Starting in early September 2023, the Health and Safety Executive will be undertaking construction site inspections, focusing on moving and handling of construction materials.

The Health and Safety Executive have recently issued a new operational guidance - ‘Construction - Welfare Standards’.  Whilst this guidance is aimed at their inspectors, it is a useful document to see what they are expecting to see on construction sites.

How dust is managed on site is a matter of life and death. Construction workers are dying and many more become chronically ill because construction dust can cause serious lung disease. Employers have a legal duty to control dust effectively and protect their workers’ lung health. 

As an employer, you're required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm.

To meet this requirement, you will need to complete a risk assessment to assess the risks posed by your work practices and implement identified control measures.

Where your risk assessment identified the need for tight-fitting RPE  to protect against the inhalation of hazardous substances in workplace air, it is your responsibility to ensure that the RPE will protect the wearer.

A civil engineering firm has been fined £600K for safety breaches after a seven-year-old child became trapped and suffocated on a construction site.

Seven-year-old Conley Thompson went missing from home on the morning of 26 July 2015 and was found the next morning by workers at the construction site at Bank End Road, Worsborough, in South Yorkshire.

If you are an employer or manager that is responsible for workers that predominantly work outside, you may need to reduce the risks associated with long term exposure to ultraviolet radiation or ‘UV’.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can cause skin damage ranging form sunburn to blistering, skin ageing and in the long term can lead to skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK, with over 40 000 new cases diagnosed each year.

UV radiation should be considered an occupational hazard for people who work outdoors.

Construction sites across Great Britain are being targeted as part of a month-long HSE respiratory health inspection initiative and Dust Kills campaign.

The HSE commenced Site Inspections focusing on dust control on the 6th June

The inspections are checking employers and workers know the risks, plan their work and are using the right controls to protect workers from inhaling construction dust including respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and wood dust. 

From 6 April 2022, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulation 2022 came into force and amend the existing 1992 regulations.

The main focus of the amendment is to extend the the duties relating to PPE for employers and employees alike to limb (b) workers.

Falls when working from height still remain the most frequent cause of workplace fatalities, resulting in around 25% of all work related deaths and approximately 8% of all non-fatal work related injuries annually. 

Many of these injuries involve falls from ladders.

HSE inspectors continue to visit businesses across Great Britain as part of their targeted inspections programme. Inspectors are checking that welding and use of metalworking fluids are correctly managed and carried out to minimise risk to workers’ health.

If your workers use metalworking fluids or undertake welding activities, the HSE have free resources available to ensure your business is taking the necessary precautions.

COVID spot checks and inspections continue as lockdown measures are lifted

As lockdown eases, the HSE is continuing to carry out spot checks and inspections on businesses in all areas to check they have COVID-secure measures in place.

Being COVID-secure means being adaptable to the current guidance and putting measures in place to manage the risk of coronavirus and making sure workers are following them.

On 22nd September the Government announced further measures in response to rising Coronavirus cases throughout Britain.

Starting on 6th July,  HSE will be paying special attention during their site and premises spot checks on Covid-19 management and control measures.

Do to the coronavirus, training has become a potentially difficult thing to provide to your employees safely and effectively .

In response to the government's guidance on social distancing, South Wales Safety Consultancy have moved to provide online training courses that can be taken at home, or in a socially distanced work environment.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have issued new guidance for construction and other outdoor work

The HSE issue new Guidance on carrying out thorough examination and testing of lifting and pressure equipment during the coronavirus outbreak

Time bound qualifications and cards – card schemes are urging site managers to show appropriate lenience to those with cards expired from mid-March and have relaxed renewal windows. 

What is the risk of catching coronavirus in the UK?

The UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. But the risk to individuals remains low.

Health professionals are working to contact anyone who has been in close contact with people who have coronavirus.

Starting on 7th October 2019, HSE will be carrying out its latest construction inspection initiative. This initiative will continue the focus on health, in particular the measures in place to protect workers from occupational lung disease caused by asbestos, silica, wood and other dusts when carrying out common construction tasks.

Starting on 17 June, HSE will be carrying out its latest construction inspection initiative.....

We have recently been made aware of a growing problem involving workers presenting fake or fraudulent CSCS cards on sites in the South Wales/South West areas.

Thumbs up safety stickers for your plant and vehicles.

Available now for just £3.99 + VAT

New scientific evidence has been published, showing that exposure to all welding fume (including mild steel welding fume) can cause lung cancer; there is also limited evidence linked to kidney cancer.