April 2019

CIB W099 – Safety and Health in Construction

New Joint Commission Coordinator
In April 2019 the CIB Programme Committee
appointed Dr. Fred Sherratt as new Joint Coordinatorof the Working Commission W099 – Safety and Healthin Construction. She will be the Joint Coordinator
together with Prof. Billy Hare. Michael Behm will beleaving the Commission as Coordinator after almost 8years.

Personal Statement
I have been a member of CIB W099 since 2008 when I
joined as a PhD student. Since then I have regularly
participated in W099 activities including conference
attendance, session chairing, commission meetings,and contributing to the development of the researchroadmap.

Contact details
Dr. Fred Sarah Sherratt MCIOB
C.BuildE MCABE AMICE FHEA
fred.sherratt@anglia.ac.uk

Short CVDr. Fred Sherratt began her career in construction
quite by chance through a temporary placement, andwas inspired to work her way up from site secretary toconstruction section manager in just over four years.
She was sponsored by her company to undertake apart time PhD in construction site safety, andeventually moved into academia full time.
She has continued to research construction health,safety and wellbeing and presented her work on aninternational stage, and undertaken collaborations withmany other institutions both nationally and globally.
She is an active member of the CIOB, and helped toestablish the Novus Centre in the North West and is
now a member of the Chelmsford Hub. She is course
leader for Construction Management BSc (Hons) at
Anglia Ruskin University, and through the combinationof her professional and academic practice she is proud
to say that she now helps to develop the industry
professionals of the future.

Throughout this time I have found W099 to be anexcellent network for the research of construction
safety and health, and it is an active, supportive andinclusive group that can boast an expert membership
all over the world. I would want to see that longcontinue, and would therefore be honoured to take on
the role of Joint Co-ordinator.
I have an industry background, and spent over 10years working on construction sites in the UK, latterly
as a construction manager/site superintendent. This
was at a time when over two people died a week on
UK construction sites, and although this statistic has
improved, it is still not good enough. Over the years I
was unfortunately able to witness first-hand theconsequences when construction health and safety
does not go right and I felt (and still feel) this just isn’t
acceptable. Inspired by those I worked alongside, and
who I wanted to keep safe, I began my part time PhD
in construction safety. This proved to be an interesting
journey, which resulted in a shift from ‘traditional’
research methodologies towards social sciencephilosophies, and my work is predominantly groundedin social constructionism and the role discourses playin our world, the findings of which have been publishedin my 2016 book Unpacking Construction Site Safety.
Taking on the role of Joint Coordinator for W099 will
enable me to continue in this passionate quest tochampion the worker within construction work (as they
are the ones who suffer poor health and wellbeing)and strive for continued and significant improvements
in health and safety within the global constructionindustry. I delivered a keynote address at theW099/TG59 conference in Cape Town 2017 asking‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – What are Academics
Really doing for People in Construction?’ where I
challenged colleagues to reflect on their research work
and who it was ultimately serving.

CIB Newsletter

Does our research actually help the workers? Or does
it support a culture in which blaming the worker for
their actions, poor training or lack of supervision areseen as acceptable ‘root causes’ for poor health andsafety, when in fact time and money and indeed wider
industry practices such as subcontracting and lowestcost tendering are also highly significant factors, andoutside of the control of the workers themselves?

Information
More information on CIB Commission W099 –Safety
and Health in Construction can be found here.

We need to refocus on what the workers have to say,rather than the managers, company directors (who areof course much easier to reach by email and willcomplete our questionnaires) and be brave enough topoint out what really matters and how it matters to theglobal construction industry. There is clearly potential
to link with other CIB Commissions to better explore
this at both industry and project levels, and this issomething I would look to develop in the future.
W099 has a significant role to play in the ongoing
improvement of construction worker health and safety
across the world, and particularly in countries whereworkers still suffer from poor working conditions andhealth and safety management. W099 has the network
to support such improvements, and a membershipable to produce rigorous and robust research able toprovide significant findings, insights and bring change
to both policy and practice.
I am keen to join Professor Billy Hare as joint
coordinator, and will bring my energy, enthusiasm andsupport to W099 to ensure its continued influence andimpact in the future.

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