Example occupational health and safety dissertation topic 3:

Site safety, temporary fencing, and security: A need for simplification.

This dissertation focuses on a particular aspect of health and safety at work within the construction industry: site security and safety. In reviewing both existing practices and legislation, it argues that there is an urgent need for a review of protocols that has been hastened by the unprecedented rise in metal and equipment thefts from such sites over the last three years. This dissertation suggests that the present laws relating to the height restrictions of barbed wire and coiled razor wire when combined with the temporary nature of exterior perimeter fencing such as that manufactured by Heras, has created a legislative minefield in which, the contractor may, in an attempt to ‘make safe’ both the site and those working upon it, be infringing those regulations that guarantee the safe passage of those who are either located adjacent to such sites or who enter such sites unauthorised. This is a dissertation that deals with a very specific aspect of health and safety and would be ideally suited to someone seeking a career that encompasses both health and safety and aspects of planning regulations.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Boba, R. and Santos, R. (2006). ‘Burglary at single-family house construction sites’. Problem-oriented guides for police problem-specific guides series guide (43). Madison, WI: Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.
• Boba, R. and Santos, R. (2008). ‘A review of the research, practice, and evaluation of construction site theft occurrence and prevention: Directions for future research’. Security Journal, vol. 21(4), pp. 246-263.
• Said, H. and El-Rayes, K. (2010). ‘Optimizing the planning of construction site security for critical infrastructure projects’. Automation in Construction, vol. 19(2), pp. 221-234.