Over the next few weeks, construction sites across Northampton, Leicester, Lincoln and the High Peak will be visited as part of an intensive inspection initiative aimed at reducing death and injury in one of Britain's most dangerous industries.
During 2009/10, four workers died while working in construction in the region and 645 were injured - 205 of these were major. Nearly three quarters of these occurred during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities. These will be the main focus of the latest inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
On the unannounced visits, starting in early March, inspectors from the HSE will ensure that sites are managing work at height safely and that they are in good order, as well as checking that the risk of exposure to asbestos is being properly managed.
In last year's campaign around a third of all the construction sites visited in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire failed safety inspections. Inspectors visited 145 sites and were forced to issue more than 45 enforcement notices requiring contractors to either change the way they were working or immediately stop dangerous work - much of it relating to working from height.
Richard Lockwood, one of the HSE's Principal Inspectors of Construction in the East Midlands, said:
"This will be the fifth year that we have run the inspection initiative across Britain and we anticipate that that there will be examples of both good and bad practice - those where employers are taking all the measures they can to protect their workers and those where safety is way down the list of priorities.
"A lax attitude to health and safety in one of the more dangerous industries is not acceptable, especially when many of the incidents are completely avoidable by taking commonsense actions and precautions. As we've demonstrated in previous years, we will not hesitate to take action if we find poor practice that is putting the lives of workers at risk.
"This year, as part of ensuring risks from asbestos are properly managed, we will also be checking that, where appropriate, asbestos surveys have been carried out prior to any refurbishment work. Many workers believe that, because asbestos has been banned as a building material, it's no longer a threat to them. But that simply isn't true. Any premises built or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos."
In the East Midlands recently, a number of construction companies have been prosecuted for serious health and safety failings.
Saleh Properties Ltd, of North Evington, Leicester, was demolishing a disused factory in Orson Street in April last year to make way for new homes when an inspector from the HSE found that the building was at risk of collapse.
The company was fined £4,000 at Leicester Magistrates' Court which heard workers had removed structural parts of the building without properly supporting it. Some workers were even spotted standing on the roof, demolishing parts of the building by hand, and were working at height without suitable equipment to prevent falls.
Also, Lincoln-based Ian Behagg was refurbishing residential premises in Sibthorp Street in the city during February 2010, when the HSE made an inspection visit.
He was fined £2,000 at Lincoln Magistrates' Court, which heard how Mr Behagg had allowed workers to remove structural parts of the building without supporting it properly. They failed to use temporary supports, putting both themselves and members of the public in danger. Workers were also found to be working at height without suitable protective equipment to prevent them falling and injuring themselves.
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.
Issued on behalf of HSE by COI News & PR East Midlands
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office who act as HSE's Press Office throughout Great Britain.
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