Detailed figures published on November 2nd by the Health and Safety Executive confirm that fatalities rose by 20 per cent in 2010/11, with 50 workers being fatally injured.
George Guy, Acting General Secretary of UCATT, said: “These figures are a terrible indictment on the dangers faced by construction workers. This rise in deaths came at a time when workloads are low. As work levels increase and new workers enter the industry, I fear that death rates will rise.
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Mr Guy, added: “This situation is made far worse as the Health and Safety Executive will increasingly struggle to ensure workers safety, as they are facing cuts in their budget of 35% by 2015. Even before these cuts were introduced most construction workers only ever saw an HSE inspector when a death or serious injury had already occurred.”
The HSE figures also reveal that construction workers are the profession most at risk of developing occupational cancer. Construction accounts for 56% of occupational cancer registrations in men. The great risk remains exposure to asbestos, which accounts for 71% of cases where workers have been exposed to a carcinogenic substance.
Mr Guy, further added: “The risk of being exposed to asbestos or other carcinogenic substances is not purely historic. Workers continue to be exposed to lethal substances, on a daily basis. Employers know the risks and there must be no excuses to workers being exposed to lethal substances.”
(GK)
