PHIL MAXWELL

A 2021 report by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies revealed that 154 construction workers perished on the job that year alone. Construction work is universally acknowledged as high-risk, fraught with the potential for injury or even fatality. In Bangladesh, the risk is exacerbated by the fact that many of the workers are migrants, a demographic often synonymous with vulnerability in the labour market. 

In the UK the construction industry is only lightly regulated and deaths on construction sights are not uncommon. 138 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2023/24 in the UK; 51 of those were in the construction industry.

This work examines the perilous working conditions of construction workers. Despite globalisation (referenced by the telephone lines) the construction industry everywhere is a vital part of the economy but the workers in that economy are often on precarious terms and conditions and poor wages.

Click here for information about my latest exhibition.