Yorkshire construction sites on their guard

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are to visit construction sites throughout Yorkshire this month as part of a drive to reinforce the need to improve safety for those employees working from height.

It will mainly involve those working on the external part of buildings but will aim to cover all those at risk and will drive home the message to those in charge that poor standards are unacceptable and can put workers in danger. Figures for 2011/12 show that 49 workers died on construction sites in that year with falls from height accounting for most of the fatalities.

Recent months have seen a handyman die after falling from a roof in Bradford, a worker fall four a half metres while working on the construction of a new farm building in North Yorkshire, a man suffer severe head injuries after falling from the skylight on the roof of a garage in Ilkley and a worker fall seven metres when installing a flue liner down a chimney in Halifax because of an inadequate work platform which had no edge protection.

David Stewart, HSE's Principal Inspector for Construction in the Yorkshire region, said that falling from height continued to cause a significant number of injuries and deaths and in many cases workers have been needlessly put at risk. He said that simple changes to working practices can often make all the difference.