Valuing people in construction

Edited by Fidelis Emuze and John Smallwood

This collection originated from the work of CIB TG59. “CIB” is the abbreviation for “International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction”, which is based in the Netherlands.

The work of this CIB task group is evident in international conferences focused on ideas from diverse disciplines – engineering, the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences.

The thoughts contained in this Valuing people in construction, which have been disseminated on several platforms, elaborate upon the following issues: the ageing workforce, competence, disability, employment relations, gender, knowledge and skills, labour conditions, respect for people, stress, working conditions, professional life conditions, and general health, safety and well-being matters that affect people in construction (PiC).

The 14 chapters in this volume-Valuing people in construction take their cues from these issues, with the aim of showing how to develop, improve, challenge, and respect the people at the front line of the services and products offered in the construction industry.

To answer the question ‘Who are the people in construction’, it is necessary to describe what construction is from the site operational angle.

It is a known fact that construction makes use of a range of labour, material and equipment resources to realise a built physical asset, which could be a building, an airport or a dam.