High risk of workplace accidents as third of construction sites fail HSE inspection

Published: 16/04/2013

Construction workers are being warned to take extra care in order to avoid an accident at work after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found nearly one-in-three sites in Wales failed to meet the minimum legal standards for health and safety.

In a month-long inspection, part of a national Health and Safety Executive crack down aimed at reducing the number of accidents in the workplace, 69 of the 224 sites failed the impromptu health and safety checks.

As a result the HSE issued 44 Prohibition Notices and 26 Improvement Notices.

Paul Harvey is the HSE Principal Inspector for Construction in Wales:

“It’s good news that the majority of the construction sites we visited were obeying the law but sadly some sites are letting down the rest of the industry.

“Poorly erected scaffolding, unsecured ladders, exposure to dangerous types of dust and inadequate washing facilities were among the poor standards we found on some sites.

“I hope by carrying out these spots checks we will help to raise awareness of the dangers and reduce the number of construction workers being killed or seriously injured at work.”

During 2011/12, 164 construction workers in Wales were seriously injured in an accident at work, accounting for 5.9 per cent of all major accidents at work throughout the UK.

Content correct at time of publication