Whether for charity or any other project, a construction site provides an employment opportunity for people. The local community of such projects may benefit not only by providing homes for the homeless but also by improving people’s livelihood. An area under construction has a greater chance of growing than any other.
The video ‘The local construction workers of New Story Charity’ one local construction worker narrates how he has benefitted from the building project. The worker has, after five years of being homeless, get the chance to own a house.
When working, different workplaces expose people to different health hazards. However, this is determined by various factors such as age, gender, lifestyle, the general state of health, family traits, and nutrition status. Depending on them getting exposed to conditions such as exposure to asbestos will bring harmful health effects to an individual. It will also be determined by how much the chemical has gotten into your body (dose), how long it has been getting into your body (duration), the pathway in which you have gotten exposed to it (whether through eating, drinking or breathing) as well as any other chemicals you have been exposed to.
Some workers are at a higher risk of getting exposed to harmful chemicals such as plumbers, carpenters, builders, painters, asbestos miners and even electricians. Working in railway engineering and shipbuilding and factories, making asbestos products also poses a great risk. Did you know that even living with a person exposed to asbestos exposes you to it?
Where possible workplaces should be made safe by providing the right equipment to protect themselves from getting exposed to the chemicals; alternatively, the working sites can enrol for asbestos removal services.
Want to know why I insist on the services? Asbestos is associated with some breathing diseases. These diseases include mesothelioma, which is a form of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. There is also asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis with non-malignant scarring of the lung tissues, and risk of getting the non-malignant pleural disease. Diseases affect productivity when working.
For this reason, employers need to make a work station safe.
Even when participating in charities involving construction projects for the homeless, all the necessary measures should be put to protect the workers. The good thing about such a charity project is that the first owners of the houses may engage in building more houses to help other people. By doing this, there is a decrease in the money spent on labour. It is also a good way of instilling construction skills in people who may use them to look for jobs and earn a livelihood.
