As one of the first children to move into a housing estate being constructed, the film that resonated most with me was about the dangers of building sites.

Children were shown playing on building sites, exploring newly dug foundations and condemned buildings awaiting demolition and playing with plant equipment left on site.

Building sites are now unrecognisable from 20 or so years ago, with sites almost completely secure from trespassers and builders kitted out with protective clothing.

The result of this better management is the huge reduction in accidents relating to the construction industry.

I'm not sure whether children are still taught about the dangers of playing on building sites, but it would be a pretty determined kid who could even enter such a site these days.

This year saw some new legislation relating to building projects focusing on the waste produced.

Construction and demolition is one of the biggest producers of waste and the introduction of the Site Waste Management Plan legislation is designed to try and tackle this issue.

Every building project worth more than £300,000 needs to implement a site waste management plan, which is assessed at the planning stage.

The contractor needs to include details of the types of waste removed from the site, what happens to the waste and the identity of the person removing the waste.

Contractors are also asked to provide information on recycling activities, whether on or off-site.

It is hoped that the introduction of site waste management plans will pro-actively reduce the amount of illegal waste management practices that still exist in the construction trade, such as illegal waste carriage and fly-tipping.

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