos.
 Exposure to chemicals.
 Structural collapse and falling debris.
 Material and manual handling.
 Hand arm vibration syndrome.
 Loud noise.
 Slips, trips and falls.
 Working long and physically-demanding shifts.
 Working in confined spaces.
 Sharp objects.
 Hot work.
 Fire.
 Water.

Some common prevention techniques which can often adopted to reduce the risk of hazards include:

 Use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

 Regular waste disposal.
 Provision of modern tools and equipment.
 Staff and visitor training.
 Ties, chutes and netting to prevent falling debris.
 Signage warning of hazards.
 Proper assignation of operatives.
 Keeping sites secure.
 Zoning of activities.
  Emergency procedures.

NB AR5 Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Glossary, published by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines a hazard as: ‘The potential
occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend or physical impact that may
cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well
as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems,
and environmental resources. In this report, the term hazard usually refers to climate-related
physical events or trends or their physical impacts.’