ABSTRACT
Beyond this basic introduction, the chapter lays out the structure of this book and identifies the book’s six main themes, namely: international comparisons as a scene setter; safety management issues and the implementation of these systems; health issues and their importance (and relative neglect to date); the role of training and education in underpinning safety management systems; safety technology and its role vis a vis safety management systems; and accident analysis as a means of improving performance and providing feedback to the safety management system. Some basic statistics are presented and the key issues of prescriptive versus performance based safety and health legislation and the unique nature of the construction industry are discussed.
