Health and safety in the construction industry is already under a very big metaphorical microscope thanks to 2009 being one of the worst years for health and safety statistics in the industry’s history. The continuation of the recession into 2010 has caused experts to question whether or not companies will be able to do anything to rectify this issue due to a lack of time and money.
Mactavish, a research firm specialising in commercial risk and insurance has recently voiced their concern about the cut in UK health and safety budgets of many a construction company. Health and safety management as well as providing workers with the correct safety clothing such as work shoes could be overlooked due to cuts in the relevant budgets. One would be surprised at what a difference it makes when men wear the correct shoes and women are provided with appropriate ladies footwear.
The report stated that: “At least some knock-on impact on site practice compliance and injury incidence must be expected.”
The UK Contractors group (UKCG) did not react fondly to the statements made by Mactavish, saying that they were definitely not planning on cutting any corners when it came to health and safety at work:
John Spanswick, chairman of Bovis Lend Lease, commented that: “We are not planning to spend less on health and safety and will continue to invest in the future. Health and safety policy is not simply about budgets it is about commitment and attitude. UKCG members remain committed to a pro-active health and safety agenda that builds and develops on the progress over the last ten years.”
Apart from the possible budget cuts of construction health and safety, another factor which could affect the industry is that fact that many companies are going into joint ventures in an effort to win bigger contracts. This could often result in one or more companies winning contracts for jobs that are slightly out of their area of expertise, which results in major health and safety regulations being overlooked. This was worded in Macvitish’s document as “Contractors are now routinely winning bids they’re not qualified to do.”
Let’s hope the Macvitish report is proven wrong by the UK construction industry and that 2010 health and safety statistics show an improvement compared to a terrible 2009.
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