Managing safely in humanitarian projects

Abstract

The recent update to the UK Construction (Design and Management) Regulations has brought into focus the responsibility of all those involved in construction projects to construct safely. This paper uses experience of scoping, designing and constructing development projects in Costa Rica and Uganda to discuss the role of clients and designers in humanitarian projects in ensuring safety, and the methods that can be used to encourage safe working practices. Humanitarian projects are often constructed with local labour, but designed and specified elsewhere. Consideration at the early stage should be given to both the end user and those carrying out construction when selecting materials, method and structural forms. Although it is unreasonable to expect a change in a country’s attitude towards construction risk in a single project, a variety of methods can be employed to educate, train and incentivise local labour forces to improve awareness and their safety culture.