HSE urges construction industry to do more to prevent deaths at work

E023:08 9 April 2008

Early unvalidated figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest that around 69 construction workers were killed in 2007/08. This points to a 10% improvement on the previous year's figures but HSE warned the construction industry not to be complacent.

HSE's Chief Inspector of Construction Stephen Williams today said:
"While it is encouraging that these unvalidated figures suggest that there has been a drop in deaths in the industry, there is absolutely no room for complacency. It is totally unacceptable that, once again, a significant number of lives have been lost and continue to be put at risk on construction sites. HSE will continue to take firm action against those who ignore safety precautions."
The numbers released today are unvalidated and may change. Verification of initial reports of deaths at work can take considerable time in some circumstances, for example where death occurs some time after an injury, or where natural causes are subsequently determined.

Stephen Williams went on to say:

"The release of these figures comes very soon after HSE inspectors stopped work at a third of the 1000 sites visited during our recent spot checks on the refurbishment sector. We did this because we felt there was a real possibility that lives would be lost or ruined through serious injury. 395 enforcement notices were served during the spot checks and in 13 cases inspectors believed the situation on site to be so poor that prosecution is being considered."

Notes for editors

1. For several years, HSE has publicly released, on a quarterly basis, partially validated statistics on fatal injuries for all industries, including construction. This practice continues, and the most recent release was on 28 March.
2. HSE also now openly publishes unvalidated details of fatalities presented in monthly reports made by HSE's Chief Executive to Health and Safety Executive meetings (formerly the Health and Safety Commission meetings (which are generally open to the public). These can be found on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hscarchive/2007/111207/cereportannex.pdf
3. Further info on the results of spot checks on the refurbishment sector can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/tripsandfalls/update.htm
4. HSE's annual work related fatal injury statistics can be viewed at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm

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