Lancashire safety event held after construction deaths
December 10th, 2012
A construction safety event was held last month after figures found by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that, on average, a worker is killed or suffers a major injury on building sites in Lancashire every four days.
The statistics released by the HSE showed eight deaths and 415 major injuries were reported in Lancashire over the past five years between 2006/7 and 2010/11.
As many as 250 construction workers, who were either self-employed or own small firms, were invited to attend the one-off safety event at Park Hall Hotel and Leisure Club in Charnock Richard last month in an attempt to reduce the number of causalities in the county.
The event was organised by the Working Well Together initiative - a partnership between HSE and the construction industry - which aims to improve health and safety in the working sector. Each class covered a wide range of work accident areas including the dangers of asbestos, working at height, respiratory risks and temporary work.
Specialists from the construction industry and HSE were on hand throughout the day to answer questions, raise awareness and give practical advice to workers and employers on how to avoid the dangers.
Speaking on behalf of the HSE, Principal Inspector for Construction in Lancashire stated, “It’s an alarming statistic that there are almost two incidents of death or major injury reported on Lancashire’s construction sites every week.
“There are so many simple and straightforward precautions firms could be taking to reduce from asbestos, falls, dust and other dangers on building sites.”