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SEPTEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Construction inspections
find sites failing to
prevent health risks
A national targeted inspection
focussing on health risks for
construction workers saw
enforcement action taken at
one in six of hundreds of sites
visited.
During a concentrated two-week
period of proactive inspections, the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
demanded improvements, and in
some cases put an immediate stop
to work activities, where they fell
short of expected standards.
Inspectors focussed on significant
health risk issues, such as respiratory risks from dusts containing silica
materials, exposure to other hazardous substances such as cement and
lead paint, manual handling, noise
and vibration.
Final figures have yet to be confirmed, but conditions were so poor
in some situations that the work
had to be stopped on at least 13
occasions.
A total of 560 sites were visited and enforcement notices were
served at 85 of them. Some 13Prohibition Notices were served (where
certain work or practices must
be stopped until improvements
are made), and 107 Improvement
Notices. A total of 239 health-related Notices of Contravention were
served at 201 of the sites.
HSE’s Chief Inspector, Heather
Bryant, said:
“We recognise the construction
sector’s progress in reducing the
number of people killed and injured
by its activities. But it is clear from
these figures that there is an unacceptable toll of ill-health and fatal
disease in the industry.
“So, to encourage the industry to
treat health issues in the same way
as safety, HSE’s inspectors will consolidate the efforts of this initiative
throughout the rest of the year by
looking at the prevention and control of health risks in construction,
alongside their continued assessment of the management of safety
risk issues.
“We will make sure the construction industry ‘Thinks health’ as well
as safety.”
Further information abou BF