Health and Safety Executive statistics reveal a large drop in construction site deaths compared to last year, but the HSE calls for extra vigilance as sites still fall short of safety legislation requirements
Construction was responsible for the deaths of 79 workers in the year to the end of March 2002. These figures, released on 25 July, show a 25% decrease when compared to the previous year's high of 105.

The deaths are split at 59 employees and 20 self-employed operatives, as opposed to 73 and 32 respectively, in the previous year. The news has been received with cautious optimism, but the HSE's head of construction Mike Cosman said: "After last year's high, 79 deaths only represents a return to the average rate during the 1990s."

Cosman painted a gloomy picture regarding current safety measures, stating that in recent blitzes by the HSE on construction projects across the country, almost half of the sites did not have the safety systems in place to effectively control health and safety. Of the 1113 sites so far visited, some 460 have been served with prohibition notices, nine prosecutions have been made and there are "more in the pipeline".

"Our research shows that fatalities occur because employers fail to carry out risk assessments," said Mike Cosman. "These are not an optional extra. Employers must do risk assessments or face legal consequences."

The three most common injury types in the construction sector were:

  • falls from a height – 37 deaths, compared to a high of 50 in 1996/97;
  • being struck by a moving/falling object – 12 deaths, compared to a low of eight in 1998/99;
  • being struck by a moving vehicle – 11 deaths, compared to 17 in 2000/01.

Fatalities in construction accounted for 32% of the 249 total deaths in all industries in the year ending March 2002.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor