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Health and Safety Commission Paper MISC/03/12 Meeting Date: Open Gov. Status: Fully Open Type of Paper: Misc Paper File Ref: MISC/03/12 Exemptions: None

HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION

Health and Safety Developments in the Construction Industry

A Paper by Kevin Myers and Ashley Salandy

Advisor(s):

Cleared by on

Issue

1. To update the Commission on health and safety developments within the construction industry including HSE’s second report to Ministers on the industry’s progress with implementation of the Construction Safety Summit Action Plans.

Timing

2. Routine.

Recommendation

3. That the Commission notes the developments in paragraphs 7 to 22 and the report at Annex A.

Background

4. In response to growing concern over the construction industry’s health and safety performance, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Health and Safety Commission called a Construction Health and Safety Summit in February 2001. At the Summit, the industry (through its umbrella bodies) publicly committed to implementing Action Plans to reduce the toll of death, injury and ill health, and to achieve the challenging Revitalising targets set by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC).

5. In 2001 the Government formed the Strategic Forum for Construction to replace the defunct Construction Industry Board. HSE was also tasked with reporting industry progress in implementing the Summit Action Plans to Ministers, the HSC Chair and the Strategic Forum. The first of these reports was delivered in February last year (see HSC paper MISC/02/11). The second report (attached as Annex A) was

delivered by HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction, Kevin Myers, at a meeting with Health and Safety Minister, Nick Brown earlier this year. It has also been placed in the public domain through the HSE and the Working Well Together (WWT) campaign websites, and publicised through a Press Notice.

6. The Summit pushed health and safety to the top of the construction industry’s agenda. As a result, there have been various initiatives (both internal and external to HSE) designed to improve the industry’s health and safety performance. These are briefly outlined below but can mostly be found in more detail in the annexed second report.

Argument

7. Second Report to Ministers – HSE has prepared and delivered a second report to Ministers covering the 12-month period between December 2001 and November 2002. Like the first report, it details the industry progress in implementing the Summit Action Plans. But it also goes beyond the first report in providing a wider perspective on the industry’s health and safety performance.

8. Once again, it has been difficult to draw definitive conclusions in the report about the impact the Action Plans are having on health and safety performance. There is real engagement in the health and safety process at the highest levels of the industry. The action plans are still relevant and are playing an important role in keeping the industry focused on health and safety. The drive towards a fully qualified workforce is the best example of the good work that the action plans have generated. The number of construction workers accredited under the Construction Skills Certification Scheme has increased from 140k to 535k between February 2001 and April 2003 This has been achieved by bringing together a number of separate schemes and significantly increasing the overall number of workers accredited. For example in Q1 2001 some 1247 cards were issued, Q1 2002 6483, and over 7000 were issued in January 2003 alone. Each new card will require the person concerned to pass a health and safety test.

9. However, there is little hard evidence that increased health and safety awareness has yet permeated the industry at site-level. The construction blitzes (paragraph 20 below) show that despite the efforts at the highest levels in the industry, there remain real difficulties in driving the message down to those most at risk.

10. Having said that the substantial reduction in fatal injuries to workers in 2001/02 (to 79) in comparison with the previous year (105) and the expectation that there is further improvement in 2002/03 are grounds for optimism; but it cannot yet be said that there is convincing evidence that an inexorable downward trend has been established, either for fatal or major non-fatal injuries. The latter is compounded by changes in the levels of RIDDOR reporting.

11. In addition evidence of positive changes in health and safety standards have been identified by worker polls carried out by the construction press. One journal reported that over half of those workers surveyed felt that sites had become safer in the last year, whereas only 8% felt they were less safe (Source: Construction News). A second journal reported that 78% of workers had noticed an improvement in site safety over the last 2 years. (Source: Contract Journal)

12. Kevin Myers, as well as presenting his report personally to Nick Brown, also took the opportunity to brief him on key health and safety issues facing construction. These included the nature, composition and health and safety problems of the industry; HSE initiatives; and the Revitalising targets. The meeting went well with the Minister obviously engaged and appreciative of the briefing about an industry that is crucial to the delivery of HSE’s PSA targets. Following the meeting, Nick Brown wrote to the new Chair of the Strategic Forum, Peter Rogers, reaffirming Ministerial commitment to working with the industry to improve health and safety performance.

13. Strategic Forum for Construction – Since its inception, the Strategic Forum has had health and safety as a key, crosscutting theme. In September 2002, the Forum published a report of its first year’s activity “Accelerating Change” in which health and safety features prominently. In the foreword to the report, then Chairman Sir John Egan speaks of his “passionate belief” in the importance of the industry tackling its health and safety problems and stressed the need to value and respect its workforce.

