Health Hazards in Construction

What is the Health Hazards in Construction?

The Health Hazards in Construction course from the American Institute of Safety Professionals addresses the occupational health hazards that most construction safety training ignores. Construction safety programmes focus overwhelmingly on the acute hazards that kill workers immediately: falls, struck-by, caught-in, electrocution. But construction workers also face chronic health hazards that cause disease and death years or decades after exposure: respirable crystalline silica that causes silicosis and lung cancer, lead that causes neurological damage, asbestos that causes mesothelioma, noise that destroys hearing permanently, welding fumes that cause metal fume fever and manganism, solvents that damage the liver and nervous system, cement that burns the skin, heat that kills during summer months, and diesel exhaust that is classified as a carcinogen. These health hazards kill more construction workers than falls — they just take longer to do it.

This course fills the critical gap between construction safety training (which covers immediate hazards) and industrial hygiene training (which covers health hazards but not construction-specific applications). It teaches construction supervisors, safety officers, and workers to recognise, evaluate, and control the specific health hazards that construction activities generate, using the OSHA construction health standards and the practical exposure control methods applicable to construction environments.

The curriculum covers respirable crystalline silica (OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1153, Table 1 controls, exposure monitoring, medical surveillance), lead in construction (29 CFR 1926.62, action level, PEL, exposure assessment, blood lead monitoring), asbestos in construction (29 CFR 1926.1101, classifications, competent person, regulated areas), construction noise and hearing conservation (29 CFR 1926.52 and 1926.101), heat illness prevention (OSHA’s Heat Emphasis Programme, WBGT, work-rest, acclimatisation), welding and cutting fumes (hexavalent chromium 1926.1126, manganese, zinc oxide), solvent and coating exposures, cement and concrete dermatitis, diesel exhaust in enclosed and semi-enclosed construction spaces, musculoskeletal hazards (manual handling, hand-arm vibration, whole-body vibration), and biological hazards in construction (soil pathogens, mould in renovation, sewage contact).

All training is delivered 100 percent online through Microsoft Teams and the American Institute of Safety Professionals Learning Management System (LMS). Upon successful completion, graduates receive an American Institute of Safety Professionals certificate, professional wallet card, and official transcript, all employer-verifiable at amiosp.com/student-verifications.

Who should take this course?

• Construction safety officers who manage health hazard compliance alongside safety compliance
• Construction supervisors who oversee workers exposed to silica, lead, asbestos, noise, and heat
• Construction workers performing silica-generating tasks (cutting, grinding, drilling concrete/masonry)
• Renovation and demolition workers exposed to lead paint and asbestos in pre-1978 buildings
• Welders and cutting torch operators exposed to metal fumes
• Anyone involved in concrete work (placing, finishing, cutting) exposed to cement dermatitis and silica
• Safety managers developing health hazard control programmes for construction operations

What will you study?

Credentials employers can verify in seconds