Proactive visits expose construction dangers

The continued need for unannounced Health and Safety Executive inspections has been highlighted recently by the HSE itself. A recent programme of inspections of construction sites in Newcastle found that one in four were so dangerous that they were putting workers’ lives at risk.

The initiative targeted refurbishment sites, as the HSE says refurbishment is the worst performing sector of the industry, with three quarters of all fatalities nationally occurring during refurbishment, repair and maintenance.

Inspectors visited 37 sites of which nine were found to be “so far below required standards that inspectors had to issue formal enforcement notices.” In total, they issued eight prohibition and six improvement notices, with seven of the notices relating to unsafe work being carried out at height.

Principal inspector for construction Rob Hirst said: “This was the fifth year of the inspection initiative and it is disappointing to find construction sites taking the same unnecessary risks with their workers’ lives…The fact that we found unsafe conditions on nine in 37 sites is unacceptable.”

There were more than 70 injuries during construction work in Newcastle in 2009-10.