14. Also in September 2002 the Strategic Forum was reconstituted with a new Chairman and with the industry – rather than the DTI - assuming responsibility for its administration. The reconstituted Strategic Forum has now settled down and there have already been 5 meetings under the Chairmanship of Peter Rogers. Brian Wilson, DTI Minister with responsibility for construction, attended its meeting on 19 March. Commissioner George Brumwell continues as a member of the Forum, and HSE attends the meetings as an observer (along with DTI and the Office of Government Commerce). We continue to see the Forum as an important ally in raising the health and safety agenda (paragraph 43 of Annex A).

15. HSE Discussion Document - HSE successfully launched its Discussion Document (DD) - "Revitalising Health and Safety in Construction" - in September 2002. The DD looks fundamentally at the cultural influences underlying the industry’s poor health and safety record. It seeks ideas on how everyone involved in construction processes, including clients, designers and contractors, can work better together to deliver the Revitalising targets. The press launch was well attended and most of the delegates stayed on for the Executive Briefing that followed. The Executive Briefing consisted of a series of presentations, by members of the industry, on the key issues in the DD.

16. The DD was supported by an online Discussion Forum where interested parties could join debates, post information or simply respond online. A free leaflet was also published to help the debate reach SMEs and workers (paragraph 34 of Annex A). The deadline for responses to the Discussion Document was the end of last year. Over 300 replies were received and these are being considered within HSE and with CONIAC. HSE will be presenting a paper with its preliminary conclusions to the Commission meeting on 10 June. However it is clear that this consultation process has not revealed significant new ideas – but has re-emphasised the importance of key elements of current policies and strategies.

17. Priority Programme – The Commission’s strategic decision to establish a Construction Priority Programme with the Chief Inspector as Programme Manager has enabled closer working relationships across HSE and secured a greater focus on key issues. This allows HSE to better stimulate the industry to achieve the challenging RHS

targets it set itself at the Construction Summit. The Commission receives regular reports on Programme achievements through other papers.

18. Construction Division – The newly formed Construction Division has now completed its first year in operation. This is the first time that HSE’s construction resources have been under the direct management of the Chief Inspector. This has improved the focus of our activities on reducing injuries and ill health (paragraph 37 of Annex A).

19. The Division works closely with key intermediaries in the construction industry such as trades’ federations, the trades unions and the professions, both through CONIAC and separately. The Major Contractor Group’s Charter is indicative of the initiatives where we provide stimulation and support. The WWT campaign is a flagship in HSC/E’s SME engagement and industry self help. The WWT November conference at which the HSC Chair gave the keynote address saw SME’s across GB committing to support existing WWT groups and establish new ones. It will also help to raise standards at local level through HSE/industry partnerships delivering Safety and Health Awareness Days. Thirteen of these were held last year accessing over 2300 SMEs in the target sector of employing less than 15

20. The Division has also implemented a new intervention strategy, which builds upon and complements traditional site-based work so that those who create the risks play their part in their control. For example, we are trying to influence the role of clients and designers by targeting more of our interventions further up the chain of duty holders (paragraph 38 of Annex A). As part of our Intervention Strategy, we carried out eight widely publicised construction blitzes in London, Scotland and North England, Wales/West Midlands/South West and East Midlands. Several of these concentrated on falls from height, one of the key risks in the industry. But despite advance publicity, nearly 50% of sites visited required enforcement action (paragraph 39 of Annex A). The most recent blitz involved bringing designers onto sites to consider whether and how they discharged their obligations under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM Regulations). This was the first time many had been challenged in this way. Further details are contained in Press Notice (E066:03).

21. Formal reports to the Commission on the delivery of its Strategic Plan in 2002/03 are in hand but for convenience a brief summary of some of the activities and outputs of the Construction Priority Programme are set out in Annex B.

22. Occupational Health scheme – HSE’s commitment to developing and running an occupational health support scheme remains but there are significant challenges to overcome with regard to funding. CONIAC’s Occupational Health working party has recognised that ownership of the project should lie with the industry with HSE playing a facilitation role. At its meeting on 27 March 2003, CONIAC agreed to the formation of an ‘Action Forum’ working independently of CONIAC to establish a Consortium responsible for funding and managing the scheme.

Consultation

23. Colleagues in the Construction Division Sector and Hazardous Industries Policy Division have been consulted. CONIAC and the industry umbrella bodies were also given the opportunity to comment on the attached report in draft form.

Presentation

24. None.

Costs and Benefits

25. Improved health and safety in the construction industry will lead to a healthier, more efficient workforce resulting in less time lost through ill-health and accidents and greater profit margins for the industry.

Financial/Resource Implications for HSE

26. Existing HSE resources have been used to produce the second report.

Environmental Implications

27. None.

Other Implications

28. None.

Action

29. That the Commission notes these developments and the report at Annex A.

ANNEX A

Health and safety performance in the Construction Industry

Progress since the February 2001 Summit

Second report by Kevin Myers Chief Inspector of Construction,

Health and Safety Executive

January 2003

Summary

This is my second report on the construction industry’s progress with the Summit action plans. It covers the period between December 2001 and November 2002. My first report focussed almost exclusively on the action plans. But they are just one of several different factors that will contribute to the industry achieving the construction Revitalising targets and this report tries to capture some of those other factors.

