Nearly one in four of Merseyside's construction sites failed safety inspections during the first two days of a month-long initiative.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors carried out checks at 88 sites during intensive inspections in the county. A total of 21 sites were found not to meet legally-required health and safety standards.

Several of the sites visited received more than one enforcement notice either stopping work activities immediately or requiring improvements to be made. In total, inspectors issued 22 prohibition and 21 improvement notices, with more than half of the notices relating to unsafe work being carried out at height.

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The inspections are taking place across the North West after eight construction workers lost their lives and more than 1,000 were injured in the region between April 2009 and March 2010.

Half of the deaths occurred during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities, which are the main focus of the latest HSE inspections being carried out up until Friday 11 March.

Inspectors are making unannounced visits to sites to ensure that work at height is being managed safely, sites are in good order, and the risk of exposure to asbestos is being properly managed.

Wayne Crumpton, Principal Inspector for Construction, said: "Workers' lives were potentially being put at risk on a quarter of sites we visited in just the first two days. That is a sobering statistic.

"Falls from height are one of the main causes of workplace deaths in the UK so it's both disappointing and worrying that more than half of the enforcement notices we issued were because companies were found not to be taking this risk seriously enough.

"We will continue to visit small construction sites, where refurbishment work is taking place, during the rest of the initiative. The safety of workers must be a top priority and we will not hesitate to take action when necessary."

(CD/GK)