The construction industry is well known for having the highest risk of sustaining an injury at work. The Health And Safety Executive (HSE), have brought in stringent guidelines and regulations to reduce the number of injuries and especially fatalities from workplace injuries. If someone is injured in their workplace then the HSE will investigate and take the company to court if they have been found to be not abiding by the regulations, as noted in these 3 cases this year.
Construction company fined after worker fell 6 meters ( Nov 2016)
A worker was repairing a fibreboard roof of a barn and using two homemade crawling boards when he fell 6meters on to the floor below, sustaining serious injuries to his head, hip, and lungs.
Construction firm fined after hoarding falls on passer-by (Oct 2016)
A construction company from Cambridge has been fined after temporary hoarding from one of their sites fell onto a member of public walking along the high street.
Council fined after employee was injured from fall (Oct 2016)
A Yorkshire council has been fined after an employee was injured when he fell from a ladder.
The above reports can be found on the Health And Safety Executive website
In all of the cases above the management teams had failed in their roles to ensure that the employees were adhering to the HSE regulations for the job they were undertaking.
Apart from the danger building sites, whether new builds or even just maintenance work on an existing house, are just the same any other workplace in the UK. Management expect the employees to work as quickly, efficiently, as is possible, and of course producing faultless work to a high standard. But to reach these ideals we need to ensure that firstly our employees are kept up to date with the latest regulations and training for their skill set. A lot of companies do not like spending money on training as they look on it as an expense and not an investment. Those that do tend to find that they lose less man days due to their employees not taking as many sick days through injury
The second point is to ensure that all of the equipment that our employees are going to be using meets all regulations and that it is being utilised in the way the manufacturer designed it to be.
These are just two points, but they will go along way to helping your employees be more productive and also ensuring you are not the company being taken to court by the HSE for failing in your duties to your employees.