Category Archives: Health and Safety

Falls from Height and How to Avoid Them

Given that a lot of construction work involves the erection or maintenance of buildings, it is hardly surprising that falls from height are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Overall, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that 45 deaths and 3,750 serious injuries resulted from falls from height last year Suitable… Read More »

Your Rights as an Employee to be Kept Safe

Construction sites can be dangerous places and so everything possible needs to be done to ensure they are as safe as they can be. Fortunately, employers are legally obliged to ensure that the place where you work is safe and healthy. If they don’t adhere to certain rules, they’re breaking the law so it’s as… Read More »

Personal Protective Equipment in Construction – PPE

Personal Protective Equipment or PPE is designed to protect employees in their working environment against risks to their health and safety. PPE is labelled as protective equipment but the majority of the items that come under PPE are actually protective clothing such as hard hats, gloves, safety boots etc. By law employers should provide employees… Read More »

Construction Site Safety Basics

As one of the biggest businesses in the UK the construction industry offers many people an opportunity to work in a multitude of different occupations. Construction is a great career to get into but it comes with its own risks and even though site safety has come on in leaps and bounds over recent years… Read More »

Safer Workers are Better Workers

Although some companies consider health and safety a bit of a nuisance, something they do only because they have a legal obligation, others take a more enlightened view. Whilst the approach in the past was often to treat health and safety as a separate subject, now it tends to be an integrated part of the… Read More »

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) cuts “will kill”

UCATT, the Construction Union, says more workers within the Industry will be killed and injured as a result of the cuts being imposed on the HSE. It has been revealed that the safety watch dog is considering axing unannounced site safety inspections by a third. In March of 2011, the Government announced that automatic inspections… Read More »

Asbestos, The Hidden Killer

Danger Points – Any building built or renovated before 2000 could contain asbestos. – On average each week approximately eight joiners, six electricians and four plumbers die from asbestos related diseases. – Last year over 2,000 people died of mesothelioma, the lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, and death rates are continuing to rise. –… Read More »