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 to provide a regular update on health and safety issues for all in the construction industry.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon. Peter Hain, has convened a Construction Forum to focus specifically on the house building and domestic repair/refurbishment sectors. By inviting a small group of influential organisations/people with lead roles throughout the supply chain, he is seeking to agree action to address the increase in fatal injuries in these sectors.
Further information will be provided following the event.
HSE Construction Division has produced a simple guide for construction clients on the CDM Regulations 2007. As a client, you have a big influence over how construction work is done.
The Construction Clients Group has also produced some useful guidance for “small and one-off clients”.
As part of HSE’s Falls from Vehicles campaign, HSE Construction Division will be holding events around the UK in conjunction with the builders merchant Travis Perkins.
The aim of these events is to increase standards and awareness amongst all those involved in materials delivery to construction sites.
Details of the events are listed on the construction diary of events webpage.
Construction specific guidance material to support the Falls from Vehicles campaign is also available.
Construction sites can be a dangerous attraction for children. The dangers are numerous and varied, including scaffolding; reversing vehicles; electrical power supplies; ladders; and falling equipment. Access to construction sites should be restricted and risks should be assessed by site managers to ensure that untoward incidents are prevented. The consequences could be awful and even life threatening.
HSE no longer publishes an activity booklet for schoolchildren which highlighted dangers on construction sites. However, we will provide a copy of the relevant artwork to construction companies/organisations who wish to arrange their own printing of the booklet for distribution within junior schools or local communities. The artwork will be on a CD ROM and will be in a format that most printers can work from.
The artwork allows construction companies/organisations to incorporate their logo on the front cover. There are conditions associated with the use of the artwork. For further information on these please send an email to dave.dawick@hse.gsi.gov.uk.
Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions and other enforcement activity in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.
There is increasing recognition within the construction industry that a competent workforce leads to greater job satisfaction and improved health and safety, which translates into reduced sickness absence, increased productivity and a better end product.
More construction clients are only employing workers who can verify their competence on site.
The Achieving Behavioural Change (ABC) training which was used on the Department of Work and Pensions programme to roll out Job Centre Plus, has now been incorporated by Construction Skills into training courses under the Site Safety Plus banner.
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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 provided feedback on the previous editions - we have tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible.