A health and safety expert in Shropshire has warned construction bosses and staff to ensure their sites are safe and ready for spot-checks as the industry begins to make a recovery.

Ruth Ross, who runs Building Trust in Safety Ltd in Shrewsbury, works with the construction industry to ensure they comply with the current legislation.

She said a rise in clients within the building industry had enabled them to appoint a new consultant with over 12 years experience in the Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulation.

Regulations:

The regulation was brought into force in 2007 and placed legal duties on virtually everyone involved in construction work.

Ruth said a number of her clients across the UK had recently reported site visits from inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive.

Mrs Ross, who has run the company with her husband Gordon for the last 13 years, said the introduction of the CDM regulations and others which affected the construction industry meant that planning and the management of the risks must not just be a paperwork exercise.

“Obviously health and safety within all industries is vital but is especially prevalent on construction sites where one wrong move or failed planning can make the difference between life and death for a worker or even a member of the public.

“Every single person who is controlling work on a site needs to realise they hold equal responsibility – it is no longer acceptable to think it lies with the manager of the company,” Mrs Ross, managing director of BTS, said.

“Every development across the UK needs to be able to demonstrate compliance, from a labourer to a project manager. They all have a role to play to ensure that all risks are reduced or controlled.

“The HSE can visit a site at any time without warning and without the sufficient measures in place to control the risk this visit could lead to a prosecution by the HSE.

“One recent company was fined £21,752 so there has never been a time to get it right.”

Health and Safety Executive

The Health and Safety Executive state around one third of all workplace fatalities occur in construction and many thousands are injured each year.

HSE bosses said these accidents do not only have a significant and long lasting effect on the worker but also on their colleagues, family, friends and business.

For more information about Building Trust in Safety Ltd call 01939 200221.