Rank: Forum user 
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Would like to hear the views and opinions of others on how they identify the most significant health and safety hazards on construction sites.?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Good question John
I would suggest a good starting place is read HSG 150 Health and Safety in Construction
It gives you a good base of what to look for. But remember it is not just the phsical side of things to look at. Remember to look at site Construction Phase Plan, Temporary Works Design, RAMS, Lifting Plans, the list can be endless.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Also the following HSE statistics can give you a general overview:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction/construction.pdf?pdf=construction
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Rank: Super forum user
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The thing to remember is you dont know what you dont know - we had a recent incident when a 10mm plate "fell" through a 14mm gap in a deck plate. Give you a million chances and you couldnt recreate the incident - but that plate fell 15 metres to ground and was a fatality on the DROPs scale.
Experience as well as knowledge - gut feelings and past experience - but you will never catch everything Im afraid. Especially when the human hand is involved
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Rank: Super forum user 
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From personal experiance i would say Working/Falling from height has to be the most major cause of construction deaths in the UK. Another cause for concern in my experiance is issues with Foriegn workers, either not listening to H&S advice or just doing as they please, I've actually thrown someone off site before for standing on the bars of a peco lift, in an attempt to get extra height, only hours after being shown how to use them properly.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Identifying the safety hazards is largely a matter of careful observation. The health hazards however need rather more knowledge of the way the work is done and the environment. Hazards such as vibration, noise, hazardous substances, bullying, solar radiation, silica dust, asbestos etc will only be recognised by those experienced and knowledgable in construction works health risks.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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John, it's a big question and I doubt there is anyone who will provide the same answer but here goes...
Traditionally high level documents at the conception, design and pre-construction stage should identify, elminate or provide controls for foreseeable risks associated with the project. Followed by breaking them down into managable packages via RAMS. A construction site is dynamic and therefore there will be many risks/hazards which need to be managed on a dialy basis through good site management. For example, ordering the wrong type of plant or equipment can import a risk hitherto not anticipated. This is where you are reliant on those at the sharp end to identify these types of issues through good supervison and operatives who are empowered to stop work until the right equipment has been provided.
So managing construction hazards involves planning, site management, training, instruction and supervision by competent individuals.
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 1 user thanked RayRapp for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Many thanks all, I'm sure we all do it every day often without even realising it but putting it into words can prove a little difficult.
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