The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a series of inspections at construction sites across Manchester city centre this week.
Twelve inspectors will head to the city on 21 October to assess the management of health and safety risks on site.
The inspections will have a particular focus on:
- Asbestos;
- Musculoskeletal disorders;
- Noise;
- Health surveillance;
- Dust.
HSE will not provide prior warning to the sites that will be assessed.
The inspections in Manchester are part of 14,000 HSE inspections that are being completed nationwide during the current financial year, with around 8,000 of those specifically focusing on health risks.
Kevin Jones, HSE principal inspector, said: “We’ll be checking that businesses have the right measures in place to ensure health risks are being managed and that workers are being kept safe.
“Manchester is home to some of the biggest construction projects in the country, however, all sizes of sites will be inspected.
“By its nature, construction is a high-hazard industry. It can be noisy and dusty, with people often working at height and around heavy machinery and vehicles.”
Protecting people at work
The construction industry has higher-than-average rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injury, HSE said.
Previous HSE inspections have also found that 75% of noisy workplaces lacked essential knowledge on maintaining hearing protection equipment.
Workers in skilled trades are also at particular risk of discovering and disturbing asbestos when working on properties built before 2000.
“These inspections are really important in HSE’s mission to protect people at work,” Jones added.
“As well as checking on companies, we want to work with them, explaining what they should be doing to get everything right.
“We hope that our presence in the city next week will reassure both the public and those working in the industry that we will do all we can to ensure people go home safely at the end of the day.
“We need to see that there are good control measures in place and that the health and safety of workers is at the top of the agenda for everyone.
“We look forward to working with site managers and employers to ensure they are doing what’s required.”
Further information on what employers should be doing to keep their workforce safe is available here.
