A MONTH of spot checks on North-East construction sites found 40 per cent were failing to properly protect workers.

Unacceptable conditions and dangerous practices were found at nearly half of the 106 repair and refurbishment sites visited by HSE inspectors, with one in six sites so poor, formal enforcement action was required.

The focus was on health risks and 54.5 per cent of the notices served were for issues such as management of asbestos, failure to control exposure to harmful dusts, noise and vibration, and insufficient welfare. Failure to provide basic safety measures for people working at height accounted for 27 per cent of all enforcement notices.

Rob Hirst, HSE Principal Inspector for Construction, said: “The inability to properly plan working at height continues to be a major issue, despite well-known safety measures being straightforward to implement. It is just not acceptable that Inspectors had to order work to stop immediately on eight occasions because of dangerous practices.

“We also find health is often overlooked as its implications are not immediately visible, however the effects of uncontrolled exposure to deadly dusts such as asbestos and silica can be irreversible. We urge the industry to ensure the most basic of measures such as use of protective equipment and dust suppression methods are put in place to help protect the future health of workers.”