Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Health and Safety Executive has drastically reduced on construction sites in Scotland sparking concerns that employees in one of the most dangerous sectors of employment are at risk of obtaining a serious injury.

The HSE reduced unannounced inspections by more than 55% in the last year following drastic cuts to the health and safety budget by the Westminster government, which has control over such affairs. A number of experts have blamed the cuts to budget as the main reason for the decline in the number of random inspections.

According to data collated by UCATT, through use of a Freedom of Information Act, Scotland saw a drop of 55.7% in the number of random construction inspections being made by the HSE. The drop in Scotland was significantly higher than other countries in the UK, with the nation overall seeing a drop of 8.7% regarding the overall number of surprise inspections. The North of England was seriously affected, however, the overall drop in the number of random inspections was just 2%.

A new guide has been published by construction experts to encourage better management at construction sites and reduce the number of accidents on construction sites.

It is hoped that not only will the guide reduce the number of accidents, but also minimise the number of occupational diseases that affect hundreds of construction workers every week.

Workplace Accidents and Occupational Illness: Construction UK

Despite numerous efforts from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and safety campaigners, the construction industry is still a dangerous sectors to work in the UK with one of the highest numbers of fatal and serious accidents each year. Sadly a large number of these accidents are as a result of poor management and a failure to comply with health and safety guidance.