'HIGH 5' WAYS TO MAKE CONSTRUCTION A DECENT AND SAFE PLACE TO WORK

HSC press release C022:03 - 13 June 2003

A new leaflet explaining the High 5 ways to make construction a decent and safe place to work has been launched at a recent construction industry safety and health awareness day. The High 5 leaflet is aimed at people running small construction businesses and at workers on small construction sites and has been produced for the Working Well Together (WWT) campaign by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

75% of those killed or injured in the construction industry are self-employed or work for small businesses of 15 or less employees and these small businesses make up 98% of the economically active construction industry.

Principal Inspector Ray Cooke launched the new High 5 leaflet at the scaffolding demonstration held as part of the safety health awareness day at Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham.

In launching the leaflet Ray Cooke said: "Construction is a high risk industry. Following the advice on the High 5 issues that are described in this new leaflet will help you keep safe and healthy."

The High 5 issues identified in the leaflet are:

• HIGH 1 - Tidy sites and decent welfare: Slips and trips are the most common cause of injuries at work. Tidy sites and decent welfare are the basics of a good site.

• HIGH 2 - Falls from Height: Falls from height are the biggest cause of fatal and serious injuries in construction. They account for 50% of all deaths. Many accidents involve falls from roofs, through fragile materials, from ladders and from leading edges.

• HIGH 3 - Manual Handling: Manual handling injuries from working with heavy, awkward materials, often in cold and wet conditions, are one of the most common reasons why workers leave construction.

• HIGH 4 - Transport: When people and vehicles collide, people come off worse - so keep them apart!

• HIGH 5 - Asbestos: Many buildings in the UK contain asbestos. If you are thinking of working in a building that was built or renovated up to the 1980s, you should assume it contains asbestos until proved otherwise.

The leaflet introduces the High 5 health and safety issues and directs readers to a range of additional related guidance and information for each topic. Copies of this new leaflet are being handed out free to people attending WWT safety and health awareness days that are happening around the country throughout the year. The next safety and health awareness days are:

22 July - Bridgewater
9 September - Cardiff
22 September - Shetland
24 September - Haydock
13 October - Fort William
4 November - Carlisle
17 November - Perth/Stirling

A copy of the leaflet will soon be available to download free from the WWT website at wwt.uk.com. Alternatively single copies of the High 5 leaflet and any of the free and priced publications listed on the High 5 leaflet can be ordered online from http://books.hse.gov.uk

Notes to editors

1. Working Well Together (WWT) is the country's largest construction health and safety campaign, with over 4,000 participating organisations. It was launched by the Health and Safety Commission's Construction Industry Advisory Committee in 1999. WWT aims to improve performance in four key areas for health and safety - commitment, competence, communication and co-operation. wwt.uk.com

2. Falls from height, transport and welfare issues are construction priorities that form part of the Revitalising Health and Safety Campaign. Revitalising Health and Safety, published in June 2000, is a Government and Health and Safety Commission (HSC) initiative that sets targets for the nation to reduce work-related deaths, ill health and injury in Great Britain. More details about Revitalising Health and Safety can be found on the HSE website on www.hse.gov.uk/revitalising/index.htm

3. The construction industry has committed to a step change in performance. This was demonstrated through setting challenging Revitalising targets and adopting action plans at the Construction Safety Summit, which took place on 27 February 2001. The construction industry set the following Revitalising targets for improvement. To reduce:

• the incidence rate of fatalities and major injuries by 40 per cent by 2004/5 and 66 per cent by 2009/10;
• the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health by 20 per cent by 2004/5 and 50 per cent by 2009/10; and
• the number of working days lost from work-related injury and ill health by 20 per cent by 2004/5 and by 50 per cent by 2009/10.

Press enquiries

All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office