Lawford Kidd's Blog

Unsafe practices on construction sites are to be targeted as part of a national initiative aimed at reducing death, injury and ill-health.

During a month-long drive to improve standards in one of Britain's most dangerous industries, the Health and Safety Executive will visit sites where refurbishment or repair works are taking place.

Inspectors will ensure that construction sites are effectively managing high-risk activity, such as working at height.

Regular safety inspections, a maximum temperature in the workplace and far greater control of carcinogens are just some of the improvements that the TUC is calling for in its new ten point safety manifesto.

The report, Time for change, features ten key recommendations which the TUC believes, if implemented by a future government, could help turn around the UK's poor safety record, and prevent a good many of the 20,000 workplace-related deaths which occur in the UK every year.

The TUC is also hoping its manifesto for change will make the case for good health and safety practice, in a climate where safety laws are increasingly seen by ministers as unnecessary burdens on business, and where spending cuts and changes in regulations are making it more difficult to police employers who play fast and loose with their employees' safety.

The risks facing workers across Scotland would appear to be increasing rather than falling, as the latest provisional figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that 20 workers lost their lives while at work in Scotland last year - an increase of six on the previous year.

HSE disappointment

The HSE has expressed its disappointment at the figures, and has called on business to rethink workplace safety provisions and to focus on real risk in an attempt to bring the numbers down.

An Edinburgh food firm has been fined after a worker seriously injured his hand on an unguarded dough mixer.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Joseph Burnett had been employed as a factory assistant for almost four months and helped to sort ingredients, make Chinese dumplings to order and package products.

On the day of the incident he was working on an industrial-sized dough mixer, into which ingredients and water are placed. Paddles then rotate to mix the ingredients into dough.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) not to water down but to implement in full a European Directive to prevent so-called ‘sharp injuries’.

APIL was responding to a HSE consultation on the subject. In its response, APIL stated that the draft regulations were ambiguous and contained loopholes which may leave some workers unprotected.

“If, as proposed, the regulations only apply to an employer whose ‘main activity’ is healthcare, then an organisation which provides healthcare services as well as services in other sectors, like aviation for instance, may be exempt from the regulations altogether,” said APIL president Karl Tonks. “Surely this would undermine the entire point of having regulations in the first place, as they are meant to ensure people’s safety across the board.