The substantial reduction in fatal injuries to workers in 2001/02 in comparison with the previous year is undoubtedly welcome, giving the second lowest fatal injury rate ever. Though this low rate is certainly grounds for optimism, I cannot yet see convincing evidence that an inexorable downward trend has been established, either for fatal or major non-fatal injuries.

There is evidence of good progress on the action plans, particularly on competence issues. The action plans help to keep the industry’s collective ‘eye on the ball’ and their importance is both recognised and valued. The Strategic Forum for Construction and the Rethinking Construction initiatives have also helped to maintain the emphasis on health and safety since the Summit, nearly 2 years ago now. Without doubt health and safety is now more widely recognised as a business performance issue on a par with delivering to time, cost and quality.

HSE has also been very busy during this time. Apart from restructuring our own construction resources and developing a new intervention strategy, we have also published a wide-ranging Discussion Document, conducted a national advertising campaign aimed at smaller enterprises and carried out a national programme of blitzes on construction sites. The outcome of these blitzes is disappointing to put it mildly but is tempered to some degree by the more general experience of inspectors in the field, who report some signs of improvement in risk awareness amongst dutyholders at all levels in the industry.

Overall I conclude that the commitment of the industry to improve its health and safety performance has not flagged. There are signs that this persistence might be bearing fruit. It was always going to be a long haul and on a qualitative basis I remain optimistic that we are making progress. But this judgement has yet to be supported by cold statistics and for the present, factual evidence of industry-wide improvement remains hard to come by. The industry must not be diverted from its chosen course to make a reality of its commitments. We must be consistently seeing fewer deaths, fewer injuries and fewer assaults on people’s health arising from work in this large and crucial industry.

Chapter 1Introduction 1. In response to growing concern about the construction industry’s health and safety

performance, a major Summit took place in February 2001, called by Government and the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). At this conference, key industry organisations (listed at Annex 1) adopted demanding Revitalising targets and committed to Action Plans as one means of delivering them. My first report in February last year covered progress during the 9month period between March and November 2001 and the summary of my first report is attached at Annex 2.

2. This second report covers the period since the last reporting period, i.e. December 2001 to November 2002. The Action Plans, however, are only one means of delivering the Revitalising targets and this report takes a broader view of the industry’s health and safety performance.

3. Since the first report there have been significant changes and developments in the construction industry. In September 2002 the Strategic Forum for Construction published a report – Accelerating Change - on its first year of activity in which it made several recommendations for the future well being of the industry. Health and safety has featured prominently in the Forum’s activities as a crosscutting theme. It also reconstituted its membership under a new Chairman and its administration is now industry based rather than with the Department for Trade and Industry.

4. Also in September HSE published a wide-ranging Discussion Document seeking views from everyone connected to the industry on how to improve health and safety performance.

Chapter 2Revitalising targets

5. The Revitalising Health and Safety initiative was launched by Government and HSC in June 2000. It is designed to inject new impetus into the health and safety agenda, 25 years after the Health and Safety at Work Act etc. 1974 came into force and to improve health and safety performance in all workplaces over the next decade. The nation-wide Revitalising Targets that were set are attached at Annex 3.

6. The construction industry responded to the Revitalising challenge by setting even more demanding targets that were announced in February 2001 at the Construction Summit. These targets are also attached at Annex 3.

7. The statistics presented below are for information. I have set out at the end of this chapter such conclusions as I believe can be drawn. The figures are subject to innate year-to-year variability and one has to exercise care in interpreting them.

Fatalities

8. Table 1 shows construction worker fatalities from 1992/931 to 2001/02p2. The number of fatal injuries to workers in 2001/02 was 79. This is a 25% reduction on 105 the previous year, which was the highest figure for 10 years.

9. Table 1 also shows rates of fatal injury per 100,000 workers in the industry. The rate, having generally dropped in the 1990s until 1998, rose substantially in the next two years to 5.9 in 2000/01 but has fallen in the most recent year by 28% to 4.2. Both the number and rate of fatalities in 2001/02 were the second lowest ever for the industry.

10. It is worth pointing out that the fatal injury statistics, although very visible and highly emotive, are only a part of the Revitalising targets.

Table 1 Number and rate of fatal injuries to workers 1992/93 – 2001/02p

92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02p

Employees 70 75 58 62 66 58 47 61 73 59

Self-employed 26 16 25 17 24 22 18 20 32 20

TOTAL 96 91 83 79 90 80 65 81 105 79

Rates per 100,000 workers

5.9 5.7 5.1 5.0 5.6 4.6 3.8 4.7 5.9 4.2

Major injuries

11. Table 2 shows the number of reported major injuries to workers from 1992/93 to 2001/02p. This number rose from 4054 in 1996/97 to 4749 in 1999/2000, but has come down to 4480 in 2001/02, a 5.7% reduction over the two year period.

