Impact of dust on health of on-site construction workers – a case study

Abstract

The rate of air pollution is becoming a cause for worldwide concern because of its substantial increase. Different sources like combustion of fuels, release of smoke from industries etc are responsible for the pollution of air. The construction industry is a major contributor to air pollution in the form of dust. Most of the activities involved in the completion of a construction project contribute to the generation of dust in one way or another. There are many sources of dust in a construction site like the use of construction equipment, transportation activities etc. the dust thus generated can ill effects as well. But, the problem of dust pollution is not addressed properly mainly because of the lack of awareness in this area. Proper identification of sources of dust in sites, its health impacts etc can help generate awareness and also help in implementing control measures. This can help reduce dust pollution on site. Here, a residential building site is taken for the case study. A questionnaire survey is conducted for the workers to identify the negative impacts construction dust has and also to determine the most common dust control measures employed in site.

Keywords—air pollution, construction activities, construction equipment, questionnaire survey, dust control