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20th March 2009
Browns Deliver Health & Safety Messages As Part Of The White Van Roadshow
The white van road show is in the North West delivering health and safety advice to construction workers across the region.
The road show coincides with a Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) campaign targeting 1.500 construction sites - including 200 in the North West - aimed at tackling poor safety standards.
The white van road show is sponsored by construction companies, the union (UCATT) and is supported by the HSE and aims to take messages about health and safety in the construction industry directly to the workers on site.
Browns Construction Group are proud to be one of the construction companies involved and Gavin King (Safety, Health, Environmental, Quality & Training Manager) is part of the team touring in the White Vans and visiting sites.
The road show will be visiting sites and Construction Training Centres In Salford, Manchester, Urmston, Bury, Aintree, Warrington, St Helens and Bootle.
Construction is one of the most dangerous industries with 72 deaths on construction sites in 2007/08 - including seven in the North West.
The white van roadshow will offer small groups of construction workers the opportunity to have ‘toolbox’ safety talks where they will be introduced to the HSE’s ‘High 5’ programme which highlights five ways to reduce risk on construction sites.
High 5 looks at:
- The need for tidy sites to avoid slips, trips and falls.
- The danger of falls from heights which are the biggest single cause of deaths and serious injuries on construction sites
- Manual handling injuries caused by working with heavy, awkward materials which are made worse by repetitive jobs.
- Workplace transport incidents
- The danger of asbestos.
Health and Safety Executive Awareness Officer Moira Caddick said:
"The white van road show is industry led and aims to capture the imagination of construction workers by taking health and safety messages to the workplace. Construction sites can be dangerous, but often simple steps can make a big difference.
"The roadshow offers easy to understand information which can help reduce accidents in the workplace which is then reflected in a safer workforce, reduced sickness days, less risk of HSE enforcement action and better productivity."
HSE inspectors will be out in force as part of a campaign aimed at reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries in the construction industry, especially in the refurbishment, repair and maintenance sector.
Inspectors will make unannounced visits to sites to raise awareness of the problem, with the refurbishment sector accounting for 50 per cent of all accidents, but representing only 40 per cent of all construction activity.
In a similar initiative last year, 187 inspections were carried out in the North West, with enforcement action being taken in 103 cases. The HSE has warned that contractors can once again expect strong enforcement action.
The initiative is in support of the HSE’s Shattered Lives and Hidden Killer campaigns and HSE inspectors will be targeting principal contractors to see how they are managing their workplace.
