Protest and survive, the U.K. Construction Safety Campaign: a case study of workers' and victims' family action and legal and regulatory inaction on construction health and safety

Our plain-English summary of Protest and survive, the U.K. Construction Safety Campaign: a case study of workers' and victims' family action and legal and regulatory inaction on construction health and safety, by M. Holder, T. O'Brien (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2007).

The study

• Authors: M. Holder, T. O'Brien
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2007;13(1):27-31
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The U.K. Construction Safety Campaign, based on grass-roots rank-and-file trade union activity, has both a domestic agenda and a wider sphere with regard to international developments. Using organized protests and media exposure to achieve its ends, the Campaign has contributed substantially to reducing injuries and fatalities in the U.K. construction industry, as well as achieving some justice for victims of the industry's neglect of safe management practices.

In plain English

The authors presented this article as the story of the U.K. Construction Safety Campaign, a grass-roots trade union campaign, based on the recollections and analysis of two of the people who started it, both of whom worked in construction. The authors described how the campaign began after 162 construction workers died in separate incidents in the United Kingdom in 1988. It used protests at fatal-incident sites, inquests and courts, together with media coverage, to press for tougher enforcement and penalties. Asbestos was one hazard on its agenda. The authors wrote that the campaign called for a ban on all forms of asbestos, and that the government accepted that 150,000 would die from asbestos exposure by 2025, most of them construction workers. The authors reported that yearly construction fatalities fell from 160 at the start of the campaign to around 70 at the beginning of 2000, and that a U.K. ban on new asbestos use came in 1999. They stated that the campaign's precise effect is difficult to estimate, and concluded that the campaign has to continue.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative account of an advocacy campaign (called a case study in the title), based on the recollections and analysis of two of its founders; it presents no epidemiological or medical data
• Who was studied: The U.K. Construction Safety Campaign (CSC), a rank-and-file trade union campaign in the U.K. construction industry, active for almost 20 years up to 2007
• Exposure: Construction industry hazards in general: fatal incidents, accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous substances, including asbestos. No fiber types or doses are given.
• Main results:
  • In 1988, 162 construction workers in the United Kingdom died in separate incidents, the year the campaign's founders began organizing
  • Yearly construction fatality figures were around 70 at the beginning of 2000, compared with 160 deaths a year when the campaign began
  • The authors reported that the U.K. government accepted that 150,000 would die from asbestos exposure by 2025, most of them construction workers
  • The authors attributed the U.K. ban on new asbestos use in 1999 to the global campaign
  • The campaign obtained its first unlawful-killing inquest verdict, in the St. John's Bridge disaster in South London
  • When the campaign began, fines for a worker's death were commonly less than £1,000 and no employer had been jailed; by the time of writing, a handful of employers had gone to jail for construction workers' deaths
• The authors' conclusion: The authors listed goals not yet achieved (all fatalities not stopped, no manslaughter laws yet, continued deregulation, insufficient enforcement) and concluded that the campaign has to continue
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the precise effect of the campaign on construction sites is difficult to estimate

Related studies

• A cohort mortality study of construction workers — J. Sun, E. Shibata, et al. (1997)
• Mortality among North Carolina construction workers, 1988-1994 — E. Wang, J.M. Dement, et al. (1999)
• Job tasks, potential exposures, and health risks of laborers employed in the construction industry — G. Burkhart, P.A. Schulte, et al. (1993)
• The extent and influence of Asbestos Safety Awareness training among managers who had previously commissioned an asbestos survey in their workplace buildings — J. Hickey, J. Saunders, et al. (2015)
• The export of hazardous industries in 2015 — B. Castleman (2016)
• Late industrial development and occupational health in southern Italy — G. Assennato, L. Bisceglia, et al. (2005)

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