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HSE clampdown on unsafe construction sites in the Borders

Government Communications (NDS)

16 February 2011

During 2009/10, three workers died while working in construction across Scotland, two of them during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities. There were 27 reported injuries on construction sites in the Borders in 2009/10. Starting on 24 February, Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be making unannounced visits to refurbishment sites throughout the Borders. The focus of the HSE inspectors will be ensuring that sites are managing work at height safely and that they are in good order, as well as checking that the risk of exposure to asbestos is being properly managed.In a similar campaign last year inspectors visited 276 sites and 376 contractors across Scotland. They issued 82 enforcement notices across 77 sites, and were forced to issue 62 prohibition notices to stop dangerous work – much of it relating to working from height. HSE Principal Inspector John Blackburn said: “This will be the fifth year that we have run the inspection initiative across Britain and we anticipate that that there will be examples of both good and bad practice - those where employers are taking all the measures they can to protect their workers and those where safety is way down the list of priorities. “A lax attitude to health and safety in one of the more dangerous industries is not acceptable, especially when many of the incidents are completely avoidable by taking commonsense actions and precautions. As we’ve demonstrated in previous years, we will not hesitate to take action if we find poor practice that is putting the lives of workers at risk.“This year, as part of ensuring risks from asbestos are properly managed, we will also be checking that, where appropriate, asbestos surveys have been carried out prior to any refurbishment work. Many workers believe that, because asbestos has been banned as a building material, it’s no longer a threat to them. But that simply isn’t true. Any premises built or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos.”