The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently conducted a month-long inspection programme to take a closer look at health and safety on Britain's construction sites. Its findings? 40% of the 1,748 construction sites visited failed the HSE's spot-checks. Worse still, 20% of the sites visited were so dreadfully non-compliant that the HSE was forced to pursue formal enforcement action against them - that's almost 350 sites in dire violation of basic health and safety laws!
Clearly, this country's construction industry needs to make more of an effort to protect its workers. Building sites can be very dangerous places, with all kinds of accidents just waiting to happen. Height safety was the area most commonly found lacking by the HSE's investigation, with workers repeatedly failing to take the measures necessary to prevent dangerous falls - this is particularly shameful, as height hazards tend to be very obvious and relatively easy to put right.
If you work on or are responsible for a construction site, you share in the responsibility to improve this dismal showing. Keep your eyes peeled for potential hazards, and if you see anything that you wouldn't want the HSE to see, act immediately! Health and safety regulations aren't there to cause headaches - they're there to save lives, and when all it takes is a safety sign or a strip of warning tape, there really is no excuse for letting your H&S standards slide.
