One in five sites fail safety checks

Inspectors from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) visited a total 3,237 sites and saw 4,080 contractors. Overall, 581 sites were found to have practices that put workers at risk.

Inspectors issued 870 enforcement notices, with 603 instances requiring work to be stopped immediately.

Chief inspector of construction Philip White said: "It is encouraging that inspectors found a slight improvement in standards and small construction firms are taking safety seriously when carrying out refurbishment work.

"But this is just a snapshot, and the number of notices served for unsafe work at height is still unacceptable, particularly when the safety measures are well-known and straightforward to implement.

"Too many contractors continue to put their own or other people's lives at risk and we will not hesitate to take action where standards are not met."

Inspectors targeted sites where refurbishment or repair work was being carried out as part of an annual, month-long drive across Britain with the aim of reducing the risk of death, injury and ill health.

The focus was on high-risk activity including working at height and ensuring sites were in 'good order', being clean and tidy with clear access routes.

Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of deaths and major injury and responsible for the largest proportion of enforcement notices 49%, but shows a slight improvement on previous years of 55% in 2010.

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