CSG News

2019-11-21

How to make a building site a safer place

As per the latest estimates of the Labour Force Survey, in 2018/19 alone the Construction industry reported 66,000 cases of non-fatal work-related injury, 37% of which involved over three days and 28% over seven days absence. Over 2.0 million working days were lost – or 20,000 employees absent from work for a full year – between 2016 and 2019, due to workplace injury (19%) and work-related illness (81%). For individuals, employers, governments and taxpayers this means a total annual cost of £1.2 billion. Furthermore, workers on building sites are four times more likely to be fatally injured – 43 fatal injuries to construction workers were reported in 2018/19, almost a half of which relate to falls from heights.

Accidents on construction sites are nothing new, and a lot has been done in the past to improve the level of Health and Safety in Construction. For example, for small, low-risk organisations, with less formal Health and Safety Management processes, the Health and Safety Executive’s guide on managing for health and safety (HSG 65) as well as Health and safety in construction (HSG150) have been published. Both resources provide a clear, process-based approach to risk management, most relevant for small contractors, but applicable to everyone involved in Construction. These comprehensive guidelines are simple to adopt; they assist on how to work safely on a construction site, identify the main causes of accidents and ill health, eliminate hazards and control risks.

For companies with an extensive, well developed health and safety management structure in place, the new ISO 45001, published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in March 2018, might be a better choice. This framework provides guidance to help you identify health and safety risks, and take measures to eliminate, reduce and mitigate them. It offers advice on tackling common challenges, including operational controls, hazard identification, risk assessment and emergency preparedness, as well as insights to help your leadership team be more proactive and assess risks.

As a construction business owner, or worker, you should recognise the importance of, implement and follow all relevant processes and procedures in order to stay safe and ensure the safety of other people on site. The rules are there to protect lives, all you need to do is follow them.

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