Ulster’s “unacceptable” construction sites

More than half of Northern Ireland’s construction sites have unacceptable safety standards according to the latest figures released by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).

The claim follows a HSENI inspection campaign carried out from 23-27 July which found that contractors in the north are still prepared to risk the lives of their workers.

Ken Logan, Head of the Construction Sector of HSENI said: “It’s not acceptable that a worker should find their health and safety compromised just because that person is asked to work on one particular type of site as opposed to the other.”

Last year the industry saw five tragic deaths on construction sites, with four of these a result of falling from heights.

Mr Logan added: “We are determined to stop unsafe working practices, especially those involving working at heights. Where necessary we will serve prohibition notices to stop work activities that are dangerous. This is our only option, unless the Construction Industry puts it house in order.”

An HSENI official said although the figures show a slight improvement on last year’s figures the overall picture was still “disturbing”.

The inspections covered construction and house building sectors in Enniskillen, Omagh, Londonderry, Coleraine, Armagh and Portadown. Analysis of results from these areas show that that the type of site where a construction worker was employed could determine the degree of risk to that worker’s personal safety.

During the period between 23-27 July 122 inspections were carried out. A quarter of these were served prohibition notices. Alarmingly, in County Armagh six out of 10 HSENI inspections resulted in prohibition notices being served.

Overall less than half the sites were physically satisfactory and very few sites had the health and safety plans on site. Only 20 per cent of construction sites visited had appropriate scaffolding inspections.

Mr Logan concluded: “The message must go out loud and clear that this intolerable situation cannot continue. HSENI will target the offenders, and take preventative action where necessary, but it is the contractors themselves who must act – and act now to put their house in order before another worker’s life is lost.” (AMcE)