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November 28 2018 Brunton's Blog | General
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Brunton’s Blog
28/11/2018
Brunton’s Blog – Issues of Site Safety -Some Facts and Figures
In the roofing industry the issue of health and safety of our workforce and others should always be to the forefront of our thinking and embedded in our site culture. While accidents can, and will happen, everything must always be done to eliminate and eradicate the surrounding causal circumstances. Accidents and near misses should always be something we learn from with a view to putting in practices, and methods of working that are safer and demonstrate better understanding. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and as a result, injuries on site, occur all too frequently, sometimes repeated.
Insurer, Direct Line has recently published new research stating that there were 26,196 non-fatal accidents recorded on building sites in the five years between 2012 and 2017. In the same period there were 196 fatalities. This is clearly a tragic and devastating situation for all concerned especially the individual and their surrounding family. Could any accident have been prevented through better understanding and improved assessment of risk?
The table below gives the statistics concerning the top five causes of site injuries.
Source: Direct Line for Business 2018
Overall the number of deaths in construction has fallen, with 2016/17 seeing the lowest number of fatal accidents in the sector in the last five years with just 30 deaths, compared to 47 in 2015/16. This decrease was driven by a decline in the number of fatal accidents caused by falling from a height (down 27%). Still, however, almost half (49%) of fatal accidents on building sites were the result of workers falling from a height.
We still see far too much irresponsible behaviour on projects, domestic and residential predominantly, without adequate edge protection and safe access.
Our safety training encourages the reporting of potential hazards and incidents with a view to immediate correction and site risk reduction. Do we report everything or is there still a reluctance if it does not directly affect our immediate working environment? Perhaps not, because of not wanting to disrupt site harmony. But clearly an accident is the worst kind of disruption possible. There have been instances where inspectors visit site and cannot carry out an inspection due to access safety issues. This is not only an inconvenience for the inspector but also for the contractor resulting in re-arranged visits and more time on site for inspectors and contractors alike.
Colleagues including fellow workers are also often affected having witnessed accidents and the negative impact on their mental health should be of serious concern. Issues concerning site workers health, both physical and mental, is thankfully getting increasing coverage in trade media and through various organisations dedicated to providing individuals and companies with backup and real support.
The devastation to individuals and families caused by site accidents and injury is of paramount concern to all involved in the construction industry, of that there is no question. However, there is also an economic impact to the industry at large and the companies involved. The construction industry lost more than 130,000 work days to injuries each year during the period 2014 to 2017. This clearly results in workers being off work and productivity losses, site delays and in some cases poorer quality due to increased skill shortage.
Furthermore, the risk of prosecution can have a devasting effect on the companies involved and individuals within. There were 246 construction cases during 2015/2016 brought to trial by the Health and Safety Executive on construction site safety issues with 205 cases (83%) resulting in a fine for the employer.
Last year (2016/2017) there was an improvement overall with the number of cases brought to trial that resulted in a conviction down to 206, of which the number of fines fell to 156 (76%). In the same time-period, 65 Improvement Notices and 53 Prohibition Notices were served. (Source: Construction Manager)
In summary there can be no more important issue than site safety. The personal devastation caused is immeasurable the economic impact high as the figures above demonstrate.
Always interested in our members views on this and all issues.
Dr Ronan Brunton B.Sc MBA GMICE
Technical Manager