Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Construction
Welcome to the latest edition of Construction Infonet.
Construction Infonet is a free e-Bulletin from the Health and Safety Executive to provide a regular update on health and safety issues for all in the construction industry.
HSE Construction Division would like to thank you for all your support and positive feedback this year. The Construction Infonet e-Bulletin service continues to grow in popularity and now has close to 33,000 members.
Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes for a Safe, Healthy and Happy New Year!
HSE is pleased to announce that Philip White, currently on secondment to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has been appointed Chief Inspector of Construction. Philip will take up the London-based post early in the new year.
James Purnell, Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), announced on 4 December 2008 that he has commissioned an inquiry into the underlying causes of construction fatalities.
The inquiry will be undertaken in three phases; firstly a comprehensive review of existing work to consolidate the understanding of fatal injuries in the construction industry with specific reference to vulnerability. Secondly, to carry out a deeper analysis of underlying causes including factors outside the health and safety system, and thirdly reporting to Ministers and HSE’s Board.
HSE Books 2008 ISBN 978 0 7176 6250 0 (to be published 18 December 2008)
This book gives guidance on how to plan and work safely on roofs. It covers new buildings, repairs, maintenance, cleaning work and demolition.
Working on a roof can be dangerous. Falls account for more deaths and serious injuries in construction than anything else. Roofers are the biggest category of worker by far of those people who are killed in all falls from height.
Controlling dust during the refurbishment and extension of occupied premises
HSE launched a three month consultation on its new strategy ‘The Health and Safety System of Great Britain\\Be Part of the Solution’ on 3 December 2008.
The strategy, which is resetting the direction for health and safety, sets out a number of goals to be achieved, including:
Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions and enforcement action in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.
9 December 2008: HSE disappointed with level of 'muddling along' on Cheshire construction sites
Inspectors from HSE's Merseyside and Cheshire Group spent a day making unannounced visits to sites between Mere and Macclesfield where new homes were being constructed or older ones refurbished. The inspections resulted in significant enforcement action, including five prohibition notices requiring work to stop immediately.
11 December 2008: A Guilford company and tradesman were today fined £11,000 following an investigation by HSE. Two workers were on the roof, one undoing the old roof sheets and the other cutting the 12-metre-long roof sheets. One roof worker stepped onto a loose sheet and fell. There was no system in place to prevent the worker from falling or to mitigate the effect of the fall. He fell over five metres and sustained a fractured hip and a broken elbow.
21 November 2008: HSE is warning of the importance of carrying out risk assessments and implementing safe systems for working at height following the prosecution of a company and one of its employees after an incident in which an elderly man fell 5-6 metres (16-20 feet) through a fragile rooflight whilst preparing to undertake work on the roof of a textiles factory in Smethwick. In undertaking this roofing work, equipment and building materials were being carried across roofs, which are well known in roofing and building industries to be fragile.
Asbestos
9 December 2008 - Fife company and director fined £35,000 for exposing staff to asbestos. HSE warned businesses to ensure they keep accurate details of asbestos in their buildings before any construction work takes place. The warning follows a serious incident in which at least 15 tradesmen were exposed to airborne asbestos fibres over almost two months during a major refurbishment of a former Ballroom nightclub, in Dunfermline in 2005.
12 December 2008: HSE is warning property developers and contractors that they must take safety and general management standards seriously on construction sites. The message follows the prosecution of a Rotherham businessman who failed to heed HSE advice about poor standards on the site where he was developing apartments.
HSE Inspectors visited three times over an eight-month period development of apartments which resulted in the site being closed on each occasion. Despite significant advice and information being given to the businessman, he persisted in operating the site without effective site safety management. There was a lack of proper toilets and eating facilities as well as serious lapses in the standards of scaffolding, electrical installations and fire precautions, all of which put at risk the safety of workers on the site.
9 December 2008: HSE is warning construction companies to ensure they provide safe systems of work after the prosecution of a Shropshire company following an incident where part of a man’s leg was amputated when a tipper truck fell onto him, trapping him against a pile of brick rubble. All employers have a responsibility to ensure that safe working practices are in place and that suitable risk assessments are undertaken. Failure to do so could cost lives, as well as result in enforcement action from HSE.
20 November 2008: Construction companies have been warned by HSE to keep health and safety under constant review throughout the life of a project. The warning comes after the prosecution of demolition contractors following the death of a 36 year old employee. The incident happened whilst work was taking place to decommission one of the pile chimneys on the Sellafield site in Cumbria. The employee was removing steelwork inside the chimney when he fell approximately 95 metres and suffered fatal injuries.
A safe working method had been prepared for removing the steelwork in the chimney. As often happens on construction projects, however, the proposed method was changed as the work progressed. These changes took place over a period of time and resulted in workers, having to work on an unprotected ledge inside the chimney. As this case sadly illustrates, any changes to planned work methods must be identified and properly assessed to ensure that they are safe.
The 'Useful links' section of the HSE Construction webpages contains details of relevant sources of guidance from across the construction industry.
Recent additions include:
HSE intends to introduce the changes to first aid training courses from 1 October 2009.
Frequently asked questions on first aid training and approval arrangements.
RoSPA have organised an event designed for those responsible for health and safety in housing associations, to show how to reduce liabilities and ensure the safety and well being of all workers and tenants.
The event includes a number of speakers from external organisations, including HSE’s Rosi Edwards; Construction Head of Operations, Wales, Midlands, South West.
For health and safety information and advice call 0845 345 0055 or visit our contact us website.
Call 0845 300 9923 or report online.
We issue e-Bulletins on a regular basis and would welcome your feedback and views as well as any suggestions/contributions for future articles.
Thank you to those who have provided feedback on the previous editions - we have tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible.