1 HSE’s reporting year is from 1 April to 31 March.2 All figures for 2001/02 are provisional and will not be finalised until July 2003.

Table 2 Number of reported major injuries to workers 1992/93 – 2001/02p

92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97* 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02p

Employees 2061 1806 1872 1806 3227 3860 4289 4386 4303 3959

Self-employed 684 768 755 671 827 466 367 363 405 521

TOTAL 2745 2574 2627 2477 4054 4326 4656 4749 4708 4480

*Non-fatal injury statistics from 1996/97 cannot be compared directly with earlier years due to the introduction of revised injury reporting requirements (RIDDOR 95) in 1996.

Baselines and rates

12. The construction industry remains one of the most dangerous in Britain. The fatal injury rate of 4.2 compares unfavourably with the all industry average of 0.88.

13. The baseline year for the Revitalising target for reducing the incidence rate of reported fatal and major injuries to workers is 1999/2000, when the rate was 278 per 100,000 workers. The rate for 2001/02 was 244, 12% less than the baseline.

Effects of Reporting Levels

14. I am reasonably confident that we are informed of all fatal injuries by one means or another. However, the figures for non-fatal injuries are known to suffer from serious under-reporting, especially amongst those who are genuinely or notionally self-employed. HSE is only able to make an estimate of reporting levels through the use of the Labour Force Survey. For all industries the estimated reporting level for 2000/01 (the latest year for which a figure is available) is 42.3% and on a declining trend.

15. The estimated reporting level for construction for 2000/01 is 47%, a reduction from 52% in the previous year. The indications are therefore that the reduction in the rate of reported major injuries described in paragraph 13 for the two-year period from 1999/2000 could be a reflection of the reduction in reporting levels rather than an absolute reduction in incidents.

Health

16. The occupational health record of the industry is as bad, if not worse than its safety record, but finding means to measure this and monitor progress is far more challenging. Although there is ongoing work in this area, it is not possible at this stage to provide figures that relate directly to the indicators used in the Revitalising targets. In 2001/02 it was estimated that 137,000 people whose current or most recent job in the last 8 years was in the construction industry suffered from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by this job. In 1995 it was estimated that over 1.2 million working days were lost as a result of work-related ill health.

Conclusions

17. The reduction in fatal injuries in 2001/02 is undoubtedly welcome and taking account of the industry’s expanding workforce produces the second lowest fatal injury rate ever. Though this low rate and the improvement over last year’s figures are certainly grounds for optimism, I cannot yet see convincing evidence that an inexorable downward trend has been established.

18. The combined fatal and major injury rate has also come down significantly in the 2 years since the start of Revitalising, though still short of a trend line that would achieve the interim target in 3 years’ time of a 40% reduction. If the rates are adjusted for estimated reporting levels (as HSE is now doing for tracking performance against the national Revitalising targets) then the reduction becomes substantially less and quite possibly not statistically significant.

Chapter 3Action Plans

19. HSE wrote to the Umbrella Bodies (see Annex 1) asking for updates on their Action Plans. The replies showed some unevenness in both quality and quantity. I recognise that this may well be a consequence of the volume of activity taking place in the industry. I am also aware that new issues continue to arise, not least new proposals from HSC, and the effort going into these is not reflected in the responses on Action Plans.

20. Below I summarise the progress on industry Action Plans against a series of crosscutting themes.

Competence

21. This is the area where possibly the most visible culture change has been seen. The industry continues to work towards a fully qualified workforce, and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) and other equivalent training schemes are already being recognised as a minimum industry standard. In “Accelerating Change” the Strategic Forum states that the move to a fully qualified workforce “will have a major impact on the number of avoidable accidents caused by a basic lack of site awareness”.

22. From the end of 2003, contractors will not be allowed onto sites of members of the Major Contractors’ Group (MCG), part of the Construction Confederation (CC), without a relevant training certificate. Delivery of this objective is, of course, dependant upon co-operation across industry as many of the site workers are employed by the sub contractors. For example, member companies of the National Federation of Builders, which includes small and medium size companies is gearing up to put 10,000 workers through site-based CITB health and safety training this year. The CC has also issued guidance on, amongst other things, checking CSCS cards and preparing site-induction checklists. The Confederation of Construction Clients (CCC) continued to work towards the goal of a fully qualified workforce and set up a Steering Board “Qualifying the Workforce”. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) reports a phenomenal increase in the volume of applications for their courses, showing that the message is really getting through.

23. The Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects, both members of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), are exploring the possibility of setting up a benchmarking/certification scheme that would become the minimum standard for designers under Regulation 13 of the CDM Regulations. Discussions are ongoing to consider the links with CSCS related initiatives. Both CITB and CIC are actively pursuing with Universities the possibility of including health, safety and environmental issues in degree courses. In the case of the CIC, this is supported by consultation days for course providers, the development of case study sheets and course materials. Some CIC member bodies have also asked their accredited course providers to make health and safety a compulsory, examinable module at undergraduate level.

