Casualisation kills

A series of accidents in Northern Ireland has prompted the UCATT construction union to warn of the risks from greater casualisation on building sites.

Four workers were seriously injured last month when the second floor of Belfast’s Royal Courts of Justice building collapsed during a concrete-pouring exercise. Three weeks earlier, a worker died in an accident at the former Graham’s bakery site in the city – the fourth construction worker to be killed in Northern Ireland in 2008.

“Casualisation is literally killing construction workers,” said UCATT regional organiser Michael Kiddle. The recent death toll is a stain on the industry.”