Despite a national Height Aware Campaign in June by UK health and safety enforcement authorities to promote safer working at height, it would appear that in some parts of the country the message is either not getting through or is being ignored. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) construction inspectors visited 19 sites in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and had to instruct work to be stopped on 17 occasions because people were at risk of falling and sustaining potentially fatal injuries. The main problems included the use of incomplete scaffolding, failing to provide scaffolding where required and risks of employees falling through fragile material, such as rooflights and suspended ceilings.
Falls from height continue to be the most common cause of injuries to people at work across the country, with 53 deaths and around 3,800 serious injuries occurring in 2004/5 alone. The HSE have expressed their disappointment over the poor standards discovered during the site visits and as a result, plan to continue to target similar contractors. Inspections will be carried out during the rest of the year in selected parts of South Yorkshire, the Humber region and North Lincs and North East Lincs.