24. The Chartered Institute of Building, a CIC member, has reissued Rule 15 of its Rules of Professional Conduct, which stipulates that members should encourage those under their supervision to undertake health and safety training, be committed to providing a safe, clean and tidy working environment, have a health and safety plan for any building activity, keep proper records and be prepared to take disciplinary action against anyone who abuses or ignores any regulations, putting others at risk.

25. The Specialist Engineering Contractors Group (previously part of the Contractors Liaison Group) has developed a number of competency-based cards affiliated to the CSCS. The

Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA) has agreed a new syllabus for their Supervisor Health and Safety passport scheme. The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, a separate body but closely linked to the ECIA, has been working with CSCS towards mutual recognition of their competence qualifications. All this helps to integrate the industry’s efforts around the goal of a single competence scheme.

Measuring performance and reporting

26. Performance measurement and reporting is also becoming more commonplace in the industry. The CC commitment to reducing fatal and major accidents includes initial baselining of accidents in member federations. The MCG is now into its second year of monitoring and compiling their accident statistics. The ECIA has developed a series of Key Performance Indicators that will shortly be launched across the whole engineering construction industry. The indicators include specific measures on accident rates and health and safety management performance.

Engaging the workforce

27. The CC consultation toolbox has been adopted by most of their member federations. Certain aspects of the toolbox are mandatory on some members’ sites. A National Joint Committee serves the engineering construction industry where unions and employers meet to agree national standards, including health and safety. Active participation by the Federation of Master Builders and the relevant trade unions in HSE’s Worker Safety Advisor Pilot Scheme has been crucial in the successful conduct of this experiment.

Integrated supply chain

28. In the first report, the Construction Products Association (CPA) had already researched the risks attached to the use of products on site. They are now working with an electronic information provider to develop a standardised information format in order to maximise both the value and accessibility of existing information and to allow for efficient updating with new information.

Reaching Small/Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)

29. Reaching SMEs and changing their culture is crucial to achieving the Revitalising targets. With this in mind, CITB has conducted surveys of SMEs to determine the barriers to adopting a better health and safety culture. The results are currently being analysed. They recently started running a series of health and safety seminars specifically targeting SMEs. They are also encouraging the take-up of health and safety training materials through a number of targeted initiatives including discounted publications and the provision of a video hire service.

30. The CIC has been working on a series of short guidance notes for designers, which is aimed at SMEs but has already received positive feedback from larger organisations. The guidance will prove useful for undergraduates and for training organisations

31. The Federation of Master Builders plays an important role in communicating health and safety messages to its SME members. As part of the Working Well Together campaign, they have organised a series of health and safety workshops for their members, and their members’ supply chain which include practical demonstrations. They are actively involved with HSE’s Worker Safety Advisor scheme. Its Health and Safety Helpline offers free advice on construction health and safety. They also publicise health and safety issues through factsheets, bulletins and regionally produced newsletters. The National Federation of Builders has pressed its members to become accredited members by achieving enhanced standards of health and safety compared to the DTI’s Quality Mark Scheme.

Clients

32. CCC’s Clients Charter has been further developed to facilitate continuous improvement of the clients’ construction activity. Good health and safety performance as a pre-requisite for

contract award and best practice criteria for selection of suppliers are included in the Charter. Charter take-up has increased with 275 registered clients.

Occupational health

33. Because of its nature, ill-health figures are far more difficult to measure than those for accidents. However, ECIA has begun to collect simple health data from its members. They recognise that if the information they are trying to collect is too complex, there is a danger that only the more sophisticated companies will be able to comply. They have therefore deliberately designed the data set in a way that all their members will realistically be able to comply. MCG, having launched their safety strategy in April 2001, are now preparing a health strategy for launch early next year. In December 2001 the construction union UCATT launched a research report setting out options for an occupational health scheme in construction which is informing HSE’s work in developing a pilot on this matter.

Chapter 4Initiatives by HSE

Discussion Document

34. HSE launched a wide-ranging Discussion Document in September entitled “Revitalising Health and Safety in Construction”. The document looks fundamentally at the cultural influences at the heart of the industry’s poor health and safety record. It seeks ideas on how everyone involved in construction processes, including clients, designers and contractors, can work better together to deliver the Revitalising targets and promotes the HSE view that health and safety performance cannot be separated from performance in other key business areas such as quality, timely delivery and profitability. With the discussion period just ended, HSE will review all the contributions, draw out conclusions and pursue promising ideas. Where it cannot act in its own right, HSE will raise the conclusions with those it believes can.

35. The Discussion Document was supported by an online discussion forum3, where anyone interested could join debates, post information or simply respond to the document online. A free leaflet summarising the issues in the Discussion Document was also produced. We hope the leaflet has played a crucial role in our efforts to reach SMEs and workers.

