CONIAC Open meeting: Thursday 26 March

HSE’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) will be holding an open meeting on Thursday 26 March 2009.

The meeting will begin at 10.00am and finish around 1.00pm. There will be an "open coffee break" approximately halfway through the session to give attendees an opportunity to meet with Committee Members and officials in an informal setting and ask questions.

To register for the CONIAC meeting please complete the Registration form. Only people who have registered before hand will be allowed into the meeting. There is no charge for admission to the meeting but please note that seats are limited in number.

For more information and registration links visit the HSE website

Making the Difference - Achilles Accreditation for Nationwide Platforms

Following an intensive two day audit at its head office in Lutterworth, Nationwide Platforms, part of Lavendon Access Services, is delighted to announce that it has successfully gained the Achilles Construction Building Confidence Accreditation, thus demonstrating the extremely high standards that Nationwide Platforms operates to. The accreditation programme was developed by one of Nationwide Platforms' largest customers, Bovis Lend Lease, in partnership with Achilles Information Ltd. It is designed to assess the construction industry supply chain in the key areas of safety, environment, sustainability, quality, occupational health and finance.

UK Quality Health, Safety & Environmental (QHSE) Manager for Lavendon Access Services, Chris Wraith commented:

"The Achilles accreditation is a benchmark which Nationwide Platforms should be proud of. With competition for business more apparent than ever, this successful accreditation reinforces Nationwide Platforms' reputation as the UK's number one leading supplier of powered access."

You can read the full story at the Nationwide Platforms website

IDE Update by IDE President Terry Quarmby

HSE spot checks raise concern over safety standards

Spot checks carried out by the HSE at construction and refurbishment sites has raised major concerns over the safety standard being employed.

Geoffrey Podger, HSE chief executive said:

"Over one in three construction sites visited put the lives of workers at risk, and operated so far below the acceptable standard that our inspectors served 395 enforcement notices, and stopped work on 30 per cent of the sites.

We stopped work on site immediately during approximately 300 inspections because we felt there was a real possibility that life would be lost or ruined through serious injury. Our inspectors were appalled at the blatant disregard for basic health and safety precautions on refurbishment sites across Great Britain.

It is totally unacceptable that so many lives have been put at risk and we will take all action necessary to protect workers, including closing sites and prosecuting those responsible. The construction industry should take ownership of this issue and do more to tackle poor standards on sites."

You can read the full story at Safety & Health Practitioner

Council and Contractor fined almost £29,000 for exposing staff to asbestos

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released news of some major fines being awarded for contractors and employees being exposed to asbestos. The press release is reproduced in full below:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today warned property owners to ensure that they keep accurate records of asbestos in their buildings and pass any information on to contractors.

The warning follows a serious incident in which contracted workers as well as council employees were exposed to airborne asbestos fibres during minor refurbishment work at Castlebrae High School, Edinburgh in July 2007.

The City of Edinburgh Council was fined £17,600 after pleading guilty to charges under sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulation 4(9) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

The contractor Dalkeith Demolition Ltd was fined £11,333 after pleading guilty to charges under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulation 8(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

The City of Edinburgh Council contracted Dalkeith Demolition Ltd to remove asbestos-containing material disturbed by another contractor undertaking refurbishment work at the school. Dalkeith Demolition Ltd were not licensed by HSE to do such work nor were they competent to do the work. Their workers had not been trained so did not take established control measures to minimise the exposure to themselves as well as to other people in the vicinity.

HSE Principal inspector Jim Skilling commented after the case:

“The City of Edinburgh Council failed to keep an understandable register of asbestos and failed to ensure that a full survey for asbestos was carried out prior to any work starting so the information available was not sufficient to alert persons to the immediate danger from the asbestos.

“In view of the Council’s previous experience of managing asbestos, this was a very disappointing incident. Over 4,000 people are dying every year in Great Britain due to the unrecognised exposure to asbestos earlier in their working lives. Legislation came into force in May 2004 which requires the organisation in control of any non domestic premises to identify and assess asbestos in those premises.

“The Council initially failed to identify that asbestos was present and then when it was established that asbestos had been disturbed, they did not ensure that a competent, licensed contractor undertook the work in a satisfactory manner.”

In October 2008 HSE ran a campaign “Asbestos – the hidden killer” which highlighted the fact that 20 tradesmen are dying every week from asbestos related diseases. The purpose of the campaign was to increase the awareness amongst tradesmen, like those involved in this incident, and their employers of the risks from exposure to asbestos.

The original press release can be downloaded from the HSE website