Construction union seeks urgent action on fatalities

With the death toll in the building industry currently running at more than five fatalities a month, construction union UCATT has urged employers to make safety a priority.

Last month a worker on a luxury flats development at Swansea Marina fell from scaffolding and later died in hospital – one of more than 50 construction deaths since April 2007, according to the union.

“This latest death underlines the dangerous nature of construction,” said Nick Blundell, UCATT regional secretary for the Wales and South West. “While it is almost impossible to make the industry entirely safe, construction employers in general could be doing far more to make sites safer.”

Construction is the most hazardous industry in Britain, with 77 workers losing their lives at work in the 12 months to March 2007 – a 30% increase on the previous year.

UCATT blames the higher fatality rate on the recent increase in construction work – which has placed additional time pressures on workers – coupled with the increasingly casualised nature of the industry and a reduction in the number of safety inspections and prosecutions, resulting from cutbacks at the Health and Safety Executive.

As Workplace Report went to press, UCATT and the Chesterfield-based Trade Union Safety Team were planning an accident simulation as part of activities leading up to the Midlands TUC conference later this month.