Occupational Health Support Scheme

36. HSE work on developing and running a pilot scheme to provide occupational health support in the construction industry continues. There are, however, significant barriers to overcome in terms of funding and we need to work with the industry on this.

Construction Division

37. HSE launched its new Construction Division in April last year. The new Division for the first time allows for the deployment of HSE’s construction resources under my direct management as Chief Inspector. This will enable us to better focus our activities on achieving a significant reduction in accidents and the causes of ill health within the industry.

38. We have also developed a new intervention strategy for the Division, which builds upon and complements our traditional site-based work, particularly with our incident and complaint investigations. But we have also made some changes to our approach and emphasis in order to maximise our impact. For example, by targeting more of our interventions further up the chain of duty holders, we can influence the way that clients and designers play their part in changing the industry culture.

Construction blitzes

39. One element of the Intervention Strategy that generated considerable media attention last year was the four construction blitzes we undertook, starting in London in April 2002.

3 www.hse.gov.uk/disdocs/constuction.htm

40. The blitzes concentrated on falls from height and were designed to test how well the industry had tackled one of its key areas of risk. The blitzes were well publicised in advance and many of those visited knew we were coming. The results were therefore all the more disappointing in that conditions were so bad that we had to stop work on nearly 50% of the sites visited. In a number of cases the scale or blatant nature of the problems found meant that there was little alternative but to commence legal proceedings. A number of those prosecuted were major contractors on large sites, as well as SMEs.

41. My London Scotland and North England

Wales/ West Midlands/

South West

East Midlands

All Areas Total

Sites Visited 223 444 383 63 1,113

Prohibition Notices 110 206 120 24 460

Improvement Notices 11 53 30 3 97

Total Notices Issued 121 259 150 27 557

conclusion following these visits is that there remains much to be done if the commitments made at the highest level of the construction industry are to be reliably translated into improved control of risk at site level.

Chapter 5Other indicators

42. Tracking performance through collation of injury and lost time statistics is necessarily a retrospective process. There is a role for qualitative forward-looking judgement as well, which I offer in this chapter.

The Strategic Forum for Construction

43. After the General Election last year, Ministers created the Strategic Forum for Construction to fulfil the strategic role previously provided by the now defunct Construction Industry Board. In its first year under the Chairmanship of Sir John Egan, it set as its main task the quicker and wider embedding of the principles in his 1998 report “Rethinking Construction”. The forum identified 3 main drivers to improving the industry’s culture:

• Client leadership;

• Integrated teams and supply chains; and

• ‘People issues’.

44. In addition it identified health and safety as a key crosscutting theme. This is borne out in the report of its first year’s activity “Accelerating Change”. In the foreword to the report, Sir John Egan speaks of his “passionate belief” in the importance of the industry tackling its health and safety problems and stressed the need to value and respect the workforce. The report also carries health and safety recommendations that span all three priority areas.

45. In September last year the Forum was reconstituted as an industry-led body under a new Chairman, Peter Rogers, and I am one of three Government observers represented on the Forum.

Rethinking Construction

46. Also during this period the Rethinking Construction’s Working Group on Respect for people has concluded a programme of work which includes the development of Toolkits and Performance Indicators in respect of a range of issues relevant to health and safety. This has been brought together in “A Framework for Action.”

Action Plans as drivers for change

47. When we wrote to the Umbrella Bodies in August last year asking for updates on their Action Plans, we also posed 4 wider questions:

• How successfully is your Action Plan being driven down through member organizations?

• How much is delivery of your Action Plan dependent on other Umbrella Bodies?

• Is there scope for drawing up new, more integrated plans which include other industry organizations working together?

• Do you intend to update, renew or revise your Action Plan?

48. The responses from those bodies that addressed these questions were generally positive. There had always been recognition that the industry’s health and safety performance was poor but before the Action Plans there was an inclination to see this as someone else’s problem. Some members of the umbrella bodies were already taking action but not in a co-ordinated

manner. So the Action Plans are seen as a key factor in focusing the industry’s collective mind and raising health and safety to the top of the agenda.

49. Action Plans are seen as still serving their purpose and it is important not just for current work on them to be followed through to their conclusion, but also for them to be deemed successful. Consequently there was reluctance to embark on major review or revision at this juncture. More than one umbrella body made the point that there is a danger of initiative fatigue if Action Plans are renewed and/or revised before existing ones have been completed. It is also possibly true that newer plans are more likely to succeed if previous plans are seen to have made a difference. That said, some groups recognise the Action Plans as ‘living documents’ and will automatically take on board new issues and make revisions as a natural evolutionary process.

50. None of the umbrella bodies expressed an aversion to working more closely with each other, in fact quite the opposite. There is already close working in some areas of the Action Plans e.g. competence. But they all recognise the importance of completing their own Action Plans before moving on to more integrated plans. There is also a fear of ‘loss of ownership’ if the industry moved towards one single ‘master-plan’.

