HSE set to put scaffolding work under safety spotlight

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The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) will be visiting construction sites in the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Warwickshire over the next 3 weeks.

The inspectors will target poor performance on smaller construction and refurbishment sites where scaffolds are in place.

The purge is part of a safety drive to reduce the number of workplace deaths an injuries.

In the press release the (HSE) reported that between 2006 and 2011 there were three fatalities and 250 injuries involving fixed or mobile scaffolds in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.

(HSE) inspectors will look at whether jobs that involve working at height have been properly planned to ensure that adequate safety measures are in place and that equipment is correctly installed, inspected, maintained and used.

Principal Inspector Jo Anderson, who will be leading the campaign, said:

“Scaffolding still poses a significant risk to those involved in its construction and dismantling as well as those who use it. Too many workers needlessly die because work was not properly planned or the equipment was incorrectly installed or used.

“Over the next three weeks, inspectors will target sites where poor scaffolding is putting workers at risk and when necessary take enforcement action.”

 

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