The Government faces renewed calls from the TUC to introduce corporate manslaughter legislation after statistics showed that three construction workers die at work in the UK every two weeks.
TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady said employers would only change poor health and safety practices if there was a law that could hold them to account for the deaths of staff or members of the public.
Speaking at the start of European Health & Safety Week, she said: “A corporate manslaughter law would force employers to make safety a priority and the fear of penalties would make them train their employees properly.
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“Thousands of British construction workers do not speak English as a first language and token gestures, such as safety leaflets and posters put up around building sites, don’t even begin to address the problem,” O’Grady said.
She also called on bosses to take their training responsibilities seriously and invest in employee skills to improve levels of safety.
