TITLE:
Workplace Risk Prevention in Public Building Projects in Mexico
AUTHORS:
Rómel G. Solís-Carcaño, José A. González-Fajardo, Enrique de J. Ayora-Sosa
KEYWORDS:
Prevention, Workplace Risks, Construction, Public Works, Supervision
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research,
Vol.2 No.4,
December
1,
2014
ABSTRACT: The importance of risk prevention in the workplace during the construction of public infrastructure projects is particularly relevant due to the large number of workers involved as well as the frequency and severity of the accidents. The aim of this work was to conduct an exploratory study of workplace risk prevention in the construction of public work projects in Mexico. The methodology was based on a case study which included an exploration of the attitudes assumed by the civil servants working for the government agency, regarding workplace risk prevention, and the observation of construction processes in a sampling of projects. The results show that the regulations are not fully adhered to during the stages of project planning and contracting for the work. During project designing, the inclusion of criteria regarding workplace risk prevention is relegated, and during public tendering, the experience of the contractor in risk prevention and workplace safety plans are not taken into account. Consequently, as one might expect from the above, during the construction processes, it was possible to observe that only about half of the prevention requirements applicable in the workplace were actually complied with.