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HSE Press Release: E044:05 04 April 2005

HSE taking designers to site

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) construction inspectors will again ‘Take a Designer to Site’ during April and May 2005, continuing the campaign to reduce the number of incidents involving falls from height in the construction industry.

HSE construction inspectors will meet designers and planning supervisors on a range of construction sites across Scotland and the North of England. Designers will be challenged on the way design issues affect the risks associated with work at height during the construction and the future maintenance of a building.

Work at height remains the single most significant cause of fatal incidents on construction sites in Great Britain (GB): responsible for over half of all construction related deaths during 2003/4.

While many designers are increasingly showing greater confidence and enthusiasm in applying resources and innovation tackling the risks associated with falls from height, others unfortunately, continue to fail in this vital area of the construction process.

Previous initiatives in 2003 and 2004 revealed that many designers failed to eliminate hazards, reduce risks and provide project-specific information despite having legal duties to do so since the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) came into force on 31 March 1995.

HSE hopes that this year’s initiative will show continued improvement in the way designers are fulfilling their duties. However inspectors will be taking appropriate enforcement action to secure improvements from designers who fail to meet the minimum legal standards.

Notes to Editors

1. In 2003/04, 36 construction workers died (out of a total of 70), and many thousands more suffered serious injury, as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees. Provisional data shows that 31 fatalities were as result of a fall from height during 2004/5.
2. During the previous initiative in 2004, 122 projects were visited. Results of this initiative were previously reported in HSE press release E073-04 (2 nd June 2004) http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2004/e04073.htm
3. The following examples are extracts from the 2004 initiative report, which can be viewed on the construction pages of the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers/report.pdf
   • Example: In order to clean the windows on a float roof area of a building, it was necessary to access the roof void, climb out onto the rear of a pitched roof, climb over the roof line and down the other side, then clamber onto the flat lead roof, which lacked edge protection.
   • Example: A designer decided that the “use of elevated work platforms” should be considered a hazard, the suggested control being “all construction staff to wear hard hats on site.
   • Example: An architect assumed that safety nets could be used to prevent falls, but did not know whether their structure would be suitable for attaching nets to, and did not understand that the nets would deform and stretch if a person fell into them.
4. More information for designers can be found on the HSE web pages: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers/index.htm
5. HSC is currently consulting on the revised CDM Regulations and guidance. An electronic reply form and the full text of the draft Regulations and guidance can be viewed or downloaded from the HSE website at http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/consult.ti/conregs/consultationHome
6. In 2001 the construction industry set itself the following targets for improvement:
   • Reduce the incidence rate of fatalities and major injuries by 40% by 2004/5 and 66% by 2009/10;
   • Reduce the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health by 20% by 2004/5 and 50% by 2009/10:
   • Reduce the number of working days lost per 100,000 workers from work-related injury and ill health by 20% by 2004/5 and by 50% by 2009/10.
7. The industry’s achievements to date are:
   • 2003/04 had the lowest incidence rates ever for all injuries: fatals, major and over 3 day.
   • The fatal injury rate has fallen 25% since the baseline of 1999/2000 and 40% since the 2001 Summit.
   • The employee major injury rate has fallen 15% since 1999/2000 and 12% since the Summit.
   • The employee over-3-day accident rate has fallen 25% since 1999/2000 and 18% since the Summit.
8. A provisional summary of fatal incidents in the construction industry during 2004/5 is attached as Annex 1.

Public Enquiries : Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 0845 345 0055, visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact, or write to: HSE InfoLine, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

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