The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has studied industries that “successfully learned from catastrophic incidents” to inform its new health, safety and wellbeing strategy.
CLC is launching the strategy today (1 July) at a summit with sector organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), mental health charity Mates in Mind, the Construction Industry Advisory Board and companies across the supply chain.
Construction remains one of the highest-risk sectors in which to work in the UK. In 2023, 51 people died at work in construction compared with 47 the previous year, HSE figures show. In the five years from 2019/20 to 2023/24, the average number of annual deaths in construction was 42.
CLC’s strategy is to “foster a new era in health, safety and wellbeing leadership” with a focus on three areas: integration, convening and elevating.
This will involve enhancing the way CLC integrates health, safety and wellbeing thinking into its normal business, bringing people together and amplifying their work, and providing clear direction to raise standards.
Standard-setting
CLC considered lessons on industry collaboration, standard setting and resilience from the oil and gas, Formula 1 and aviation sectors for its strategy.
In 2020, Swiss racing driver Romain Grosjean survived a serious crash thanks to the introduction of driver head protection (called ‘the halo’). Although the measure had been criticised by some in the industry, Grosjean said that it saved his life.
CLC said that setting non-negotiable high standards for safety, such as the halo, can have a powerful and lasting impact on the industry’s assessment of what is a tolerable risk.
The strategy will be overseen by a new CLC Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group, which will measure progress through industry-wide health and safety performance data. This group will report to the CLC board.
Mark Reynolds, CLC’s co-chair, said: “As leaders in the built environment and construction sector, we all have a responsibility to our workforce to improve the safety, health and wellbeing of our people.
“The government has set out its clear intent to invest in homes, the energy transition and infrastructure. We must all rise to that challenge and raise our game so everyone goes home safe, well and feels supported every day.”
Sarah Newton, chair of HSE, added: “We welcome this strategy and hope it will help the construction industry put the same focus on preventing ill health as it has done on preventing injuries.
“The CLC has been a key strategic partner in helping our Protect People and Places mission. Together, we have a great opportunity to improve health and safety in construction, an industry that is key in delivering the housing and infrastructure we need for growth. We look forward to its members turning this strategy into action.”
