Comparison of Construction Safety Legislation Framework between China and Other Developed Countries and Regions

The construction industry plays a major role in the economy of China. Along with the amazingly quick development of the construction industry, there happened many accidents in the construction site which have caused fatal personal injury and economic loss. Many countermeasures are adopted, such as legislative, economical, culture and scientific measures, etc. to deal with the problems, in which, undoubtedly, the legislative measure is the most important one. Hence this paper focuses on issues relating to the legislative framework. As legislative framework for construction safety was just initially established in China, it is far from satisfactory and therefore, further improvement is required. Some recommendations for improving the performance of legislative framework for construction safety in China are put forward in this paper based on comprehensive literature review and comparison research. All of the studies are based on the current safety legislation situations in construction industry in China, compared with those of developed countries and regions. At first, the current legislative framework relating to construction safety in China is introduced. Then comparatively analyses on it with those of USA, UK and Hong Kong are undertaken. The advanced experiences in these developed countries and regions are summarized and then recommendations relevant to China are put forward. It is proposed that safety considerations must be made from the very beginning of the construction planning to the back-out of the buildings. Then, this work is of extremely importance and urgency to promote the development of legislative framework on construction safety in China.