Safety inspectors halt work on one in five building sites

Published on Friday 27 March 2009 09:01

HEALTH and Safety inspectors ordered work to stop at one in five building sites in the Capital after uncovering a catalogue of safety problems.

A week-long survey taking in 39 refurbishment sites across the city uncovered a litany of issues including unsecured scaffolding, unstable ladders and poorly maintained tools.

Other safety contraventions uncovered included the lack of proper toilets or washing facilities, as well as stonemasons being exposed to dangerous dusts.

None of the sites where work was stopped can be named for legal reasons, though six construction firms have been served with prohibition notices to clean up their act. The problems were uncovered even though the owners of the sites were warned several months ago that they would be visited by inspectors.

If the improvements are not carried out then they will be reported to the procurator fiscal and face hefty fines.

The Health and Safety Executive's principal construction inspector Jim Skilling said: "At several sites, we were sufficiently concerned about safety that we had to take formal legal action to stop work immediately.

"Our main concern was unsafe working at height. There were also issues relating to poor welfare conditions for workers. I was also unhappy to find stoneworkers putting themselves at risk, by exposing themselves to large volumes of silica – dust produced when grinding stone."

In total, four prohibition notices were served for dangerous working at height, while a further two were issued for very poor conditions when using power tools on stonework. A seventh site was also warned.

Last year, over half of the 11 workers who died on construction sites across Scotland worked in refurbishment, repair or maintenance. A further 1479 people were injured on construction sites.

A council spokesman said: "Edinburgh Council is happy to support HSE's construction site safety initiative.

"We take health and safety very seriously and by supporting this work we'll be protecting people and potentially saving lives."