Analysis of Occupational Diseases and Standard of OHP in the UK Construction Industry

The purpose of the paper is to identify characteristics of occupational health diseases and proffer guidance for improving standards of occupational health practices in the UK construction sector. The paper identified a gap in knowledge regarding deficiencies in the standard of occupational health practices when compared with occupational safety practices in the construction industry. The study adopted a pragmatic research paradigm that involves concurrent mixed research methods and a phenomenological research approach. The first phase of data collection includes concurrent surveys and interview methods. Second phase includes a detailed review of the UK government occupational health archive data and observation of organisations’ occupational health records. The data collection phases were chosen for a better understanding of the research variables. The study identified features such as hearing loss, MSDs, respiratory diseases, and psychosocial health problems as the main traits of occupational diseases in the construction industry. Other findings include leveraging technology/digitalisation, a shift to proactive and preventive work-related health risks management to enhance the standard of occupational health practices. The novelty of the paper stems from its unique contribution to a thorough understanding of occupational health diseases in the construction industry. The paper is the first to classify occupational diseases in the construction sector, against ISO 45001 and ILO frameworks, aimed at improving the standard of occupational health practices. The study provides robust guidance for improving standards of occupational health practices.