Safer sites – targeted inspection initiative September 2013

HSE Construction Inspectors will carry out a major inspection and enforcement initiative targeting the refurbishment sector, from 2 to 27 September 2013. This will build on the success of similar interventions in the years 2006/07 to 2012/13.

What the initiative does

The main aims of the initiative are:

to achieve an improvement in industry standards, in particular at small sites
to increase awareness of HSE's expectations of the industry
to demonstrate that HSE will use the enforcement tools at its disposal to prevent immediate risk and bring about sustained improvements

What inspectors look for

The September 2013 initiative will focus on the main causes of accidents and ill-health in refurbishment, including:

HSE uses the inspection initiatives to reinforce its message to the construction industry that poor standards, particularly regarding the above issues, are unacceptable and liable to result in HSE taking enforcement action.

Previous campaign results

Between 18 February and 15 March inspectors made unannounced visits to construction sites to ensure they were managing high-risk activity, such as working at height. Find out the results of our last month long initiative earlier this year. Our image gallery also highlights some of the unsafe practices we came across during site visits.

Safer sites initiative 2013 - image gallery

This image gallery contains photographs taken by Inspectors undertaking unannounced 'spot checks' on repair and refurbishment works during the first few weeks of the Construction Initiative 2013/14.

Results from the initiative

During a nationwide campaign, the HSE visited 2,607 sites, finding poor standards and dangerous practices at nearly half of the building sites.