“I work with partners and stakeholders to co-develop insights which lead to new tools which protect and save the lives of construction workers.”
Patrick Manu, Professor of Innovative Construction and Project Management
I am interested in all things construction but my main area of research is safety and health within construction. I am passionate about looking at all the issues and factors that affect the occupational safety and health of workers in this global industry.
It’s fair to say that the construction industry as a whole has a bad reputation when it comes to the safety and health of workers. Compared to other industrial sectors, construction is more dangerous to work in. Also, there is a knock-on effect on the economy. An accident happens, a contractor may close or face prosecution. There’s the impact on the healthcare system too. In the UK alone, it’s estimated that health and safety issues cost the economy £1 billion every year. That’s huge. In developing countries, it’s much worse.
Co-creating safety from the ground up
Now, I know that I cannot change everything, but I am here to try and make things better through my research. We must keep people safe. But the industry is organised in a very fragmented way. You have architects, builders, project managers, subcontractors, clients and more. So, to be able to deliver change, you need to really work with the stakeholders. All the stakeholders. I’m passionate about engaging every stakeholder possible to co-create research.
I do a lot of research with these stakeholders, including very large contractors, designers, and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). I work with these partners to develop insights which lead to new tools that the industry is willing to implement to bring about the change we need.
For example, with partners from the UK, US and Malaysia, I have been looking at how we can design safety into a project from the very start. Can we influence the design to make buildings safe and easy for people to build? Hopefully leading to fewer accidents. Through my research, I’ve been able to understand the capabilities of designers – designers with different levels of experience and maturity. We then developed a toolkit to help them design safety into every project they work on.
Practical tools make a practical difference
For me, this is how I can influence practice. I can’t physically bring about change myself on site. My work, the work I do with stakeholders, is to provide the evidence, the insights, and tools to be able to influence change.
I believe in co-producing everything. With partners, stakeholders and regulators. So, I’ve done a lot of collaborative research work that has been funded by several funders e.g., Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, HSE, Lloyd’s Register, and British Council.
Industry 4.0
What’s next? We’ve all heard a lot about artificial intelligence, immersive technology, and more broadly Industry 4.0, where production processes are automated and digitalized. This is exciting but also comes with challenges. Safety and health is one of them.
For example, how do drones fit in with health and safety? Recently, I co-led a comprehensive piece of review work and, from that, we identified some potential areas for future research. One of which, I’m very keen to explore, is how we can leverage AI, robotics, and VR to improve safety and health practices in construction. Hopefully, my next exciting and impact-laden research project will be on this.
Contribution to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals
UWE Bristol is proud to align our research to the UN sustainable development goals. The above research aligns with the following goals:
