Industry condemned as falls from height standards fail to improve

The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) chief inspector for construction Kevin Myers has once again condemned the industry after its latest blitz saw a third of all sites visited failing to raise the standards of work from height.

Inspectors visited 1429 sites around the country for two weeks last month as part of the HSE's 'Don't Fall For It' campaign.

Some 332 prohibition and 82 improvement notices served, while 13 potential prosecutions are also being considered as a result of the inspections.

The results prompted Myers to say: "Given that most falls from height accidents are preventable, there is no excuse for not ensuring that all work being carried out at height is done safely.

"What inspectors found during the blitz suggests that a large section of the industry is not improving itself, as it claims. Many in the industry are deliberately cutting corners, paying lip service to safety and risking the lives of their workers."

In 2002/03, 33 construction workers died and many thousands more suffered a serious injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. Falls from height remain the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees.

"During this blitz, scaffolding and roofwork most often displayed the worst forms of bad practice," continued Myers. "It is not acceptable to work at height without first identifying the risks and putting into place measures to eliminate or control them.

"Propping up scaffolding on a pile of loose bricks, working on a roof without edge protection, and balancing on scaffolding tubing without any fall arrest system are all examples of work practices that could very quickly end in tragedy."      

Despite the disappointing results, the HSE did say that some inspectors had reported improvements where they re-visited sites in areas targeted during the last blitz.

'Don't Fall For It' is a European Union campaign on falls from height in construction and involves participation from all member states.