Framework for Action over deaths agreed

Employers, industry bodies and unions agreed a “Framework for Action” at this week’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) safety forum.

The government billed Monday’s half-day event as not another “talking shop” after it had been specially convened to tackle the rising number of deaths in construction last year.

The Framework set out several key areas that included:

• Sharing best practice: working together to agree standards of health and safety for housebuilding and domestic repair/refurbishment projects;
• Raising levels of competence: extending the requirement for all site workers in the housebuilding sector to carry a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card;
• Encouraging worker involvement: ensuring union-appointed health and safety representatives are engaged on every site.

DWP secretary of state Peter Hain, who chaired the meeting, said: “There are already many areas on which we are agreed: the need to drive the informal economy out of the housebuilding sector; the need to take proper enforcement action and to ensure enforcement is properly resourced; the importance of making sure that health and safety is taken seriously right through the supply chain, from clients through to contractors and suppliers.”

UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie welcomed the forum. He commented: “What we need to make sure is that anything following this is not just a talking shop.”

The Strategic Forum is now expected to take over the initiative, with the next meeting due on 22 October.