Construction firms warned not to put lives in danger after builder is left paralysed

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding construction companies of their duties to employees after a worker was paralysed in a fall.

Harold Roach fell ten feet through roof joists at a refurbishment site on Gertrude Street in Birkenhead while he was working for Property People (NW) Ltd.

The company, which is based at Stanhope House, Mark Rake, Bromborough, Wirral, was fined £92,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £11,404 at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 20 July after pleading guilty to two health and safety offences.

Property People admitted contravening Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. It also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 by failing to report the injury to HSE.

The court heard that the incident happened on 23 April 2005 while joists were being removed from the ceiling of an archway, and that Property People had failed to provide a safe platform for its employees to use. Mr Roach suffered serious injuries to his back from the fall, resulting in permanent paralysis.

HSE Inspector Ian Betley said:

“The injuries Mr Roach sustained were extremely serious and he will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

“Working at height remains the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury. It should be managed by implementing and enforcing suitable and sufficient control measures.

“Companies are required by health and safety legislation to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of employees and others that may be affected by their work. In this case, a suitable platform should have been used to remove the joints from

below, rather than from above. Had such steps been taken, this incident could have been avoided.

“The tragic outcome of this incident, and the subsequent fine, must act as a reminder that the results can be serious for businesses that fail to comply with the legislation.” More information about working safely at height is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/

Construction Firm Fined After Ignoring Prohibition Notice

A construction firm has been fined £8,500 plus costs of £9,526 after continuing to work on an unsafe excavation even though they had been served a prohibition notice.

JAS Truscott & Son Ltd. was refurbishing a house in Belgravia, London, and was excavating the property's ground floor. They had dug four three metre deep pits to create a basement.

During the basement's development, the company was advised by the local building control that their pits were not supported properly. However, the company continued to work, having received this advice and were subsequently reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The site was visited by HSE Inspector Kevin Shorten on 2nd June 2008, who noticed that two of the pits did not have any supports in place to prevent the sides from collapsing in. The remaining two pits had insufficient supports in place which were present on only two sides of the hole. They also consisted of a plywood backboard which was supported by a horizontal timber strut. The tops of the pits did not have any edge protection.

The company was issued a prohibition notice, prohibiting them from any further work to be carried out with immediate effect until the excavation was suitably planned, and edge protection was put in place. However, when Kevin Shorten visited again the next day, work had continued without any sufficient supports in place and a rope was being used for edge protection.

On 18th August, JAS Truscott and Son Ltd appeared at City of London Magistrate’s Court and pleaded guilty to breaching section 33(1)(g) of the HSWA for contravening a Prohibition Notice and received a fine of £6,500. They were also fined for breaching regulation 31(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for failing to erect proper supports and for breaching regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £1,000 for each of these breaches and ordered to pay full costs to the HSE of £9,526.

The company mitigated that they didn’t have any previous convictions, and to ensure that the project was concluded safely, they worked closely with the HSE. They have since sub-contracted a specialist company to carry out basement work on their similar sites.

Pre-qualification Process in Construction Set to Become Easier

May 2009 saw the official launch of a body whose aim is to reduce the burden on construction firms created by health and safety pre-qualification questionnaires. Its website was unveiled which contains comprehensive information for clients, consultants and contractors.

The Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) Competence Forum was established in response to concerns from the construction industry and small firms about the over-abundance of pre-qualification (PQ) assessments and forms they were having to complete, which add significant costs and paperwork.

A recent report by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) found that in order to compensate for the cost of unnecessary PQ activity, the construction industry would have to generate more than £1 billion in turnover.

PQ assessment providers are encouraged to maximise mutual recognition between their schemes by the SSIP Forum so that tendering for business work will only require one set of PQ documents in order to meet the stage one requirements of a wide range of construction clients.
John Murphy, the Forum chair said: "A major benefit for SSIP Forum members is that by tackling the cost and uncertainty surrounding pre-qualification, we can encourage far more suppliers, including SMEs to take part. This will widen market opportunities for SMEs and give more choice to clients."

Stakeholders have welcomed the Forum's step in the right direction to cut bureaucracy in construction. John Lacey, chair of the IOSH Construction Group said that this initiative would help "small and medium-sized businesses demonstrate they are competent in health and safety". The fact that an independent annual audit of the processes employed by each member scheme will be carried out, he added, "means industry can have confidence that the process of accreditation or registration carried out by a member scheme will be consistent and fit for purpose".

