Design for Health
HCLG aims to provide freely available guidance to designers and decision makers on when and how to intervene, to improve health outcomes for those involved in the development and management of built assets.
Liz Bennett of Safety in Design is a member of the HCLG Leadership
Group and is leading on this work overall. A number of subgroups
have been set up to take forward some specific initiatives.
The work is being carried out collaboratively,
with professional experts leading each of the projects, and
considering the the CDM 2015 regulations and key roles of the
Client, Principal Designer (PD) and Principal Contractor (PC).
The HCLG will focus on the key areas of promoting good mental health, the prevention of respiratory disease and the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders
Our priorities
Fact:
Every year, the construction sector loses 1.2 million working days due to work-related ill health, caused by illnesses such as musculoskeletal disorders; stress, anxiety and depression; and skin or respiratory conditions.
Research report on SKATE - Skills, Knowledge, Attitude, Training, Experience in ‘Designing for Occupational Health of Construction Workers’
This research was funded by B&CE’s Charitable Trust and supported by the Design for Health Task Group.
While construction workers’ health has long been neglected at the expense of safety, it is now an important focus of the industry. Aligned to this, there is a growing recognition that design decisions have a major influence on the occurrence of health hazards in construction (e.g. noise, dust) that can lead to work-related or work- exacerbated conditions such as hearing loss and respiratory illnesses.
This report describes limiting factors in designing for occupational safety and health (i.e. mainly ‘safety’ and the requirements of CDM) and secondly, focuses on opportunities for designing specifically for the occupational health of construction workers.