Personal injury solicitor news
13/09/2007

HSE strive to reduce construction accident increase

Construction accidents are becoming an increasing concern to both employees and employers as the risk of serious personal injury and even fatality become more commonplace.

The construction industry is one of the most work-accident prone industries to work in and a staggering 90% of falls from vehicle injuries in all industries result from falls below head height.

What's more, around 2,000 workers sustain serious personal injury and an average of 5 lose their lives across all industries every year because they of falls from vehicles, with the construction industry accounting for around 10% of these.

This is precisely why the Falls from Vehicles Campaign' is to be promoted from October to December 2007. There is a significant need to reduce the amount of injuries and deaths caused by falls from vehicles across all industries, which adds a cost of almost £37 million in human and economic costs to British businesses each year. However, the urgency to reduce construction accidents at work is just that little bit more prominent.

According to the Health and Safety Executive website, the campaign's collaboration with the construction industry will aim to do the following:

• Focus on falls from vehicles, especially falls from low heights
• Raise awareness of the risk associated with falling that workers are exposed to when accessing and/or working at height on vehicles and the actions that should be taken to minimise these risks
• Perform focussed inspections in the construction industry in October, November and December 2007
• Hold educational and promotional events in partnership with the industry
• Target those who can make a difference, with the messages that
• a)Falls from vehicles can cause serious personal injury, even fatalities
• b)There are simple, cost effective solutions that can be fitted to new and existing equipment

Those targeted by the campaign will include site managers and those responsible for activities involving vehicles, workers, vehicle manufacturers and financial/transport/logistic/engineering managers.

Read more about the Falls from Vehicles Campaign' and how to prevent construction accidents at www.hse.gov.uk.