Work accident figures tempered by tragedies
The release of the lowest fatality figures in the construction
industry for a decade has been tempered by a tragic week in the
industry, which saw the deaths of six construction workers in just
five days.
The Health and Safety Executive's chief inspector of
construction, Philip White, said the tragedies highlighted the fact
that work still needs to be done to ensure industrial safety.
"While the fact that fewer people are being killed or seriously
injured is encouraging, the construction industry retains its
unwanted record of accounting for more fatal injuries than any
other sector," he said, adding that many could be tracked back to
the same basic failings.
On Monday, 18 October, a 23-year-old worker died after being
trapped for several hours in a collapsed drainage trench in
Bradford. On the Wednesday a motorway worker was killed in an
accident on the M25 in Essex, while the Thursday saw the deaths of
two builders, who were crushed by a wall that collapsed while they
were working on a Sussex barn conversion.
On Saturday, 23 October, a 65-year-old man was crushed to death
by a brick-laden lorry near Macclesfield and a construction worker
died on a site in Ilkeston in Derby.
The incongruity of the deaths was only emphasised by the
subsequent, but coincidental, release of figures that showed just
42 on-site fatalities had been reported in 2009/10, down from 52 in
the previous year, and continuing a downward trend that has been
falling since 2001.