RoSPA said that they hoped the initiative "will be of value to other stakeholders, including insurers, investors, enforcing authorities, trades unions, and industry associations".

Brian Berry, the director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders believes that the initiative should particularly help smaller firms as the time-consuming PQ process has squeezed many of them out: “Local authorities, in particular, make it very difficult for SMEs, in terms of the types of questions being asked – they are geared towards larger contractors. Making it difficult for smaller firms means losing out in terms of the creativity and innovation they can offer. We need the Government to recognise that PQs are a major burden on small firms, and that we need more of this kind of mutual recognition – not just in terms of health and safety but also environmental and diversity issues, particularly in the current economic climate."

There is also concern that the Forum's success depends largely on the various PQ schemes that will join up. Paul Reeve, Head of HS&E at the Electrical Contractors' Association said that it is vital that more schemes join up and recognise each other: "Some leading schemes are not involved, and we are disappointed to see that they have not joined up. If it turns out that they do not then receive the full support of the construction industry, so be it."

Visit the SSIP Forum website

HSE Warns Construction Companies after Deaths Of Two Workmen

A crane company has been prosecuted for breaching health and safety law, prompting the HSE to remind construction companies of the financial penalties of not carrying out full risk assessments or ensuring staff are properly trained.

WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd was fined £125,000 plus costs of £264,299 on 31st July 2009 after they were found guilty of two health and safety breaches at Chichester Crown Court at a previous hearing in March. The two breaches led to an incident which caused the deaths of two workers and injuring a third.

Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd have been charged alongside the company and pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 8(3) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 at the start of the trial.
The incident took place at a construction site in Worthing on 11th February 2005, when Steve Boatman and Gary Miles were working on the jib of a crane. Both men died, with another was severely injured.

The injured man was working in the mast of the crane and was instructed to begin de-tourquing the crane's mast bolts. This should have been carried out one-by-one and then retightening each bolt in turn, however, he was not trained in this area of work and did not retighten the bolts, leaving them part undone. Subsequently the crane collapsed as it turned.

Mr Boatman and Mr Miles, died from the injuries they received after being thrown from the crane.

Peter Collingwood, the HSE inspector who led the investigation said: "This fine reflects the seriousness of the company's breaches of health and safety legislation. The accident, in which two men lost their lives, was avoidable. It was caused by the inadequate supervision of a worker who was not trained, nor competent for the task that he was asked to undertake.

"To avoid future tragedies like this, employers and contractors must ensure that tower crane work including erection and dismantling is only undertaken by trained, experienced and competent people who are supervised adequately."

HSE issues Safety Alert on Road Surface Top Cutting Machines

The HSE has issued a safety alert warning of the dangers involved when using top cutting machines to prepare trenches in roads without proper safety devices. This comes after a fatal incident in July, involving a worker who became entangled in the rotating drum of a top cutting machine.

The HSE wishes to raise awareness of the dangers and possible risks of becoming trapped in a top cutting machine by sending out a safety alert to the construction and utilities industries.

Helena Tinton, HSE Inspector says: "Most machines of this type require a deactivation device which automatically stops the machine when the operator leaves the drivers seat.

"Employers are legally required to ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state and to make sure all safety devices are in working order. Operators should also make sure that the power is disconnected and the machine has come to a standstill before carrying out any maintenance on the cutting wheel.

"We urge those in the construction and utilities industries to check the safety devices on their top cutting machines and to prevent similar incidents occurring."

The HSE is currently undertaking an investigation into the Incident with the Wiltshire police.
Click here to read the HSE's Safety Alert: Construction machinery - Access to cutting wheel of top cutting machines.

HSE Could Add Safety Rules to Building Regulations in Crackdown

In order to reduce the construction industry's death toll, the Health and Safety Executive may introduce strict safety criteria to local building regulations and step up its publicising of convictions.

The chair of the HSE, Judith Hackitt and the chief executive Geoffrey Podger confirmed that the HSE was considering a range of proposals in a bid to tackle the in industry's death toll.

In 2008/09, early indications show that fatalities within the construction industry may have declined by more than 20% to approximately 55. Despite the percentage drop, the HSE remains adamant to crackdown even more and prevent an increase in fatalities when activity in the sector picks up.

