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In this issue

• Falls and trips in construction - HSE inspection initiative 2008
• Site safe news
• 4,194 dodgy ladders exchanged
• Recent enforcement activity
• Updated asbestos licence assessment guide

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Falls and trips in construction - HSE inspection initiative 2008

HSE Construction Inspectors will be carrying out inspections, targeting refurbishment sites, during February 2008 looking specifically at work at height and good order issues on site.

Latest figures show that 23 construction workers died as a result of a fall from height and more than 2,000 workers suffer serious injuries following a slip, trip or fall from height every year.

During a similar inspection initiative in the summer of 2007 we found that basic safety precautions on many of the sites visited were very poor, quite often placing the lives of workers at risk. We were left with no option but to carry out a similar targeted inspection initiative to check whether standards are improving. 

Find out what simple precautions you can take to improve safety standards on your site.

• More information on Trips and falls
  

Find out what inspectors will be looking for during their inspections;

• Work at height
• Good order

Use HSE’s ‘Watch Your Step’ and ‘Work at Height Building Maintenance’ videos for site toolbox talks.

• Watch your step video
• Work at height building maintenance video

Be warned – where we find unacceptable safety standards, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.

• Summary of enforcement action statistics

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Site safe news

The latest edition of Site Safe News has recently been published. Site Safe News is a full-colour publication providing news and items on construction health and safety issues for site managers and workers. An interesting read for the site hut/canteen!

• Read the new issue of site safe news

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4,194 dodgy ladders exchanged

Last year, HSE, in partnership with Local Authorities and industry, ran a Ladder Exchange scheme. By the end of 2007 4,194 dodgy ladders had been taken out of Britain’s workplaces.

We have a simple message to ladder users. If it is right to use a ladder, use the right ladder, use it safely. If it’s not the right ladder, exchange it. 

• Find out more about the ladder exchange

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Recent enforcement activity

Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.

1. Work at Height

• 12 December 2007: HSE warns of dangers of working at height after worker loses use of hand. Company fined £20,000.
• 14 December 2007: HSE is warning company directors and owners of the importance of implementing safe systems for working at height. This follows the HSE prosecution of a director after an incident in which a worker was killed. Company Director ordered to pay £21,000 in compensation to the widow and child of the deceased worker.
• 21 December 2007: HSE is warning company directors and owners of the importance of implementing safe systems for working at height. This follows the HSE prosecution of a company after an incident in which a 25 year old worker was seriously injured falling more than 4.5 metres (15ft) through a roof.
• 21 December 2007: HSE has warned the housebuilding industry of the importance of maintaining scaffolding in good condition following an incident where a worker sustained severe injuries when he fell approximately 3.3 metres from the scaffold upon which he was working.

Further information

• Working at height
• Scaffolds
• Fragile roofs [1.03MB]
• Tower scaffolds
• Roofwork

2. Safe systems of work - Demolition/Crushing/Building collapses

• Read press release

• 3 January 2008: Company director given community service after death of construction worker crushed by falling concrete.

• 23 January 2008: HSE warns construction businesses to ensure that they have safe systems of work in place following the sentencing of a company after a floor collapsed at a building site injuring four workers. The men suffered several serious injuries including spinal fractures, broken shoulders and fractured ribs. Nearly five years after the incident occurred, one of the workers has been unable to return to work, and another still suffers from back pain.

• 25 January 2008: HSE today warned businesses to ensure that they have safe systems of work in place when demolishing buildings. This follows HSE's prosecution of a Hertfordshire based trader after a construction worker was injured.

Further Information

• Lifting and Slinging
• Structural safety - Standing Committee on Structural safety (SCOSS) publications

3.  Migrant Workers

• 18 December 2007: A developer and a contractor from north London, whose poor working practices left a Polish construction worker permanently disabled, were fined a total of £110,000 and ordered to pay £165,000 in costs following an investigation and prosecution by HSE.

Further Information:

• Free leaflet - 'Working in the UK from overseas?'
  Guidance for employers on their responsibilities for temporary and migrant workers.

  Translated in - Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian.

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Updated asbestos licence assessment guide

The aim of this guide is to explain the asbestos licensing regime and the standards required by applicants. It is intended to help HSE inspectors and HSE's Asbestos Licensing Unit (ALU) ensure that assessments and licence reviews are conducted fairly, consistently and transparently. It will also be a useful guide for potential applicants, or those preparing for assessments.

• Asbestos licence assessment guide [361kb]

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Contact HSE

Infoline - Health and safety information and advice: Call 0845 345 0055 or visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/index.htm

Report an accident: Call 0845 300 9923 or visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm

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Feedback

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 provided feedback on the previous editions - we have tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible. You can contact us at: construction-manager@bulletins.hse.gov.uk

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