Construction workers could be left without hard hats on sites after life-saving laws were scrapped last week.
This is the warning from leaders of the union UCATT who are concerned that the end of head protection regulations could lead to construction firms skimping on safety equipment.
The head protection laws were scrapped from last Saturday (6th April) after the Lofstedt Review which recommended their deletion.
Ucatt argued against the deletion of the regulations and said the previous law had seen the average number of construction workers dying as a result of a head injury fall from 48 a year to 14 a year.
Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT said: “Construction workers are being placed in danger by the scrapping of these regulations.
“Many construction companies will use the scrapping of the regulations as an excuse not to provide life-saving protective equipment.”
But the HSE insisted the change would not jeopardise site safety standards.
Contractors will still need to comply with the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992 which have been amended so that they cover the provision and use of head protection on construction sites.
The HSE said: “These changes do not compromise essential health and safety protections. The aim is to make the legislative framework simpler and clearer.
“HSE is taking action to raise awareness of the changes.
“This includes working with the construction industry (particularly small contractors) to ensure that it understands the continuing need for employers to provide hard hats and ensure they are worn on construction sites.
“Hard hats remain vital in protecting construction workers from head injuries.
But Murphy added: “It is highly distressing that the HSE is failing to take proactive measures to ensure that workers are not placed in danger.
“Hoping that the construction industry will send out a message is a complete abdication of the HSE’s responsibilities.
“Workers who are being placed in danger need to be told whether this is a result of HSE policy, as a result of a lack of resources or because of Government intervention.”
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
And more fitting in the swede, on the up side could get a better tan
The next thing to come in will be chin straps on hard hats all times
Why not use common sense we should all have been born with it
to my knowledge they havent been scrapped they have just been re-written into the PPE Regulations, comments please?
Why remove the regs then?
We suggest still wearing them.
@ Adrian Connolly!
Other legislation requires that hard hats be worn. So even though the head protection Regs have been removed, wearing a hard hat is still (and will remain!) very much a requirement!
What’s next no harness while doing a hanger
Don’t understand if PPE and safety on site say you still need them?!
Safer keeping it on with amount of crap left on boards by other trades,
Hse website says the law still stands unless you wear a turban
you can still wear them by choice , so I suppose that was another waste of money meeting by the powers that be , I,ll take a guess it probably got put up by the European cunts , not naming names but probably the French