Integration of Construction Worker Safety and Health in Assessment of Sustainable Construction

DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000651IntroductionThere are many definitions that have been used to describesustainability and the green building concept. To understand sus-tainable practices, a working definition is needed. In academic,social, political, and ecological circles, sustainable developmentis often defined by a quote from a UN-sponsored commissionUN-sponsored commission (World Commission on Environmentand Development 1987): “those paths of social economic andpolitical progress that meet the needs of the present without com-promising the ability of future generations to meet their ownneeds.” From a design, planning, and construction perspective,the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive defines greenbuilding as “the practice of 1) increasing the efficiency with whichbuildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and2)reducingbuildingimpactsonhumanhealthandtheenvironment,through site selection, design, construction, operation, mainte-nance, and removal–the complete building life cycle.”To construct a building, resources such as energy and raw ma-terials are consumed. However, during their occupancy, buildingsalso generatewaste andpotentiallyharmful atmosphericemissions.Under the banner of sustainability, designers and builders aretasked with the goal of creating facilities that are energy and waterefficient,accessible,secure,healthy,andproductivewhileminimiz-ing any adverse environmental impacts. Buildings that successfullymeet those objectives are often labeled high-performance build-ings. These buildings often go through third party validation ratingsystems to verify that the design and construction meet a certainminimallevelofaccomplishmentsbeyondtraditionaldesign.Theseevaluation measures often consist of requirements or prerequisitesand elective credits or points that may be incorporated into thedesign and construction process to reach certain minimum levelsof approval and higher levels of prestige. This begs the questionof whether a building that meets current standards of sustainability,but at some point during the process of its construction a workeris seriously or fatally injured, should be considered a high perfor-mance building. At a minimum, should the safety policies of theconstruction firms and the amount of safety training that is offeredto the workers over the course of construction be given somemerit in the evaluation process? The purpose of this paper is topronounce that the safety policies of the builder and the actualsafety performance during the construction of a green buildingshould be considered in the same manner as commissioning orinstallation guidelines.Sustainability is essentially a holistic approach that takes intoconsideration the impact of the built environment on the naturalenvironment. This approach calls for balancing the needs of thepresent versus the needs of the future. The overarching concernof sustainable development is the balancing of the resulting impactof current development projects with the protection of environmen-tal and social resources for future generations. The question inthis context is where the individual safety of the worker that buildsa project fits into this equation. Whereas considerations for aspectssuch as living wage and cultural rights have been discussed on aglobal political level, the consideration of worker well-being andlife has been largely excluded from current discourses within thesustainable built environment movement. This is a major short-coming that should be addressed, given that there should be noconflict between the goals of preserving all valued resources.Protecting the environment and human resources should not beviewed as being mutually exclusive objectives. “Workplace safetycannot be separated from the need to protect the environment”(Mogensen 2006). The challenge is how to implement sustainablepolicy and practices in a manner that generates win-win payoffs forco-optimizing growth, energy efficiency, environmental and con-sumer protection, and worker safety.Sustainability can be viewed as being a moral issue or even anethical obligation. The precautionary principle that is advancedfrom the environmental movement clearly obligates producers,such as builders and building material manufacturers, to maintainethicallyresponsiblepracticesbydemonstratingthattheirproducts,and the processes (e.g., the actual design and construction processof a given building) that are utilized to generate their products,do not pose a threat to human health and the environment beforeintroducing them into the workplace and broader community(Mogensen 2006). For example, the American Society of CivilEngineers has adopted in its Fundamental Canons of its code ofethics that “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, healthand welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the prin-ciples of sustainable development in the performance of their pro-fessional duties” (ASCE 2006). The International Confederation ofFree Trade Unions, which represents 148 million workers throughits 233 affiliated national trade unions in 152 countries, is activelyinvolved in integrating sustainable development concepts withthe protection of workers ’safety and health and workers overallwell-being (Mogensen 2006).Inclusion of Construction Safety and Health inSustainability DefinitionsThe realm of sustainability seems to concentrate on limitingimpacts to the environment, reducing energy, and incorporatingless harmful materials. This general theme is echoed in several