HSE construction chief welcomes NAO report

A National Audit Office (NAO) report which gave a number of suggestions as to how health and safety in the construction industry can be improved has been well received today (Thursday) by the Heath & Safety Executive (HSE).

The report, published earlier this week, urged the industry and its government clients to do more to improve the health and safety of construction workers.

NAO recommendations to the HSE include: working with the industry to develop tangible measures linked to priority issues, such as falls from heights;  increase the number of follow-up interventions with firms visited under its blitz programmes; and maximise the potential impact of the programme through publicity and engagement with intermediaries.

The report also found that many designers lack knowledge of their responsibilities under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994.

And it suggested that the targets set at the 2001 health and safety summit for reducing deaths and major injuries (40% by 2005 and 66% by 2010) are unlikely to be met and can be measured only in part.

Despite the criticism, HSE chief inspector of construction Kevin Myers praised the report's findings. He said: "The report rightly emphasises that the primary responsibility for managing health and safety risks lies with all those in the supply chain who create the risks.

"This requires all parts of the supply chain to work in partnership with each other and with those that are exposed to the risks - the workers.

"The NAO report acknowledges a range of structural and cultural barriers that need to be overcome to improve performance in this area.

"The NAO gives a strong endorsement to HSE's Programme for regulating the industry.  It makes a number of helpful and constructive recommendations for further development and evaluation of that Programme - all of which will be incorporated into our future work to further challenge the industry to raise its game".