Profile of Buildhealth
BuildHealth is a joint venture between the construction industry in Northern Ireland and HSENI. Its aim is to improve the health and safety of the workforce in the Northern Ireland Construction Industry.
BuildHealth is a major health initiative for the Construction Industry and was launched at a Construction Health Awareness Day on 28th March 2007. Spearheaded by leading construction companies and with support from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, employer organisations and the trade unions, the initiative aims to improve awareness of health issues in construction and of how these can be managed effectively.
The overall objective of the initiative is to improve the health of construction workers by preventing work related ill health, supporting and rehabilitating ill workers and using the workplace as a setting in which to improve Construction Industry Health and Safety.
Leading figures in the construction industry are fully supportive of BuildHealth. They recognise that all health issues in construction must be effectively managed and how in business the health of employees is of vital importance as it relates directly to the efficiency of the organisation. As a consequence they have signed a statement of commitment confirming their support for the initiative and recognising the need to display visible felt leadership.
With many thousands of workers in the Northern Ireland construction sector BuildHealth will help more construction businesses to get to grips with managing health issues through sharing knowledge and best practice, which will create and maintain a healthier workforce.
As people become increasingly aware of health, commitment from employers is essential, but so too is the involvement of workers themselves. This new initiative is unique in that it creates the opportunity to demonstrate the commitment to good health of all those employed in construction. A workforce that looks after its health will be more motivated and ultimately more productive.
