There is a growing realization of the importance of safety management course in the construction industry. The Construction industry employs a lot of workers. Nowadays construction projects are not only growing in complexity and size but also in numbers. We see that in this scenario, construction companies must not only address safety and health as just a step in avoiding unwanted accidents, but they should take it forward as a step in increasing competitiveness and profit. This particular approach towards safety can be accomplished through the principles of total safety management.

The Construction industry in India is the second largest employer, with more than 6% of share of GDP. The number of accidents which occurs in construction industry is very high. The fall of persons from height and through openings is the major causes of accidents.

Construction safety management is a difficult task, due to the very nature of the construction industry. This is mainly due to the involvement of unskilled and illiterate workforce. Since many construction projects are done in remote locations of the country, the surrounding people involved are substantial. Such people are from an agricultural background, and they speak only local languages. This creates additional challenges as they are unable to communicate. Construction activities are rated as eight times more hazardous as manufacturing activities.

The government has conceived and developed safety programs and mechanisms to overcome this issue. There has been widespread implementation of feedback mechanisms to overcome the issues of fatalities at construction sites.

Therefore there has to be a greater focus on the following areas:

• In order to achieve more effectiveness among the contract employees, innovation has to be there in the training methodologies.
• Implementing behavior based safety program to improve orientation of workforce towards safety in the work undertaken.
• More innovative engineering measures should be undertaken at all design stages to achieve safe working environment at all construction sites.
• There should be training and certification programs for all line managers so as to create and enhance their perception of industrial safety.

The role of safety professionals in preventing accidents is quite necessary. So, it should be noted that all safety requirements are scrutinized at all levels and deficiencies are attended to promptly. A structured program must be made to identify and correct all issues related to management of safety. This should be done right from the design stage to execution stage.

In order to achieve this objective, the important elements of safety management system must be adhered to and strengthened at each stage. So, we see the importance of safety management course in the construction industry.