Experience of HSE inspectors

51. Inspectors in the field are reporting some signs of improvement in risk awareness amongst dutyholders at all levels of the industry. There are pockets of success either on particular issues (such as use of nets, air bags and other fall protection equipment, reversing and visibility aids, etc.) or amongst particular companies and their sub-contractors and suppliers. The MCG Charter, and in particular the move towards a common certification scheme, is perhaps the most visible. However, the general impression is that the capability of many construction managers and site supervisors to tackle the fundamental risk areas is still very limited.

52. Interventions with major Government clients are starting to reveal evidence of procurement practices in line with Office of Government Commerce guidance, however there is still confusion on the application of this in relation to PPP/PFI projects as opposed to those that are directly funded by public money. Local Authority clients are still frequently found to be using price as the main factor in awarding contracts rather than properly evaluating overall volume, including the health and safety implications, of the tender.

53. Many designers are still slow to accept their role in designing out health and safety risks and there is limited evidence that the leadership being shown by professional bodies has permeated to the drawing board.

54. Inspectors report a continuing imbalance in the poor attention given to health issues compared to safety, coupled with a generally poorer level of awareness of the causes and solutions of common occupational health problems.

55. Our evidence shows that effective communications with the workforce contributes to improved health and safety, yet it is still the exception to find such communication and consultation arrangements in place. Much more effort needs to be put into engaging all those who work in the industry in risk identification and problem solving.

Chapter 6Conclusions

56. In my first report I recognised the priority being accorded to Action Plans and the good initial progress being achieved. I also cautioned that there was still much to do, and that it was too early to judge whether the effort being invested was producing lasting results. With a further twelve months experience, I find the dichotomy between effort and results remains.

57. The progress reports on Action Plans I have received again show continuing energy and commitment. In general the organisations find the plans remain relevant and help to maintain the focus on improving health and safety performance. Perhaps the most tangible success is the drive towards a fully qualified workforce. Through an affiliation process the industry is close to achieving a single scheme. The huge increase in applications to CITB testifies to the fact that contractors are now recognising the determination to deliver on this front and the support it receives from all umbrella bodies.

58. I have also witnessed at first hand the prominence given to health and safety by the Strategic Forum, which I greatly appreciate. It is heartening to see health and safety treated as an integral part of the industry’s management challenge and not as a segmented and specialised issue.

59. But I find it hard to assert that we have finally turned the corner as far as changing the culture and having a significant impact at site level. The number of fatal injuries for 2001/02, while much reduced from the previous year, falls on an eight year trend line for fatal injuries which is essentially flat with an encouraging dip in 1998/99 and a tragic spike in 2000/01. The rate of fatal and major injuries combined is at best falling slowly. I am also very disappointed with the experience of our blitzes (paragraphs 39-41). The degree of enforcement action needed despite pre-publicity shows that the message is still not reaching the front line loudly and clearly enough.

60. It has been said countless times that there are no quick fixes, no short cuts to improving the industry’s record. So given this timeframe and on the basis of many intangibles, I remain optimistic that we are making progress. In the end, though, we must see fewer deaths, fewer injuries, and fewer assaults on people’s health. And sooner rather than later we need to see tangible evidence that we are moving irreversibly in this direction. But for the present, factual evidence of industry-wide improvement remains hard to come by.

61. In other contexts the industry is complaining of ‘initiative fatigue’ and I agree that this is not the moment for major changes of direction. I have been invited to join the reconstituted Strategic Forum as an observer, underlining the continuing prominence of health and safety as a strategic issue for the industry. The Summit Action Plans clearly have an important, ongoing role in the agenda of umbrella bodies. But I also recognise that the recent publication of “Accelerating Change” and “A Framework for Action” and any subsequent follow up to both are also relevant to the process of cultural change in the industry. I am beginning to wonder whether we need to develop a more effective way of collecting and disseminating intelligence on delivery of these related and complementary initiatives and of assessing their collective impact. Also over the coming months we in HSE want to analyse the replies to our Discussion Document and make our contribution to the process of culture change and performance improvement.

62. In summary, I believe the industry must not be diverted from its chosen course to make a reality of the commitments given at the Summit nearly two years ago, and to convert effort into

results. HSE will continue its positive and constructive engagement with the industry, but we

owe it to those harmed from working in the industry and to their families and friends to rigorously enforce the law where serious failings occur.

ANNEX 1

UMBRELLA BODIES WHO PRESENTED ACTION PLANS AT THE FEBRUARY 2001 CONSTRUCTION SAFETY SUMMIT

o Construction Confederation (CC), and Major Contractors Group (MCG)

o Confederation of Construction Clients (CCC)

o Construction Industry Council (CIC)

o Constructors’ Liaison Group (CLG)4

o Construction Products Association (CPA)

o Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)

o Trades Union Congress (TUC)5

o Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA)

o Construction Industry Board (CIB)6

o Federation of Master Builders (FMB)7

4 CLG split into its 2 constituent parts in July 2002: the National Specialist Contractors’ Council; and the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group.5 TUC includes all the construction unions. The Action Plans have the ‘umbrella’ endorsement of the TUC but is owned by the individual unions who are committed to carrying them out.6 The Construction Industry Board ceased to exist at the end of June 2001.7 FMB’s Action Plan was not presented at the Summit but HSE has been liaising with them on the progress they have been making.

