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Proceedings of a session at the ASCE National Convention, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 5-8, 1997.

This collection contains five papers examining the effect on construction safety of some recent design/construction standardization activities in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, and Israel.

Topics include:

• new performance-type safety standards by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA);
• bridge standards in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan;
• provisions for excavations in the new Quebec construction safety code;
• site safety concerns raised by the new Israeli formwork standard, and
• new erection bracing design guide from the American Institute of Steel Construction.

The changes to these codes and standards appear to be stricter than before. The changes also require more technical know-how for design and construction. The common theme of all papers is that improved codes and standards and their observance will reduce construction failures and accidents.