Sharp Rise in Construction Deaths
UK construction deaths have shot up by nearly 30% to 77% in 2006-07, bringing an abrupt...
... halt to an encouraging downward trend over recent years.
This jump, announced by the HSE in July, is bound to provoke fears that a similar trend will emerge in the industry’s injury statistics for the year. These will be published in November.
In 2005-06 the number of workers who suffered ‘major’ injuries on British building sites was 3,047.
To put the latest figures in perspective, the death rate per 100,000 workers in construction last year was nearly four times that suffered in manufacturing, a sector which includes an equally daunting array of hazardous activity.
Overall, construction, which employs 7% of the UK workforce, accounts on average for 25% of all fatal accidents and 16% of major injuries. In the last 25 years, over 2,800 people have died from injuries received as a result of construction work.
Commenting on the new figures, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain said, “It is vital that everyone involved in construction puts health and safety first; everyone from clients to employers, designers to suppliers, large construction firms right down to the smallest builders,”
He added: With the Prime Minister’s commitment to build three million new homes over the next few years and large scale developments such as the Olympics, the industry and Government must work together to ensure the health and safety of construction workers is put first.
National Britannia works closely with the construction industry to combat death and injury at work. This includes the SAFEcontractor accreditation scheme, which assesses the health & safety competency of contractors and enables developers, major construction firms and other clients to manage their risks by creating an approved list of contractors who are known to adhere to safe practices.
