Importance of including construction worker safety and health in green building: An integrated approach

Karla Armenti, ScD, MS, COES, LLC., Consulting in Occupational and Environmental Sciences, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Master of Public Health Program, University of New Hampshire, 26 Harrod Lane, Bedford, NH 03110, 603-472-8721, armeka@comcast.net

Green Construction is a concept that is gaining in popularity and usage. Green buildings are intended to reduce energy usage, minimize indoor air quality problems, recycle water and waste, and provide a comfortable environment for its occupants.

In designing green buildings, architects and builders consider how the building interacts with the surrounding environment. It is assumed that by utilizing environmentally friendly materials that don’t create indoor air quality problems for building occupants, the buildings are safe for everyone. One aspect that is generally ignored, however, is the health and safety of the construction workers who build or renovate the structure.

This presentation will highlight examples of strategies that have addressed an environmental problem, but have created new acute health effects for workers. It will also present past and present work by professionals in the fields of both occupational and environmental health promoting the importance of considering risk to both workers and the environment simultaneously when implementing occupational or environmental interventions.

Bringing awareness to the issue of risk shifting and the importance of considering all risk associated with environmental interventions such as green building will offer the opportunity for new insight, techniques, and assessment tools that can be used in future building and community planning. It will help to expand the definition of green construction to include a more holistic approach that consciously includes worker health and safety concerns. This can also be an opportunity for the building trades to develop new expertise in a developing market.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will

be able to

1) Articulate the need for simultaneous consideration of occupational and
environmental hazards that prevent risk shifting.
2) Identify the key research projects that promote the integration of
occupational and environmental health.
3) Discuss additional opportunities to support current and future efforts that
applied to the green construction movement.

Keywords: Environment, Sustainability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Handout (.PPT format, 148.0 kb)

Built Environment Institute VII: Building Health Back into Community - Toward the Creation of a More Sustainable and Healthful, Less Toxic Built Environment, Part II

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA