Construction Infonet - May 2012

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.

RIBA Research

New research - the result of a collaboration between the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and a research team from the University of Sheffield – has been published taking a fresh look at the way health and safety is taught to students of architecture.

The research, which can be freely downloaded from the HSE and RIBA websites, identifies innovative teaching approaches and promotes the sharing of ideas and teaching materials between schools of architecture. It also recognises the problems associated with providing students with practical construction experience.

• Research report - Healthy Design, Creative Safety – Approaches to health and safety teaching and learning in undergraduate schools of architecture (RR925)

CONIAC open meeting London 2012

HSE’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) will be holding an open meeting on Wednesday 20 June 2012.  The meeting will be held in the City/Cathedral Room at Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London, SE1 9HS.  It will begin at 10 am and finish at around 1 pm.

There is no charge for admission to the meeting, but it is necessary to register in advance, as places are limited. Register online.

Recent publications

Asbestos

• HSE leaflet - Managing asbestos in buildings – a brief guide

Legionnaires’ disease

• HSE Leaflet – Legionnaires’ disease – a brief guide for dutyholders

Workplace transport

• DVD – NAPO in Safe moves
  This film shows NAPO using fork-lift trucks and other forms of internal and external workplace transport.

Roofwork

• Advisory Committee on Roofsafety (ACR)
• New ACR information sheet no 2 Safe Handling of Solar Collectors and other Large Items on roofs
• ACR Best Practice Guide – 2nd revision of The Green Book: Guidance Note for Safe Working on Fragile Roofs or roofs with fragile elements

Safe loading

• The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
  VOSA's approach to load security on vehicles is likely to be of interest to construction companies.
• VOSA – load securing arrangements, new enforcement matrix
• HSL guidance - Load Safe, Road Safe - A Professional Driver's Guide to Safe Loading and Transport

PASMA Tower Week, Yorkshire

Preparations are underway for PASMA Tower Week Yorkshire, a brand new initiative organised by the Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association (PASMA) in collaboration with its local members - manufacturers, hirer/dealers and training centres.

The aim of this campaign is to promote mobile access towers as a safe and adaptable method of working at height across all industry sectors.

PASMA Tower Week will be launched on Monday 11 June 2012 and followed by a week long series of activities and events at different venues throughout the region.

Health and safety events

Improve the health and safety of your business by attending a health and safety event near you. Most of the Working Well Together (WWT) events we list are FREE and all provide an opportunity to meet like-minded people, see interesting new equipment and get confidential advice.

Find your nearest WWT Group and get involved.

Places are available at the following Working Well Together (WWT) events

• 11 June 2012 – 21 June 2012:  White Van Tour – Wales
  Our 'white van' will call in at construction sites and present short talks on construction safety and give all attendees a free goody bag.
• 28 June 2012 – Mock Trial – Carlisle
  Come along to find out what could happen following a fatal accident at work. A real life courtroom drama played out to the audience, who act as the jury.
• 3 July 2012 – Work at height Safety Awareness Day – Worcestershire County Cricket Club
  Free event open to anyone who works at height as part of their job.  Keynote speaker - Jason Anker - motivational speaker who suffered serious injury following a fall from height.

Plus many more WWT events over the forthcoming year.

Recent enforcement activity

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

Work at height

• 4 May 2012 - The director of a building firm has been fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,500 after a self-employed contractor fell to his death through a fragile roof at an industrial building in Penryn, Cornwall.
• 10 May 2012 – A landlord has been fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,129 after a self-employed builder died while replacing a roof on a property in Middlesex.
• 11 May 2012 - A construction firm has been fined £3,900 and ordered to pay £4,000 in prosecution costs for safety failings after a roofer was badly injured in a three-metre fall from scaffolding at a house in Trafford.
• 14 May 2012 - Electrical and mechanical contractors fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £5,156 in costs after an apprentice electrician sustained serious back injuries after falling through a ceiling while working in the loft space of a Swindon youth centre.
• 14 May 2012 - An Aberdeenshire roofing boss has been fined £15,000 after one of his workers was seriously injured when he fell five metres from the edge of a flat roof.
• 17 May 2012 - A Croydon-based construction company has been fined £15,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £6,752 for continuing unsafe working practices at a site in Lewisham despite repeated warnings.

Further information

• Construction Safety Topic - Assessing all work at height
• Construction Safety Topic - Roofwork
• Construction Safety Topic – Fragile surfaces

Crane collapse

• 9 May 2012 - Two construction firms have been fined a total of £281,000 after a crane collapsed onto a city centre apartment block in Liverpool, resulting in the crane driver being paralysed from the waist down.

Further information

• Construction Safety Topic – Cranes

Mobile plant and vehicles

• 3 May 2012 - A Yeovil construction company has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £7,576.40 in costs after a subcontracted worker suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a fork lift truck.
• 14 May 2012 – A Northamptonshire construction company has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,749 costs after a six-tonne dumper truck ran over a worker's foot.

Further information

• Construction Safety Topic – Mobile plant and vehicles
• Construction Safety Topic – Dumper trucks
• Construction Safety Topic – Traffic management on site

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