A summary of the Construction Division priorities for planned interventions 2002/03

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BACKGROUND

The health and safety performance of the construction industry needs radical improvement. Despite the welcome reduction in the number of workers killed last year, falls from height and transport incidents still cause the most deaths and serious injuries. In addition, there is a poor record on protecting the public with an average of seven people being killed each year as a result of construction work.

Occupational ill health is a further major cause for concern. The industry performance is characterised by a significant risk of injury from manual handling, an alarming rate of new cases of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) and an estimated 10 per cent of bricklayers leaving the industry after developing allergic dermatitis from chromates in cement.

There is still a long way to go if the targets agreed at last year's Construction Summit are to be achieved. In its work programme for 2002/3, Inspectors in HSE's new Construction Division will concentrate on the hazards which make the biggest contributions to the toll of injury and ill health in the industry, as well as targeting our interventions at those who are most likely to influence change.

OUR AIMS

The intervention programme aims to:

• encourage greater commitment to achieving improved health and safety performance targets from all those in the construction procurement and supply chain;
• encourage better communication and co-operation between all those involved in delivering a safe and healthy work environment;
• promote the development of a competent workforce at all levels.

WHO WE WILL VISIT

We expect government clients to operate as best practice clients and have management arrangements in line with the procurement guidance issued by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC No 10: Achieving Excellence though Health and Safety) by March 2004. We are specifically targeting 10 government departments in this year's work programme.

The programme is also designed to secure more effective and efficient interventions with clients, designers and planning supervisors. A more strategic approach will be adopted with larger projects to assess the management arrangements for controlling risks, and to make effective use of our site inspection time.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and sole traders

will be engaged in improving their health and safety awareness and performance whilst contributing to the construction industry's 'Revitalising health and safety' targets. We will be arranging a number of health and safety awareness raising days for small businesses throughout the country, and the expected outcomes will include:

• improved awareness of high risk activities and health issues;
• improved level of health and safety competence amongst SMEs and sole traders; and
• increased membership of the Working Well Together (WWT) Campaign.

The workforce

is very important to our programme and our target is to increase health and safety awareness and encourage health and safety competency and

co-operation of workers paying attention to 'hard to reach' and vulnerable groups such as agency labour, young workers, ethnic minorities and non English speakers. The aim is to:

• improve worker awareness of high risk and processes;
• improve level of worker health and safety competence.

We are also targeting manufacturers of formwork and falsework, to ensure that they are producing products for which:

• risks have been eliminated or reduced through their design;
• any remaining risks have been addressed through design or the establishment of safe systems of work for their use.
• clear and unambiguous information on the safe and healthy use of the product has been produced

KEY RISKS INSPECTORS WILL CONCENTRATE ON

Our health priorities for the year will be to:

• reduce the incidence of cement dermatitis by improving the management and control of exposure; insisting on good standards of welfare and health surveillance for those who may be exposed;
• reverse the increased incidence of HAVS by eliminating work which leads to high exposure; improving tool selection and increasing health surveillance;
• reduce exposure to noise by eliminating noisy processes through substitution, selection of noise reduced equipment and encouraging audiometry as a means of monitoring progress;
• reducing worker exposure to the risk of musculo-skeletal injury through the promotion of the use of lighter weight construction products, in particular kerbstones, lighter weight blocks and bagged products.

Our priorities for safety for the year will be:

• Transport through promoting effective planning and management of vehicle movements, including risks from slewing machinery and reversing, and focusing on the segregation of vehicles and pedestrians.
• Falls by reducing falls from height through promoting the appropriate selection and use of equipment, where possible eliminating the use of ladders, and designing out risks of falls from work at height.

The Construction Division Work Programme for proactive inspections is available from:

Anne Okoisor
HSE Construction Division
3SW, Rose Court
Southwark Bridge
LONDON
SE1 9HS
Tel: 020 7556 2100

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Published on the HSE website 15 August 2002