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Films and Film clips

Health and Safety in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is considered a high-risk industry, although in the UK there has been a marked reduction in the number of fatalities over the last 20 years. Find out more about this in the video below.
Veiarbeid
Image: Espen Bratlie / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Listen and take notes

Watch the following video to find out more about the number of workers fatally injured on construction sites and the causes of the accidents. Then copy the table and fill in the information

Deaths and Injuries in the Construction Industry in the UK

Numbers

Deaths caused by injuries in the last 25 years

Persons suffering from long term health effects

Average deaths per year

Fall from a height

Struck by an object

Run over

Structure collapse

Electrocuted

A number of ways. Give examples

You may have to watch the video a few times. When you have collected all the statistics, do the tasks below.

Tasks

Statistics

Make a pie chart of the statistics you have collected from the video, illustrating the percentage of fatalities for each type of accident in the construction industry.

Vocabulary

  1. The following words and phrases are used in the video. In pairs, explain in English what they mean.

    • construction site
    • long term health effects
    • on average
    • structure collapse
    • electrocution
    • responsibility
    • working space
    • induction process
    • site specific induction
    • site building manager
    • emergency procedure
    • appropriate
    • sticker
    • key personnel
  2. Make a task using these words and phrases from the video and give it to another pair to solve.

  3. Group game.

    Vocabulary Game

    Divide the class into two groups.
    Divide the phrases above between the groups.
    Each group makes one sentence about construction for each of their phrases. Teacher checks and corrects the sentences.
    Group 1 sits on one side of the table and Group 2 on the other.
    Group 1 reads out one of their sentences and Group 2 translates it into Norwegian. If the translation is judged correct by the teacher Group 2 wins a hostage from Group 1.
    Group 2 presents one of their sentences and Group 1 tries to translate it. If the translation is correct they win their hostage back again.
    At the end the group with most hostages wins.

Discuss

  1. What do you think of the way in which safety is presented here? Is it amusing? Do you think this is an effective way of making workers aware of dangers in the workplace? Why / why not?
  2. Why do you think the construction industry is a high risk industry with a large number of fatalities per year?

Safety Presentation

How would you present health and safety to a new student in the workshop at school? Make a short video, roleplay or other type of presentation.

Board Game

Make a board game based on the video. Some suggestions for moves:

You are hit by ......, move back
You have succeeded in ....., move forward .... spaces
You have to wait for a ......... to pass, miss a turn
You are injured after a fall and have to stay in hospital, miss 3 turns