More dangerous working conditions for construction workers?
20 May 2010
Campaigns to improve protection for construction workers have experienced an uphill struggle in recent weeks.
On the eve of the election the Labour government sidestepped 5 of the key recommendations of the Donaghy report into industry safety, refusing to extend gangmaster licensing to the construction industry.
With the arrival of the new coalition government this all becomes history. However, it raises the spectre of potential new threats. In the run up to the election the Conservatives confirmed that they intend to press ahead with plans to allow large construction companies to conduct private safety audits of their sites. Once a company obtains a private safety audit Health and Safety Executive inspectors will be barred from entering the site unless there was an emergency.
Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of construction union UCATT commented that “If implemented this will effectively end independent safety inspections and will lead to a greater number of workers being maimed and killed at work.” He added that “Construction deaths are all too frequent and they occur on sites run by both large and small companies. To ban inspections on sites run by some companies is not going to make the industry safer.”
The Conservatives proposals fly in the face of the Donaghy Report into construction safety. It specifically opposed so called “self-regulation”. Instead the report recommended an increase in inspector numbers, especially in London.
Construction is the most dangerous industry in Britain. Last year (2008/9) 54 workers were killed at work.
Filed under: construction workers