Safety and health education for demolition and reconstruction

In the autumn semester of 2005, the Department of Building Construction Management at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, offered their first course in demolition and reconstruction management. This first college-level course, developed with input from the demolition industry, offered in the newly created demolition and reconstruction management area of concentration, mirrors many of the general requirements of a traditional construction management curriculum. These include coverage of construction science, planning, regulation, estimating, safety, project management and business management as they apply to projects that do not begin with a vacant site and a blank sheet of paper. During course development it became apparent that demolition and reconstruction activities present specialised safety considerations due to the high risk of accidents, injury and the potentially deleterious health effects presented by these activities. As contractors participate with increasing frequency in projects that involve existing built environments, there is a growing need for expansion of the safety training provided. This paper examines areas of demolition and reconstruction-related safety that are frequently overlooked in construction management safety and health training.