Health and Safety
We're Here to Make Our Industry Safer.There is no doubt that construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the UK. Every year dozens of people die on site, several thousands get injured or develop work-related health problems. This is why improving health and safety on construction sites plays a key role in UCATT's daily work and ongoing campaigns. We want employers to comply with the existing health and safety regulations, and we want workers to know their rights. Every worker also needs to have a good grasp of major workplace dangers so they can contribute to a better protection. In the section Key Health and Safety Issues you find information about major health and safety issues such as:
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Key Health & Safety Issues
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Tuesday, 28 April 2009
UCATT and ConstructionSkills call for improved site communication
UCATT and ConstructionSkills have joined forces to encourage construction firms to improve on-site communication in a bid to reduce numbers of accidents in the industry.
Through the Worker Engagement Toolkit, a new film developed by ConstructionSkills and supported by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), construction firms can learn that communication between employers and workers can drastically increase health and safety awareness, and therefore lead to a reduction in the number of accidents. In addition, effective worker engagement can help to increase turnover, and help firms to safeguard their business during tough times.
The interview-led, 30-minute film examines all levels of a variety of businesses, speaking to managing directors, foremen and workers, and offers working examples of how accidents have reduced over time when worker engagement has been effectively carried out. The Health and Safety Executive were also involved in developing the DVD, which has been identified by the Strategic Forum for Construction Worker Involvement Group as the best toolkit on the market.
Recent research by Glasgow Caledonian University, commissioned by the HSE, found that the lack of communication between management and the workforce was an on-going problem that led to accidents taking place when simple communication could have prevented them. As a result ConstructionSkills and UCATT have been working together to address the root-causes of the patterns in behaviour that can lead to accidents occurring.
The first 20 copies of the DVD are free on a first come first served basis after which it will cost £20 and is available to buy from ConstructionSkills.
Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of Construction Union, UCATT, said:
“All the evidence shows that construction sites which are well organised, where workers are directly employed and where there are a high number of independent health and safety representatives, are far safer than casualised sites where bosses pay lip service to safety.
“This new DVD is a useful tool in reinforcing the message to employers that effective worker involvement is a major factor in reducing deaths and injuries at work.”
Kevin Fear, Head of Health, Safety and Environment, ConstructionSkills said:
“This Toolkit aims to encourage firms to take on-site health and safety a step further and implement worker engagement at a higher level in order to help eliminate the number of accidents across the industry. We have already seen evidence that worker engagement is vital in terms of driving down accident and fatality rates, and as the industry’s Sector Skills Council, we want to promote this across the board using this film as a guide. With entire workforces becoming more open and honest, both productivity and safety can be improved.”
For further enquiries you can contact Barckley Sumner on 0780 2329 235.