Work at Height- Safe Work Practices for Preventing Construction Falls

construction industry has a disproportionately large number of injuries and fatalities in comparison to other industrial sectors. The Qatar Construction Specification specify the standards that need to be followed in order to reduce the number of work site injuries and fatalities occurring as a result of falls from scaffolds, ladders, leading edges, floor openings, roof openings, sky-lights and excavations as well as structural erections- concrete and steel. The fact that in spite of such rules and regulations being in place, there are unusually high number of injuries, indicates that there is still a need to study and improvise the solutions to prevent such falls on a construction site. The more important fact is that most falls are preventable if proper safety precautions are taken and fall prevention techniques implemented. Most construction companies now have specific safety initiatives, injury-free work-place programs in place, but the threat of falls and accidents still continues to be a concern to the construction industry. This study will attempt to study methods to improve fall prevention on construction sites and shall also attempt to examine the opportunities and impacts of designing work at height during the design phase of projects and of addressing the requirements of the falls prevention for a project during the procurement process.