New Rules

Ms Hackitt told the Work and Pensions Select Committee that one way of clamping down on bad practice, could be strict new rules within the building regulations.

Ms Hackitt said: "We want to look at the practicality of doing that because... we think there is a sound logic to the notion that says not only should [an] extension be built to last and to not put at risk those who are going to live in it, it should be built in a way that doesn't put at risk the people who have to build it in the first place."

However, she did caution the committee that the cost of pressures within local authorities could have an affect on any possible further proposals.

Mr Podger told the committee that the HSE was also looking at ways of increasing publicity about firms convicted of health and safety offences.

He said: "Often for companies it is not the fine that is the punishment, but the publicity around it. This is an area where we want to try and do more.

"We want to try and publicise some of these cases nationally, as well as regionally and locally."

Committee chair Terry Rooney, who was scathing of the regulator's enforcement levels, called on the HSE to re-examine the fines being handed down by courts around the country.

He said it was concerning that companies were still fined less for fatalities than for anti-competitive behaviour, and said "something needs to be done" about geographical differences in fines.

"There is concrete evidence of widespread geographic differences in penalties. For example, in the South-west you will get fined a lot more than you will in the North-east," he said.

Ms Hackitt assured him: "I think both of those things need to be addressed.
"We should not rest where we are, but continue to press for a more equitable viewing of different offences."
Committee criticisms

The regulator, however, shrugged off criticisms from the committee that enforcement notices were down for the fourth year running.

Mr Podger said: "I don't accept at all that there is a downward trend that is just going to manifest itself forever."

Meanwhile, the relationship between the HSE and construction union Ucatt deteriorated further amid a row over the recording of the employment status of construction workers killed at work.
Ucatt raised serious concerns about the collection of what it called "vital evidence" following fatalities, including data on whether victims were members of the Construction Industry Scheme.

Committee member Tom Levitt asked Ms Hackitt and Mr Podger why CIS data was still not being thoroughly collected, despite a pledge to do so in September 2007.

Mr Podger hit back, claiming CIS data was not relevant to the HSE's work and that the regulator simply got "the best data that we can". He said the nature of construction sites made "it more difficult to get a grip of what is going on".

He added: "From our perspective, which is different to Ucatt’s, we would have the data we need and we would act on it."

Safety at Work for Migrant Workers

London's construction industry is made up of a significant proportion of migrant workers, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has acknowledged them as a particularly vulnerable group within it.

This is due to the following:

• They can suffer from poor English;
• Can lack an understanding of UK health and safety standards;
• They may lack an awareness of employment rights, and experience or skills;
• They are often open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers;
• Can face serious problems in regards to poor accommodation, unpaid wages and grievances relating to their employment rights.

Taking the above into consideration, under these circumstances, poor health and safety standards at work can become a low priority.

Subsequently, the HSE is now recruiting outreach workers to work alongside the inspectors and Compliance Officers. This is to increase the HSE's interaction with migrant workers in construction, some of the largest groups coming from Poland, Romania and India.

These workers' awareness to their rights in relation to health and safety at work are to be improved by the outreach roles, which will be based in London. The jobs will include visits to construction sites, liaisons with the immigrant community organisations, local authorities, faith communities, further education colleges, trade union and employers, and organising events, and developing links, networks and partnerships.

In addition to promoting migrant workers safety, this month, HSE inspectors are visiting London construction sites to ensure that site operators are not putting their workers - or the public - at risk of injury or death.

In 2007/08, London's construction industry suffered from the death of 11 workers with 1,600 suffering major injuries, or injuries which require more than 3 days off work. In this same period, one member of the public was killed, with 36 people injured as a result of incidents involving construction sites. The HSE inspectors are targeting principal contractors to observe how they are managing safe working at height, good order on site, and risks associated with exposure to asbestos.

If safety lapses are found, the HSE has warned that contractors can expect strong enforcement action. A similar initiative was carried out in February 2007, and of the 162 sites inspected in London, enforcement action was taken in 55 cases.

One in Five Construction Sites Fail Health and Safety Checks

Recent figures revealed that one in five construction sites failed health and safety checks during the latest national inspection initiative carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Inspectors from Britain's workplace regulator visited 1,759 refurbishment sites during March and checked on how 2,145 contractors were complying with health and safety regulations.
Sufficent serious risks were discovered on 348 sites to warrant enforcement action being taken - either stopping work immediately or ordering improvements to be made. Almost five hundred enforcement notices were issued.

