16 March 2007
Swingeing job cuts at the Health and Safety Executive could be linked to rising numbers of deaths on UK building sites, the agency has admitted.
Provisional figures have revealed that 74 people have died on building sites in 2006/07 – an increase of around 14% on 2005/06. Hundreds more construction staff have been badly injured. If the HSE, which inspects sites, confirms the figures this summer – it discounts deaths among members of the public – it would be the first increase in construction fatalities since 2003/04.
An HSE spokesman this week told Public Finance that the potential increase might have been influenced by the government's wide-ranging efficiency drive, which has forced job cuts and a reduced inspection regime on to the agency in recent years, leaving sites exposed to potentially poor safety regimes.
The spokesman said: 'The formal figures for 2006/07 will be released this summer, but it is possible… that there will be a small rise.
'While it is very difficult to tell at this stage, we can't reject outright the claim that this may have something to do with job losses among HSE staff. We said last year we would do everything possible to minimise the impact, but we have to accept that there may be some issues around these [cuts].'
Prospect, which represents HSE staff, along with the civil service's Public and Commercial Services union, and Ucatt, which represents construction staff, said the figures should 'shame' the government into reversing plans to axe more safety-related posts.
The HSE has been forced to cut up to 350 staff by 2008, including many site inspectors, as part of an £8m efficiency drive that feeds into Whitehall's £21.5bn savings programme. The number of HSE inspections has also been reduced and the organisation's parent body, the Department for Work and Pensions, must make annual budget cuts of 5% until 2011 – putting the agency at further risk.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: 'Cutting jobs and resources leads to fewer inspections which in turn results in tragic circumstances.'
Alan Ritchie, Ucatt general secretary, added: 'One death on a building site is one too many. The lives of building workers cannot be reduced to a financial cost. The government must reverse these cuts and put more resources into ensuring that this inherently dangerous industry is made safer.'
PFmar2007
