HSE inspectors declare 17 Northern sites unsafe in spotchecks

Work was stopped on 17 sites last week after HSE inspectors declared them unsafe in spotchecks in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.

The inspections on 19 June found 17 of the 19 sites visited were risking workers’ safety. Incomplete and poorly installed scaffolding, lack of scaffolding where it should have been available, and work on fragile surfaces such as roof lights without the use of adequate safety measures, were among the issues reported.

The pictured scaffold received a prohibition notice when inspectors declared it unsafe: access was substandard, it did not provide a safe platform, and had not been put up by a trained scaffolder.

HSE inspector Dave Bradley said of the team’s findings: “I am disturbed at the amount of work inspectors had to stop because there was a clear risk to people’s safety.”

Timed to coincide with the HSE’s Height Aware Campaign, the inspections targeted smaller contractors and projects, and not large projects of the kind required to notify their work to the HSE.

“In light of the poor standards observed during these visits,” said Bradley, “we will continue to target contractors of this type when inspecting in the area.”

Inspectors in the region intend to continue with ‘saturation inspection’ of construction sites beyond the end of the Height Aware Campaign.