Construction firms ‘are failing basic health and safety checks’

Posted 06/04/2010

Employees in one of the country’s biggest sectors could be at risk of injury or even death because business owners are not taking responsibility for health and safety.

This is the warning of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it carried out spot checks on 2,414 firms within the construction sector and found 470 to be in breach of regulations.

Some 691 enforcement notices were given and inspectors ordered work to stop immediately at 359 sites. Many of the safety breaches involved working at height.

Philip White, HSE inspector, warned that the organisation will continue to prosecute where appropriate those companies that break the law and put workers’ lives at risk.

“The fact that our inspectors needed to take enforcement action on almost a quarter of sites, and on a similar proportion of contractors, is a matter of serious concern,” he added.

HSE figures show that there were 53 deaths and more than 11,000 cases of personal injury in construction from 2008-09.

In the last 25 years, more than 2,800 people have died while working in the construction sector.