NIOSH launches webpage on green construction

Washington – NIOSH has created a webpage to offer information about “green construction.”

The agency’s Construction and Prevention through Design programs are working to advance building design and construction that take into account safety hazards in all phases, from pre-design to construction to demolition.

Green construction is the notion of building through environmentally friendly means, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Prevention through Design aims to protect workers by limiting risks and reducing hazards as soon as possible in the building process – specifically in the design phase. NIOSH states that green construction is crucial to worker safety for the following reasons:

• Most construction companies (71 percent) used at least one green technology or practice in 2011, and most worked to be more energy-efficient or decrease production of waste.
• Most of the rating systems for “building environmental, energy and/or sustainable quality” address some issues regarding worker health, but they do not always take safety into account
• None of those rating systems refer to worker safety in construction, operation or maintenance.