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Nearly one in four of Merseyside's construction sites failed safety inspections during the first two days of a month-long initiative. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors carried out checks at 88 sites during intensive inspections in the county on 14 and 15 February. A total of 21 sites were found not to meet legally-required health and safety standards. Several of the sites visited received more than one enforcement notice either stopping work activities immediately or requiring improvements to be made. In total, inspectors issued 22 prohibition and 21 improvement notices, with more than half of the notices relating to unsafe work being carried out at height. The inspections are taking place across the North West after eight construction workers lost their lives and more than 1,000 were injured in the region between April 2009 and March 2010. Half of the deaths occurred during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities, which are the main focus of the latest HSE inspections being carried out up until Friday 11 March. Inspectors are making unannounced visits to sites to ensure that work at height is being managed safely, sites are in good order, and the risk of exposure to asbestos is being properly managed. Wayne Crumpton, Principal Inspector for Construction, said: "Workers' lives were potentially being put at risk on a quarter of sites we visited in just the first two days. That is a sobering statistic. Falls from height are one of the main causes of workplace deaths in the UK so it's both disappointing and worrying that more than half of the enforcement notices we issued were because companies were found not to be taking this risk seriously enough. "We will continue to visit small construction sites, where refurbishment work is taking place, during the rest of the initiative. The safety of workers must be a top priority and we will not hesitate to take action when necessary." This year, as part of ensuring risks from asbestos are properly managed, HSE is checking that asbestos surveys have been carried out, when appropriate, before refurbishment work starts. Many workers believe that, because asbestos has been banned as a building material, it is no longer a threat to them. But any premises built or refurbished before 2000 could still contain asbestos.
The position is made even bleaker, as the construction industry is only in the early stages of recovering from recession. History demonstrates that as workloads increase dangerous working practices rise, leading to an increase in the number of workers being killed. George Guy, Regional Secretary for the North West Region of UCATT, said: “The level of danger faced by construction workers is deeply alarming. The number of dangerous sites that the HSE uncovered is just a drop in the ocean. A zero tolerance approach must be taken in respect of dangerous sites, as each one could potentially lead to a construction worker being killed or injured.” Last year (2009/10) 42 construction workers were killed at work, the figure was a record low and was as a result of a drop in work being undertaken in the industry due to the recession and the remaining work being undertaken at a more sensible pace. The most frequent cause of fatalities were falls which accounted for 25 of the 42 deaths. Indications show that construction deaths are likely to increase during the current reporting year (2010/11). Mr Guy, added: “The HSE are doing a difficult job with limited resources. The only way that deaths and injuries will decrease is if there are more inspections and a greater number of companies which ignore safety laws are prosecuted. Any reduction in enforcement activity at this time will be deadly.” Source: HSE / UCATT
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But construction union UCATT have warned that Government cuts in construction safety will prove lethal, saying there are question marks about how frequently the HSE will be able to mount similar operations in the future, due to the organisation facing cuts of at least 34% in their budget, over the next four years.