During the 2009/10 year, 42 workers died on British construction sites. That’s only 2 deaths for every 100,000 people working in the industry but it is still 42 lives ended too early and 42 grieving families. Perhaps the saddest thing is that every one of these deaths was preventable. With modern safety equipment and good working guidelines there is no construction industry job that can’t be done safely.
The rate of injuries was much higher and sadly, not all those injuries were a temporary inconvenience. A worrying number of construction workers suffered amputations and even permanent paralysis as a result of workplace accidents.
The good news is that construction fatalities are dropping. There are a number of reasons for this- safe working practices becoming better entrenched and better understood, improvements in fall arrest and safety technology, and- not least- stricter enforcement of health and safety regulations. Inspections are on the rise and prosecutions for unsafe working practices are now common even if there hasn’t been an accident.
Some accidents occurred where guidelines were not followed by staff, some where adequate equipment was not provided, and some where the necessary safety features were not correctly installed or not in good working order. It’s not only important to have the right gear, but also to check it regularly. Heightsafe can perform eyebolt testing and safety line testing for you and we can also check that all your safety equipment works as it should. We can help make absolutely sure that your company won’t be contributing to next year’s statistics.