More work to be done in construction

The number of deaths and serious injuries in the construction industry has long been of concern to both the government and more importantly the workers themselves. Tightening health and safety requirements for companies, along with increasingly stiff penalties for negligent employers, have made some difference to the totals but the figures are still unfortunately high.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has run periodic campaigns in the industry in an attempt to bring down the figures and according to the latest batch of results, they may well be making some headway.

In the first nine months of the 2008 reporting year, which begins in Apil, there were 46 deaths in the sector. This is a dramatic decline from the previous year, which saw 72 deaths. There was also a decline of 10% for serious injuries.

Despite these positive results though, the outcome from a serious personal injury at work can still be life changing for the worker involved and more needs to be done to protect them from injury and make it easier to claim compensation in the aftermath.

Injury worries
The drop in workplace personal injuries has been broadly welcomed from all sectors of the industry but a worrying trend that still needs considerable work to rectify involves the use of migrant labourers.

A recent request using the Freedom of Information Act found that the number of migrant workers who were killed on the job was worryingly high. Figures show that migrant workers are twice as likely to be killed while working than their native-born counterparts.

"These figures are a matter of considerable concern. Every employer has a duty to ensure that staff are able to work safely, wherever they're employed, and it's a real worry to see that people coming to the UK to work are at more risk of injury, or even worse, being killed, than their UK colleagues." Said personal injury solicitor Colin Ettinger.

Migrant workers are much more likely to work for lower pay and in the most dangerous sectors of the economy but there is no reason why they shouldn't have access to adequate compensation procedures especially with the popularity of no win no fee arrangements allowing those without large amounts of money to fight their corner.

Because builders and associated tradesman often work at heights and on sites with high numbers of dangerous machinery the chance of an accident is always there but that doesn't mean more can't be done to prevent unnecessary injuries.

Construction companies need to make absolutely sure that they always comply with health and safety legislation and give adequate training to workers using heavy machinery, particularly if English is their second language.