An investigation has been launched this month following the death of a 52 year-old construction worker on a building site in Belfast. The man is understood to have died after he was struck by a reversing telehandler, a type of forklift truck, at the Bakery apartment site on the Ormeau Road, which is being redeveloped by Graham Construction.
Despite a quick response by emergency services, the man died at the scene. The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSE NI) principal construction inspector Ken Logan confirmed an investigation is underway. "The HSE NI would like to send a message out to the wider construction industry that vehicle movements on construction sites need to be carefully managed. Coincidently, the HSE NI had planned an initiative concerning workplace transport, which will involve inspectors visiting construction and manufacturing sites to look at how such transport is managed."
Despite Northern Ireland having enjoyed falling fatality rates in construction since 2006, the industry remains a major concern and has an incident rate which exceeds that of Great Britain. In a statement from Graham Construction, they commented, "We take our obligations in relation to health and safety very seriously and will be co-operating with the various authorities to establish the cause of this incident. Obviously our thoughts are presently with the family of our employee and colleague fatally injured in this unfortunate tragic accident."
