A nationwide blitz of constructions sites in March by safety inspections from the UK Health & Safety Executive resulted in nearly one in five sites being served enforcement notices to make improvements.
More than 1170 construction projects of all sizes were visited during the so-called Healthy Handling blitz to target risks from manual handling, the use of wet cement and hand held vibrating equipment and tools. Of the 214 enforcement notices that were served, 112 were on the target topics. Most of the rest were for failures to control risks of falls from height.
“There is clearly still much to be done by the industry to make the most basic precautions more commonplace,” said Kevin Myers, HSE chief inspector for construction.