• The rate of reported fatal injuries (to all workers, including the self employed) in construction between 1999/00 and 2005/06 has reduced by around 36 per cent;


• The rate of reported major injuries to employees in construction between 1999/00 and 2005/06 has reduced by around 22 per cent;
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• The rate of reported over three day injuries to employees in construction between 1999/00 and 2005/06 has reduced by around 31 per cent.

There has also been good progress towards the all industry Revitalising targets of 2000, although the industry is still falling short of its own ambitious targets set at the 2001 Construction Summit.

Falls, slips and trips
For the first time the proportion of major injuries due to falls from height has been overtaken by those resulting from slips, trips and falls on the same level. Injuries due to slips and trips and manual handling have risen steadily over the past few years while those from falls from height and being struck by an object have been reduced substantially.

The report shows:

• There were 981 major injuries in construction caused by slips, trips or falls on the same level;


• There were 917 major injuries in construction caused by falls from height;


• There were 577 major injuries in construction while handling, lifting or carrying;


• There were 572 major injuries in construction caused by struck by moving, including flying/falling object.

HSE's Chief Inspector of Construction, Stephen Williams said: "My congratulations go out to the industry on the progress it has made so far. I am particularly pleased to see the encouraging signs that it has taken ownership of its health and safety performance and worked hard to achieve the lowest incidence rates ever for fatal, major injuries and over three day injuries."

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"However, slips and trips and manual handling injuries are increasing. It may be that they receive less attention because they rarely result in fatalities; nevertheless more needs to be done to prevent these types of injury. In particular, sites need to be kept tidy, which is hard work and requires persistence.

"We need to focus more on these areas, while maintaining the progress on falls from height. If the industry had made the same progress in these other areas it would have been close to meeting its own challenging targets."
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Susie Hughes
The Editor © Hardhatter 2006