HSE to crack down on personal injury in construction

Posted 03/03/2010

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a new campaign to improve safety in the construction sector after new statistics on personal injury were released.

There were 53 deaths and 11,264 injuries on building sites in 2008-09, making construction one of Britain’s most dangerous industries.

However, HSE chief inspector Philip White said that many of the accidents are completely avoidable.

As a result, the organisation has said it will carry out random visits to sites to make sure that safety legislations are being adhered to, particularly in refurbishment and roofing.

Mr White said prosecutions will be carried out where organisations are found to be putting the lives of workers at risk due to poor practice.

“Each year too many construction workers are needlessly injured or killed while working on site … we are really concerned about standards in the refurbishment sector,” he commented.

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 70 per cent of workplace accidents could be prevented if employers put proper safety control measures in place.