Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors carried out checks at 88 sites during intensive inspections in the region on 14 and 15 February. A total of 21 sites were found not to meet legally-required health and safety standards.
Several of the sites visited received more than one enforcement notice either stopping work activities immediately or requiring improvements to be made. In total, inspectors issued 22 prohibition and 21 improvement notices, with more than half of the notices relating to unsafe work being carried out at height.
Inspectors are making unannounced visits to sites across the country to ensure that work at height is being managed safely, sites are in good order, and the risk of exposure to asbestos is being properly managed.
Principal inspector for construction Wayne Crumpton said: "Workers' lives were potentially being put at risk on a quarter of sites we visited in just the first two days. That is a sobering statistic.
"Falls from height are one of the main causes of workplace deaths in the UK so it's both disappointing and worrying that more than half of the enforcement notices we issued were because companies were found not to be taking this risk seriously enough.
"We will continue to visit small construction sites, where refurbishment work is taking place, during the rest of the initiative. The safety of workers must be a top priority and we will not hesitate to take action when necessary."
The results of the two days of intensive inspections carried out in Merseyside on 14 and 15 February
|
Local authority area |
Sites visited |
Sites served |
Prohibition Notices |
Improvement Notices |
|
Knowsley |
9 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Liverpool |
25 |
10 |
4 |
14 |
|
Sefton |
28 |
4 |
9 |
5 |
|
St Helens |
15 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
|
Wirral |
11 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Merseyside |
88 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
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