Construction union UCATT have welcomed the appointment of Ian Pearson as the new construction minister. However, the union said Mr Pearson's predecessor Shriti Vadera "entirely failed to engage with the union or its concern during her tenure in the post".

UCATT were outraged to recently discover that before her departure Ms Vadera was actively encouraging the undermining of health and safety rules. UCATT believes that if the plans were ever enacted it would cost construction workers lives.

Alan Ritchie General Secretary of UCATT, said: "We welcome Mr Pearson's appointment into the construction portfolio. We are seeking an urgent meeting with him about the state of the industry. We will be demanding firm assurances from him that Shriti Vadera’s plans for self-regulation of health and safety in construction are dumped on the compost heap of ridiculous proposals."

-- Advertisement --

Ms Vadera was working with construction employers to develop a system of self-regulation for the construction industry. The scheme would have meant that construction employers would have become responsible for policing themselves and undermined the role of the Health and Safety Executive.

UCATT were not consulted on Ms Vadera's plans to impose self-regulation on the industry, despite the union leading the campaign for greater safety in the industry.

Mr Ritchie added: "Ministers such as Shriti Vadera need to have a reality check. It is not company directors who are killed on building sites but workers. Appeasing bosses does not make sites safer."

(CD/JM)