BUILDING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
Alot can happen in a day on a construction site. A residential or commercial project, it's a great thing to be a part of, whatever trade you're in. In a way it's like being a part of history. Building changes radically the visual landscape of any city. This may sound dramatic, but in fact when you think about it, it's because buildings tend to outlast people. Construction is about leaving an imprint, a legacy for the current and future generations.
BUILDING AND PEOPLE
In the building phase, skilled trades get together to make the dream work. Generally there are more positive things happening and to take away from the experience on-site. However it's important not to neglect the bad experiences and address them when they do occur.
HEALTHÂ AND SAFETY
On a construction site making sure all workers are safe is constantly a priority. Efforts by training crews focus on prevention and minimizing risks that can cause bodily harm. A project site is a high-risk environment where heavy machinery and humans mix. The occurrence of death can lead to criminal charges, the count of physical injuries should stay at a minimum. As the seasons change, so do the challenges. For instance summer and winter bring different working conditions. Dehydration and accidents are more common during the warm season. While in winter it's keeping warm and schedule delays due to extreme weather conditions.
GENDER IN CONSTRUCTION
While physical injuries is a top concern, there's also emotional well-being. Construction is a male-dominated industry whether on-site or in corporate offices. There's a huge gap between both genders. The important thing here is to be aware of this to make room for both men and women, people from different cultural backgrounds, age groups and communities.
In construction there are support programs in place for employees. In some situations, there are workers who do not experience any level of dispute or find coping works best.
But for others it is quite the opposite.
Take for instance people who are biased, who entertain the idea that a person can be superior or inferior to anyone else. When they're hired to work on a project they'll continually treat people differently. When this happens there will be disputes between employees working in the same team, targeted remarks and unhealthy work relationships. When placed in a managerial position they have unreasonably high expectations, give little recognition and workers are relegated to perform random tasks. All of this results in employees having to deal with behavioral issues they're not equipped to handle and employee turnover.
This is alarming and often times, management or human resources will get involved to act as a mediator or third party. But even if they're available at the time of the incident, somehow they fail to be objective and tend to lean in favor of whoever is placed higher in the company hierarchy.
CONSTRUCTION LAW
Construction law is that set of statutes, regulations and common law principles that affect the construction and infrastructure industry. Project owners, the government, contractors and subcontractors and labourers. Depending on where you live, court judgements can be made public.
In Quebec, salary dispute records are not made public. In the instance an employee takes legal action to claim unpaid salaries, the case, even in a win situation remains undisclosed. However other cases such as illegal practice, harassment and defamation are fully made public. They're also the ones that seem very hard to prove in court. This leads people to believe that the law tends to lean in favor of employers rather than being fair and just.
Organizations who regulate the construction field are there to support workers and employers. Providing safe environments for employees is priceless and it is actually the best method of prevention. It's to be ready to tackle disputes head-on and more efficiently instead of brushing them off, wishing them away or ignoring them. People will always come first, because they're the ones that build.
Creating spaces, whatever shape or form it may take, where workers can solve problems before they escalade into something worse. Allowing employees to hold space, to foster relational well-being while building a dream.
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