Threads Through Sheffield

If we allign (albiet theoretically) the Circus Industry with the Construction Industry, some interesting questions arise.

Firstly, looking at individual roles one could question who is the ‘Ringleader’ in the construction industry nowadays? was it ever the architect? the builder? the project manager or even the client? And secondly who takes the greatest risk? the acrobatic construction worker running up and down the scaffolding? the plate spinning project manager? the juggling project architect or the lion tamer client? The reality is that risk has become much more than the risk associated with death defying stunts, it has infiltrated it self across disciplines and takes many forms.

Circus is well used to dealing with all types of risk. Although, unlike the construction industry, it manages to make do with the high levels of health and safety regulations and still create profound moments of culture. If only the construction industry could take some lead from where Circus dares to venture, the resultant built environment may then hold some of the magical qualities Circus delivers.

The increasing poor record of construction related injuries points to the need for change:

“There were 77 fatal injuries to workers in construction in 2006/07, a 28% increase on the previous year. Of these 77 fatalities, 50 were employees and 27 were self-employed, compared to 43 and 17 in 2005/06.

23 deaths (30%) were due to falls from a height and 16 (21%) were due to being hit by a moving or falling object.

In 2006/07, 32% of all worker deaths were in the construction industry. The rate of fatal injury to workers in construction rose to 3.7 per hundred thousand workers, from 3.0 per hundred thousand workers in 2005/06.”

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.htm