Construction site inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have fallen again – but the organisation says it is due to a change in its construction strategy.
Figures obtained by construction union UCATT, following a freedom of information request, show there were a total of 9,219 inspections in 2015/16 compared to 9,656 in 2014/15, a decrease of 4%.
Regionally, the greatest decline was in the south east where inspections fell by 26%, which comes on top of a 19.6% reduction in the previous two years. Other regions to record declines in 2015/16 were: Wales 18%, eastern 13%, Yorkshire 13%, north east 10%, west midlands 7% and London 5%.
In 2012/13, the HSE undertook 10,577 inspections. The latest figure indicates there has been a 13% decline in inspections nationally over three years.
Brian Rye, acting general secretary of UCATT, said: “These statistics are far from meaningless. They paint a serious picture of how a resource-starved HSE is increasingly unable to do its job. The reduction in inspections is endangering the lives, health and wellbeing of construction workers.”
However, the HSE has defended its approach, stating the figures do not take in the holistic approach to safety and the work of a number of divisions of the regulator.
An HSE spokesperson said: “Construction is one of HSE’s priority sectors and we fully recognise the important role that investigation, inspection and enforcement play in securing improvements in health and safety risk management.
“HSE has a dedicated construction division and approximately 50% of HSE’s field operations resources are devoted to the construction sector. Construction inspection teams also comprise of trained visiting officers who support inspection and investigation work, and inspectors have access to specialist construction engineering inspectors located across the country
“Not all of HSE’s construction work is delivered by its construction division. We have a flexible and trained workforce capable of dealing with construction hazards. Field operations inspectors routinely inspect and investigate incidents in smaller scale construction activity, such as roof work, alongside their work in fixed premises, and we have created multi-sector teams to contribute to construction inspection initiatives.
“There have been significant reductions in fatal and non-fatal incident rates over the last 15 years – the rate of fatal injuries has fallen by almost three quarters and the rate of major injuries by approximately two thirds."
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