Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Construction
Welcome to the latest edition of Construction Infonet.
Construction Infonet is a free e-Bulletin from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to provide a regular update on health and safety issues for all in the construction industry.
From April 2007 to March 2008, 38 people died whilst working on refurbishment, repair and maintenance projects.
A new HSE communications campaign kicks off on Monday 23 February 2009 targeting property developers with the aim of increasing their awareness of their responsibilities as construction clients under the Construction Design Management Regulations 2007.
The campaign comes ahead of our Construction Inspectors’ intensive inspection initiative in March 2009, which will target the refurbishment sector.
HSE is running it’s latest enforcement led inspection initiative during March 2009 in selected regions of the country. These inspections will focus on working at height safely, good order on site, and the risks associated with the removal of asbestos on construction refurbishment sites.
HSE’s Shattered Lives campaign, launched in 2008, targeted five industry sectors, where incidents of slips, trips and falls from height were most prevalent.
This year the campaign is focusing on promoting action in the workplace to address the risks, such as those of trips and falls in the Construction Industry, where falls from height still remains the biggest cause of fatalities for 2007/08p.
In an effort to help businesses take action to better manage risks associated with working at height we have developed a new e-tool called ‘Work at Height Access Equipment Information Tool’ (WAIT). This tool will be available in March and free to use via the HSE web site.
WAIT is designed to help small businesses choose the most appropriate access equipment if they need to work at height. Through simple calculation the e- tool will help you build on the outcomes of your risk assessment.
Musculoskeletal injury from manual handling is a key health issue that HSE and industry are seeking to address together.
This free HSE Stakeholder event seeks to look at the handling issues concerning plasterboard from different perspectives throughout the supply chain. Talks will be given by an HSE specialist inspector, and representatives of plastering and dry wall contractors, manufacturer’s, architects and designers, principal contractors and workers.
The event is being held on 12 March 2009 at HSE’s offices in London.
Limited places - ‘first come first served’ - book now to reserve your place.
Last year, HSE announced changes to the gas installer registration scheme in Great Britain. The scheme currently operated by CORGI will be replaced on 1 April 2009 by the new Gas Safe Register™ (operated by Capita).
The Gas Safe Register will be the only gas installer registration scheme approved by HSE from 1 April 2009 under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
All gas installers wanting to undertake domestic and certain other gas work in Great Britain from 1 April 2009 will need, under those Regulations, to be registered with this scheme in order to be able lawfully to carry out any work on gas fittings, which includes gas appliances.
Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions and enforcement action in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.
Work at height
23 January 2009 - East Sussex Company and Director, Colin Cooper, IC Roofing Ltd, found guilty of manslaughter of a 20 year old employee, Darren Hoofe.
Darren fell through a skylight onto the factory floor whilst carrying out roofing repairs. He was not wearing a safety harness and had not received full safety training.
Detective Inspector Colin Dowle, from Sussex Police, said: "This is a particularly tragic event which was entirely preventable. Colin Cooper ignored the obvious risks in favour of economic gain, sadly at the cost of Darren's life"
27 January 2009 - Swansea man fined £10,000 after worker injured in fall.
Arthur David Fletcher, the principal contractor and manager of the site for a new supermarket and accommodation in Penclawdd, was employing workers to construct a temporary floor when a joist collapsed. One of the workers fell two and a half metres onto the floor below, resulting in serious leg injuries. There were a number of serious failings which led to this incident - the risks of working at height were not properly identified or addressed, and no fall protection was provided for workers.
Despite this incident, an unannounced inspection at the site by HSE just over a month later showed that there was still a failure to manage risks from working at height, including an absence of guard rails on scaffolding, poor access from the building to external scaffolding and unprotected openings which were large enough for workers to fall through.
10 February 2009 - HSE warns firms to take proper precautions for employees working at height after a workman suffered serious injuries in a fall on a building site.
The warning follows an HSE prosecution of Ballenwood Properies Ltd, West Yorkshire, resulting from an incident in which a 59 year-old self-employed bricklayer suffered serious head injuries. The man fell 2.7 metres through a stairwell opening on the first floor of a house being built at the end of Redhill View, Castleford.
11 February 2009 - Two construction firms prosecuted following fatal accident on 1 December 2003.
Michael Broughton was working with a group of employees pouring concrete to form the floor of an office building at the Redhouse Interchange near Adwick le Street, Doncaster. A truck-mounted concrete pump was being used to take fresh concrete from delivery lorries to the building floor. A suspended hose used to pour the concrete "whipped" violently when the pump was restarted, throwing one man some distance and fatally injuring another.
The industry's representative body, Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), has since published guidance, 'Code of Practice for the safe Use of Concrete Pumps'. This Code lays out the simple steps to take to reduce the risk of injuries involving similar equipment that were in use at the time of the accident. All contractors and machine operators involved in this kind of work should now be familiar with the Code of Practice.
Asbestos
4 February 2009 - HSE has warned firms to properly assess risks when working with asbestos and ensure, if necessary, only licensed contractors are used.
The call follows the prosecution on 4 February 2009 of Westpoint Schoolcare Ltd for breaching Regulations 5, 8(1) and 11 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The firm from Gorton, Manchester was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £515 after pleading guilty to failing to properly assess whether asbestos was present before starting refurbishment work at a Manchester school. The company also failed to take the necessary steps to prevent its employees being exposed to asbestos dust and undertook licensable work without holding a licence.
General principles and approach for HSE and local authorities to follow.
Revised and updated publication, containing an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance on the duties in the Confined Spaces Regulations.
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We issue e-Bulletins on a regular basis and would welcome your feedback and views as well as any suggestions/contributions for future articles.
Thank you to those who have provided feedback on the previous editions - we have tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible.