27.06.2003

UK campaign against falls from height stops work on 332 sites

Work was stopped at almost a quarter of the construction sites visited by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors during a national campaign against falls from height during the first two weeks of June. Another 5 per cent of the sites visited were issued with improvement notices and a number of dutyholders are still being considered for possible prosecution. There were also many instances of work voluntarily stopping until easily solved fall from height risks were reduced.

Inspectors visited 1446 construction sites across Great Britain to make sure that where work at height was taking place or planned, the risk of falling was being properly managed. Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of death, disability and injury in construction in Great Britain, accounting for 37 deaths and 1344 major injuries of workers in 2001/2. Twelve construction workers have died from fall from height accidents since the beginning of April this year.

Kevin Myers, HSE chief inspector for construction said: "It was good to see during the inspection blitz that many people were aware of the campaign and many people had also taken action to improve work at height practices. Yet despite the industry knowing that HSE inspectors were out in force specifically looking at falls from height, the standards on 30 per cent of the sites visited were so poor they required enforcement action.

“This evidence suggests that there is still a large number of people working in the construction industry that are either not aware or do not fully understand their duties to manage fall from height risks. This situation must change if we are to reduce the rate of falls from height, which remains the biggest cause of death or injury in construction.

"On a more positive note, inspectors did find numerous examples where excellent standards of working at height safely were displayed - both by major contractors, smaller sub-contractors and scaffolding companies. People were using new and innovative forms of access methods and equipment."

Some examples of poor practice identified by HSE inspectors were:
- An entire scaffolding gang were found to be wearing worn or damaged safety harnesses with no system for harness inspections;
- A refurbishment job where workers were walking across open steel beams at a height of approximately 6 meters with a fall onto
demolition debris below; and
- Many examples of inadequate or absence of toe boards and intermediate guard rails on scaffolding or work platforms;

Although sites were predominately found to be relying on traditional scaffold, harnesses or mobile towers there was evidence of increased use of mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs), nets and airbags. However some problems were identified with the installation of nets that were not being secured to suitable anchorage points.

The other problem area identified by inspectors related to poor compliance with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM Regs). In some instances contractors and planning supervisors were found to be either not fulfilling or not aware of their duties. Preliminary results of the national construction blitz on falls from height were:

Number of sites visited in Great Britain: 1446
Prohibition notices served: 332
Improvement notices served: 75

The blitz was part of 'Don't Fall For It', a Europe-wide inspection-led campaign to reduce falls from height in construction. The European Commission's Senior Labour Inspectors' Committee (SLIC) agreed to undertake this campaign on falls from height risks in the construction industry in 2003, supported by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. All member states should participate in the campaign.

For the first time, the blitz involved the co-ordinated action of all frontline construction inspectors in Great Britain during the two
weeks. The campaign features two inspection initiatives, the second will be taking place in September.

'Don't Fall For It' includes an advertisement campaign showing an injured worker who has fallen from height leaving the site in an ambulance under the caption 'Which white van will you be leaving in today?' The advertisement is currently appearing on billboards and in national newspapers and trade publications. Height Action Packs' have been sent out to respondents.

Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of death, disability and injury in construction, accounting for 37 fatalities (which is 47 per cent of all fatalities) and 1425 major injuries (which is 30 per cent of all major injuries) in 2001/2. Across all industries, falls from height accounted for 74 deaths and 5,286 major injuries in 2001/2. In the last five years, from 1997 to 2002, 211 workers have died and 8418 workers have sustained major injuries from falls from height in the construction industry.