Each year 64,000 construction workers sustain an injury at work. Injuries like these and illness, cost the industry around £1billion in 2016/2017.

A lot of money, especially when you consider that a substantial chunk of these could be avoided.

Not providing the right safety equipment is both dangerous for your employees but it also poses a substantial risk to the owners or directors too. There’s a risk of a sizeable fine, or even imprisonment for the directors of the company if it is shown to be negligent in its duty of care toward its employees.

By understanding the types of injuries that are most common in the construction industry, it’s possible to reduce risk by paying attention to health and safety for construction workers in high-risk areas. Here are a few stats from the HSE report into injuries and illnesses sustained in the construction industry in 2017.

The construction industry injury landscape according to the HSE Report

• There were 30 fatalities from injuries taking place at work in the construction industry in 2016 to 2017 and 56 % of these caused by falling from height.
• In the construction industry, illness and injury are split approximately 50:50, which is a significantly higher proportion of injury than many other industries experience. In most other industries, injury would be expected to account for just 1/3 of the total.
• 65% of illness-related issues are muscular-skeleto. Whilst there are no stats to evidence this, it’s safe to assume that a proportion of these have occurred from unsafe lifting or moving practices, over-reaching, or otherwise not taking the appropriate precautions.

These statistics offer an eye-opening view into the state of health and safety for construction workers and underline the importance of health and safety and ensuring the right protective equipment is available.

At Mr Plant Hire, London, we have lifting equipment and high access platforms with safety rails available for hire to help you reduce the risk of injury or illness being sustained at work.

From safety harnesses and training courses to scaffolding platforms, cherry pickers and scissor lifts, each has their part to play in keeping your construction team safe whilst they carry out their jobs.

If you’d like to discuss how any of our plant machinery and equipment can help you make your working environment safer, our London team is on hand to advise you on the best equipment for your requirements, so give us a call now on 0844 779 0211.

July 17, 2018