The HSE said that improvements had been witnessed by its inspectors in certain parts of the country since last year - when inspectors had to take enforcement action on 30% of the sites visited.

Phillip White, HSE's new Chief Inspector of Construction, said:

"This inspection initiative was well publicised and for our inspectors to still find this level of disregard for basic health and safety standards on refurbishment sites is disappointing.
"While any improvement has to be welcomed, our inspectors still found practices so far below the acceptable standard that they felt it necessary to take enforcement action on one in five sites. This is still very worrying."

Unsafe work at height practices remain a huge concern. As in the previous initiative, over half of the enforcement action taken this time was as a result of dangerous work at height, which last year (2007/08) led to the death of 34 construction workers.

Last year (2007/08) over half (52%) of the workers who died on construction sites worked in the refurbishment, repair and maintenance sector.

During the inspection initiative, HSE inspectors looked at whether:

• Jobs that involved working at height had been identified and properly planned to ensure that appropriate precautions were in place.
• Equipment was correctly installed/assembled, inspected and maintained and used properly.
• Sites were well organised to avoid trips and falls
• Walkways and stairs were free from obstructions
• Work areas were clear on unnecessary materials and waste
• The risks associated with exposure to asbestos were managed and carried out correctly
• The work force were made aware of risk control measures

Small-firm Builders at Greater Risk of Fatal Injury, Report Claims

More than half of the building workers killed in 2007/08 worked for small companies, despite such firms employing little over a third of the construction workforce. This is the main finding of a report written by the Centre for Corporate Accountability for construction union, UCATT, which wants more HSE inspectors to support a tougher regime of enforcement and prosecutions, and apply pressure on small construction companies "all year round".

The report, Small isn't beautiful, reveals that in 2007/08, 51 per cent of construction workers killed worked for companies with fewer than 50 employees - a disproportionately-high total, while almost half of these deaths occurred in companies that employed five or fewer workers (so-called micro companies). Figures from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) show that 34 per cent of the construction workforce are employed by small and micro-sized firms.

UCATT says the research also suggests a potential need to impose statutory directors' duties on smaller firms, as well as medium and larger firms. General secretary, Alan Ritchie, said: "As the law stands a company boss is more likely to be sent to prison for not paying their taxes than killing one of his workers. It is an appalling state of affairs and sends a terrible message that we as a society consider life to be cheap."

The report also provides information on who died, where they worked, how they died, and their age. According to the CCA, a report of this kind could not have been published until recently because the HSE refused to publish the names of those whose deaths were reported to it. The Executive is now obliged to provide the names of the deceased following a ruling by the Information Commissioner in July last year.

Added Ritchie: "Each and every one of these deaths is an individual tragedy. This report spells out in stark clear terms how each individual died. In order to achieve real improvements in safety it is vital not to hide behind statistics."

Commenting on the report and the union's demands, Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), told SHP: "There is already a considerable amount of health and safety legislation in place but the real challenge is not more regulation but better enforcement of what already is in place with a strong emphasis on ensuring its practicality on site.

"We need to bring about a cultural change within the construction sector that takes health and safety more seriously. Better funding of the HSE would help, as would better advice to small firms and more access to training for all members of staff to help reduce the number of accidents and deaths on construction sites.

"The FMB encourages all building firms, particularly its members, to take advantage of the free publications available from the HSE, which are also available on the FMB website.".

HSE forced to reveal details of construction industry fatalities

The Guardian has reported that the names of construction workers killed on building sites, the companies they worked for and their causes of death are to be revealed for the first time after the Health and Safety Executive was forced to disclose details of construction-sector fatalities by the Information Commissioner.

The disclosure indicates that more than half the 72 builders who died last year worked at small companies employing fewer than 50 people, with a quarter of affected firms employing fewer than five people.

The building workers' union, Ucatt, says the figures highlight the effects of rampant casualisation in the industry, in which big building concerns subcontract major work and the bulk of the industry's 2 million workers are self-employed. The result, says Ucatt, is that small companies compete aggressively on price to win work, meaning safety standards are frequently compromised.

Last year, 229 workers of all types were fatally injured in the UK, with construction responsible for more than 30% of those deaths. More than 2,500 building workers have died in the past 25 years. Next month the government will publish a detailed analysis into safety in the sector.