| INDUSTRY
OVERVIEW |
|
The
Construction Industry is the second largest employer in Ireland.
Approximately 250,000 people are employed in the industry,
which accounts for 1/8 of the working population. |
| The
industry is multi-faceted, and encompasses disciplines such
as, architecture, engineering, mechanics, design, product
development, manufacture, quarrying, and of course, the building
trades. |
While
a great deal of planning, design and development goes into
every major construction project, the real work begins at
the construction stage. It is at the construction stage that
illness and injuries occur, and sometimes even deaths. |
Central
to the construction of any house, office block or highway
are the craft workers and labourers. These include bricklayers,
carpenters, plumbers, plasterers, electricians, painters,
laggers, riggers, glaziers, machine operators etc, etc. |
Construction
Workers Health Trust is primarily concerned with the welfare
of site workers, ie. the men and women who work principally
on building sites. These are the individuals who are exposed
to the risks of this very dangerous industry, and these are
the people who are often forced into early retirement through
illness. |
Of
the 250,000 or so people in construction, approximately half
are construction workers. The rest work in the myriad of service
companies, which supply the industry. |
Of
the 125,000 construction workers, roughly half are members
of the Construction Workers Pension Fund. The remainder, are
simply not participating, or perhaps self employed. |
| This
small group, about one quarter of the construction industry...the
building workers, is where CWHT gets its funding. Each worker
registered in the Pension Scheme pays a weekly levy of 1 Euro,
to support the work of the Trust. |
| It
is for this reason that CWHT concentrates its efforts on providing
health screening on site, and sponsoring research into conditions
affecting the health of this group. |
| So
what have we learned over the last 10 years or so? |
| Well
quite a lot actually. We have found through our own research,
and from studies conducted abroad, that manual workers die younger
than people in other more sedentary jobs, and that building
workers in particular, fall prey to conditions such as cancer
and heart disease, up to 20 years sooner that people in other
walks of life. |
| To
put it simply; blue collar workers don't live as long as white
collar workers. |
| So
why is that? Afterall, building workers earn good money, don't
they? |
| And
they lead physically active lives...don't they? |
| The
answer to both questions is YES. But this is not about earnings
or physical activity. |
| It's
about lifestyle. |
| Our
research has shown that the lifestyle of building workers is
far from ideal. |
| Let's
have a look at a few statistics: |
|
42%
of building workers smoke |
|
98%
drink alcohol |
|
88%
admit to binge drinking on a regular basis. (A binge
is 5 drinks or more in one sitting) and 10% admit to
10 or more binges per month. |
|
43%
say they suffer from stress. |
 |
41%
admit to leaving home without a breakfast most days |
|
