20 news feature How to make the construction sector safer
HBD reports on how construction remains one of the most dangerous sectors in terms of safety incidents, but that education is the answer.
I
f someone asked you what the most ‘danger- ous’ industry in the UK is, jobs that involve heavy and fast-moving machinery, heights,
electricity or the military would instantly come to mind. These suggestions are not unfounded: they all appear to have their fair share of obvious health and safety risks. However, when considering workplace safety,
there are many different factors to take into account. These include rates of work-related ill health, non-fatal accidents, and fatalities. These in turn relate to the size of (or number of people employed by) the industry, and the quality and availability of health and safety training for employees. The answer isn’t as simple as it seems
however; it depends how you define dangerous. The definition can range from the number of fatal injuries to the number of accidents recorded, not to mention that an estimated one in five workplace injuries go unreported.
Fatalities
When it comes to work-related deaths, there are a couple of industries that frequently rank highly. Recent HSE (Health and Safety Executive) sta- tistics show that construction was the worst for fatalities, with 43 people fatally injured at work in 2015/16. Of these, 27 were employees and 16 were self-employed. A further two people were killed in construction incidents who were mem- bers of the public. Possible explanations for this could be due
to long working hours, leading to greater exposure to risk, combined with hazards such as adverse weather conditions, dangerous tools or heavy machinery.
Industry comparisons
Looking at HSE’s report for 2015/16, construc- tion is clearly a dangerous industry, but it’s not alone. There were 27 fatal injuries to workers in agriculture, lower than the five-year average of 32. Two workers were killed in mining and quar- rying, compared to an average of four deaths for the previous five years. There were 27 fatal injuries to workers in manufacturing, 23 per cent higher than the five-year average. We expect construction, agriculture and min-
ing to come with a high level of risk, but every industry has its own level of risk to manage.
Believe it or not, those working in the hair and beauty industry often report a higher number of accidents than electricians, plumbers and even police officers.
Solutions
Due to the nature of the work and the limitations of regulation, construction is always going to be more accident-prone than some other industries. It involves heavy machinery, tools and materials, all of which are particularly difficult to manage in poor weather conditions. All the health and safety regulation in the world could not completely remove the possibility of at least a minor accident. Despite this, research suggests that the num-
ber of workers – across industries – fatally injured has been steadily decreasing over the last 20 years, although the last few years have seen this trend levelling off somewhat. This is likely due to several factors, but it’s good news for those working in accident-prone industries. It also provides hope that, even if we cannot eliminate risk from the workplace, we can still find ways to make working environments safer
for everyone. Richard Evens, commercial director of the
British Safety Council, said that education is key: “The way to mitigate risk and make construction safer is to raise the level of awareness and understanding of the prevailing risks. It’s then essential to put in place the appro- priate measures to reduce or, if possible, eliminate them. Those measures should include laws, regu- lations and guidelines.
“Recent HSE statistics show that construction was the worst for fatalities, with 43 people fatally injured at work in 2015/16. Of these, 27 were employees and 16 were self employed”
“A more immediate solution however is to
ensure employees at all levels have attended a “working safely” IOSH training course. Education across the board is key because improving health and safety across an industry starts with each and every employee.”
respond online at
www.hbdonline.co.uk
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