HSE crackdown on construction

With 53 deaths and more than 11,000 injuries in 2008/09, construction is one of Britain’s most dangerous industries, and it goes without saying that health and safety should be a key priority for all working in the sector.

Good health and safety makes good business sense, and all parties in the industry must take responsibility for improving health and safety performance.

As we move out of the recession, and construction work picks up, more people will join the industry. Firms need to make sure all workers, but particularly those that are new and inexperienced, have the correct safety training. We routinely see workers suffer horrific injuries in their first week on the job, and the fact that these injuries are preventable makes them all the more devastating. During our recent construction inspection initiative, nearly one in four of the construction sites we visited failed safety checks.

Arriving unannounced, our inspectors visited 2014 sites across Britain. They focused on refurbishment and roofing work and checked that sites were in good order. While the majority of sites visited had good procedures in place, the fact that enforcement action was necessary on one in four is a matter for serious concern – a total of 691 enforcement notices had to be issued at 470 sites. This is a failure to meet safety standards on a depressing scale, and is a stark reminder to the industry that it must continue to better manage risk. It is absolutely unacceptable for employers and contractors to put their own and other people’s lives and wellbeing at risk. Falls from height are one of the most common causes of fatalities and major injuries across the construction industry, with at least five incidents recorded every day. In many cases, these accidents are entirely preventable.

Our inspectors found a range of problems in this area, such as workers tiling roofs without getting the basic precautions right like putting up scaffolding. In 359 cases it was necessary for inspectors to order work to stop immediately because of the serious safety failings they discovered, a lot of which was badly planned or carried out work at height.

Beyond work at height, inspectors found a full range of problems affecting areas such as electrical safety, structural stability and site order, all of which can cause serious injury or death if not properly managed. We all must get the message home that standards need to improve, if we are going to reduce the alarming toll of death, disease and serious injury in construction. The Health and Safety Executive always prefers to work with businesses to raise awareness and provide advice. But where employers and contractors are breaking the law and risking people’s lives, we will not hesitate to take action. This can include closing sites and taking companies to court, where necessary. There is absolutely no excuse for a lax attitude to protecting workers and the public from the terrible consequences of getting health and safety wrong.

Philip White, Chief Inspector for Construction, HSE For more information on construction site safety, see: www.hse.gov.uk/construction