The
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said it will ‘blitz’ construction sites
during June in a bid to cut down on fatalities and serious injuries in the
building industry.
The
initiative forms part of the Fatal Risks Campaign 2004, an EU-wide initiative
to address the three major causes of fatal and serious injuries in
construction.
The
campaign centres on falls arising from working at height, transport on building
sites and lifting heavy loads with cranes and other lifting machines.
These
incidents account for more than 70 per cent of all fatal injuries in the
construction industry, with almost 300 workers dying from these causes in the
last five years.
The
HSE’s chief inspector for construction, Kevin Myers, said the whole industry
had to go through a culture shift to advance and sustain improvements in health
and safety.
