Scaffold work under the safety spotlight

Date:

7 August 2012

Release No:

HSE/M/103/12

Construction sites in the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Warwickshire will be put under the spotlight over the next three weeks as part of a safety drive to reduce the number of workplace deaths and injuries.

Between 2006 and 2011 there were three fatalities and 250 injuries involving fixed or mobile scaffolds in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will target poor performance on smaller construction and refurbishment sites where scaffolds are in place.

Principal Inspector Jo Anderson, who will be leading the campaign, said:

"Scaffolding still poses a significant risk to those involved in its construction and dismantling as well as those who use it. Too many workers needlessly die because work was not properly planned or the equipment was incorrectly installed or used.

"Over the next three weeks, inspectors will target sites where poor scaffolding is putting workers at risk and when necessary take enforcement action."

HSE inspectors will look at whether jobs that involve working at height have been properly planned to ensure that adequate safety measures are in place and that equipment is correctly installed, inspected, maintained and used.

Further information about safe working in construction, including the use of scaffolds, can be found online at www.hse.gov.uk/construction

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

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