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He Goes On To Explain: ‘this Rising Trend Levels Off At A Lower Level From ...

He goes on to explain: ‘This rising trend levels off at a lower level from 1966-70 before curving upwards from 1970-3. After that average hours worked per week in construction show a downward tendency to 1977, falling to 45.9 hours in 1976. In the following decade hours rose slowly every year, with the exception of 1983, from 1978 to 1988, before rising much more sharply in 1988-91Sutherland E. (2007)'.
Although there is some distribution which may be observed in the data, a holistic analysis suggests that the construction industry has been growing exponentially since the 1930s in the UK. The importance of ensuring standards of safety are therefore all the more significant.
With the modern day trends towards globilisation, and a more mobile and multi-cultural workforce (Mountjoy, A.B. (1975) 10) (Morris, P.W.G. and Hough, G.H. (1987) 1-6) (Niblock, T. (2001) 1-2) (Roberts, I. and Springer, B. (2001) Ch. 2-3) the safety regulations which have traditionally been in place to protect the interests of workers have become less adequate to deal with the complex situations, expectations and needs of the modern day workforce (Smith, N. Merna, T. and, Jobling, P. (2006) Ch.1).
Problems with communication structures have been manifested because of the language barrier which often can exist between worker, and stakeholder and indeed between worker and the very projection of a basic message about safety (Abdulrahman, H. And Alidrisyi, M.N. (1994) 1-3). The difficulties facing workers in terms of health and safety are not new. They have been part of the historical development of the construction industry (Bosch, G. & Philips, P. (2002) 1-2) (Buse. K., Fustukian, S. and Lee, K. (2002) 1-6).
It has been argued that throughout the years as processes of operations management (Gilbertson, A. (2004) 1) (Harris, F.C. and McCaffer, R. (1989) 1-4) and the organisation of economics and businesses becomes more sophisticated, and complex (Antill, J.M. and Woodhead, R.W. (1990) 1-5) (Arogyaswamy, B. and Simmons, R. (1993) Ch. 1) (Ashburner, L. Ferlie, E., Fitzgerald, L. and Pettigrew, A. (1996) 1-4), the environment which exposes workers to dangerous working conditions is ever expanding.
Traditionally, the materials needed to complete a construction project were located locally, or could have been brought to the location of the construction project quite cheaply and easily. In the more modern corporate age, this approach has been eschewed. Modern operations management demands that materials are sourced as cost effectively as possible and this can often include the engagement of many different actors, to provide, supply and make materials; to ensure that the compatibility of these materials meet the clients specifications and to ensure that the process runs smoothly.


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