HSE press release: E193:03 - 3 October 2003
Once again, over a third of construction sites were well below standard, safety inspectors found during the recent national falls from height blitz in September.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors visited 1429 sites around the country, where 332 prohibition and 82 improvement notices were served. Thirteen potential prosecutions are also being considered as a result of the inspection visits during this blitz. As in the blitz during June this year, the main focus was on smaller sites and contractors, with over 85 per cent of the premises visited having fewer than 20 employees on site.
Kevin Myers, Chief Inspector for Construction today condemned the industry for its failure to raise the standards of work at height. Mr Myers said: "Since the beginning of April this year 17 construction workers have died due to falling from height and it remains the single biggest killer in this industry. Given that most falls from height accidents are preventable, there is no excuse for not ensuring that all work being carried out at height is done safely. What inspectors found during the second blitz of the 'Don't Fall For It' campaign suggests that a large section of the industry is not improving itself, as it claims. Many in the industry are deliberately cutting corners, paying lip service to safety and risking the lives of their workers."
In 2002/03, 33 construction workers died and many thousands more suffered a serious injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees.
Mr Myers continued: "During this blitz, scaffolding and
roofwork most often displayed the worst forms of bad practice. It
is not acceptable to work at height without first identifying the
risks and putting into place measures to eliminate or control them.
Propping up scaffolding on a pile of loose bricks, working on a
roof without edge protection, and balancing on scaffolding tubing
without any fall arrest system are all examples of work practices
that could very quickly end in tragedy."
He added: "Despite the disappointing overall results, some
inspectors reported improvements where they re-visited sites in
areas targeted during the last blitz. Here examples of improved
practices were seen."
The national construction falls from height blitz took place over two weeks from Monday 8 September 2003. 'Don't Fall For It' is a European Union campaign on falls from height in construction. The European Commission's Senior Labour Inspectors' Committee (SLIC) agreed to undertake this campaign on falls from height risks in the construction industry in 2003. All member states are participating in the campaign.
London
180
40
14
East Grinstead
45
16
0
Basingstoke
102
24
9
Luton
58
12
4
Chelmsford
107
20
9
West Midlands
96
18
2
South West
77
14
0
East Midlands
55
13
6
East Midlands (Northamptonshire, Leicestershire)
35
4
0
Marches
86
13
5
Wales
48
10
8
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
95
21
5
Leeds
68
8
0
Sheffield
24
Edinburgh
124
34
3
Glasgow
83
26
7
Preston
62
21
1
Manchester
48
14
4
Merseyside
36
19
5
1. Photos taken by HSE Inspectors during the blitz illustrating examples of bad practice seen by inspectors. Please click on any of the links below to view:
During a similar blitz in June a total of 1446 sites were visited and 332 prohibition and 75 improvement notices were served. Results of this inspection activity were previously reported in HSE Press Release E112:03
2. In 2001/02 37 construction workers died and 1344 suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height. In 2002/03 33 construction workers died as a result of a fall from height. The number of major injuries from falls from heights sustained in 2002/03 is not yet available.
3. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal and major injury to construction workers.
4. Health and Safety Commission has included 'Falls from Height' and 'Construction' in its eight Priority Programmes chosen to meet the Revitalising targets for the reduction in injury rates in the workplace.
5. 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:
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