ANNEX 2

SUMMARY OF FIRST REPORT

This report provides an update on the construction industry’s progress with implementation of the Action Plans from the Construction Safety Summit on 27 February 2001. It is the first since the Summit and I expect to provide further reports at regular intervals.

The report presents the targets that the industry has set itself in terms of reducing injuries and ill health, as part of the Revitalising initiative, and selected statistics for the year 2000/01. But given the innate year-to-year variability of such figures, no sensible judgement can be made at this early stage on movement against the targets. I hope that in future reports I will be able to start drawing some conclusions about the extent of progress.

There is genuine recognition in the industry that things must change and the Action Plans have been accorded high priority. The Action Plans are too long to list progress with each individual point. Instead I have grouped them under the 6 themes used in the Working Well Together Conference held in October last year, and highlighted notable areas of progress. Further success will depend on effective cross industry working and driving the actions down through the membership of the umbrella bodies.

It was recognised at the Summit that there are no quick fixes for improving the industry’s health and safety record; nothing short of a fundamental cultural change will deliver results. There has been much activity and good early progress in delivering Action Plans, but this activity must be sustained for years to come when doubtless new priorities will arrive to compete for attention. The ultimate measure of success will be a significant and sustained reduction in fatalities, injuries and ill health.

ANNEX 3

REVITALISING TARGETS

Nation wide Revitalising targets

o A reduction in the number of working days lost per 100,000 workers from work-related injury and ill health by 30% by 2010;

o A reduction in the incidence rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10% by 2010;

o A reduction in the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health by 20% by 2010; and

o To achieve half the improvement under each target by 2004/05.

CONIAC Revitalising targets

o To reduce the incidence rate of fatalities and major injuries by 40% by 2004/05 and by 66% by 2009/10;

o To reduce the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health by 20% by 2004/05 and by 50% by 2009/10; and

o To reduce the number of working days lost per 100,000 workers from work-related injury and ill health by 20% by 2004/05 and by 50% by 2009/10.

ANNEX B

During 2002/03 as part of HSE's Construction Priority Programme HSE staff:

� Engaged with and worked in collaboration with representative bodies covering over 165 stakeholder organisations (unions, trade associations, institutions, etc), through CONIAC and bilaterally with the most significant of the stakeholder bodies to bring about changes in culture and standards, and through supply chains.

� This work included, for example, speaking at over 100 conferences and workshops organised by the industry, including 22 events organised by the Major Contractors to roll out their Charter to their supply chains, 5 events organised by NHBC to engage with their local suppliers. Supported the work of the Strategic Forum for Construction and its ‘Accelerating Change’ initiative.

� Worked with the MCG in taking forward its health and safety charter including its first ever occupational health policy.

� Worked with industry to set up an 'Action Forum' to take forward an OH support pilot. � Worked with various trade bodies on:

o reducing the manual handling of kerbs. o safety in the use of system formwork. o further developing industry guidance on the safe erection of scaffolding. o improving safety through collective fall arrest systems such as air bags during

precast floor erection. o reducing risk during roofing, in particular on developing non-fragile roofing materials. o better visibility aids to be fitted to heavy plant. o safe working methods at ‘high speed’ road works. o the safe use of hired cranes. o vibration from portable tools.

� Met regularly with those OGDs with common programme objectives so as to exploit synergies. Worked closely with the Office of Government Commerce in developing and promulgating health and safety procurement guidance applicable to all departments.

� In partnership with industry stakeholders organised 13 Safety and Health Awareness Days targeted at 'new to HSE' smes employing less than 15 workers. These were attended by 2,300 people 78% of whom were in the target audience.

� Delivered a Publicity Strategy with a budget of £1.3M. As well as covering the cost of the SHADs this included a national red top and construction press advertising campaign, a series of Regional radio advertisements and the issuing of 178 Press Notices

� HSE staff exceeded its planned target of 37,000 Regulatory contacts, including 16,460 inspection contacts.

� Within these overall figures carried out 8 widely publicised Blitzes and achieved a shift of inspection activities to engage earlier in large projects and up the supply chain to engage more clients (including government clients) and designers

� Investigated 1,390 accidents and 8,670 complaints. � Issued 2563 Prohibition notices requiring work involving an imminent risk of personal injury

to be stopped until proper precautions were put in place � Issued 719 Improvement Notices requiring improvements to, for example, duty holders

policies, procedures, risk assessments or training arrangements � Successfully prosecuted 222 companies for 375 breaches of the law. � Issued a well received Discussion Document on Revitalising Health and Safety in

Construction which elicited over 300 replies from interested parties and started the process of distilling and analysing those replies

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