The latest death toll

“The public sector commissions about 40% of UK construction work,” he said. “I want to see less injury and ill-health during the building, maintenance and refurbishment of our facilities.” Hunt was speaking at Buying for Life, a conference to discuss ways to use the purchasing power of the public sector to improve health and safety. Unfortunately, he failed to announce what many had hoped he would – a pledge that government clients would use only contractors and suppliers that could demonstrate minimum safety standards, an idea that had been gaining support since being floated by the Major Contractors’ Group.

Figures released on Wednesday confirmed that the number of deaths on site had fallen in the year to April 2008, to 72 from 77 the previous year. However, the number of major injuries actually rose: 3,764 people were hurt compared with 3,730 the previous year. As before, these figures are the worst of any major UK industry.

Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has called for a “step change” to tackle this, and the Department for Work and Pensions has launched an enquiry into ways to reduce these numbers. The solution, however, may lie in revisiting Hunt’s speech. With the commercial sector struggling, public contracts are fast becoming the only show in town. The industry may not like it but government departments should take advantage of this and raise the safety bar for companies that want to win public sector work.

The government should take advantage of the fact it is the only show in town and raise the safety bar for companies that want public sector work

This would be a significant move. Despite some failures, major employers are taking steps towards improving safety in construction, such as providing more site supervisors, better training and clamping down on the use of dangerous tower cranes. A disproportionate number of accidents occur in smaller companies, however. The HSE needs to take a more active role in ensuring that best practice in large companies filters down to smaller players, and if this means more funds as a result of the Department for Work and Pensions investigation then so be it.

A bite of the big apple

In the week that the finish line for the US elections is within spitting distance, we have put New York, the city at the heart of the country’s biggest issues, under the microscope. As well as being the hub of the global financial and housing crises, the city is home to the largest reconstruction project in the world – a visit to the Ground Zero site (page 46) reveals the mammoth efforts and innovations being developed to restore this 16-acre site. We also look at what the UK can learn from the US by talking to some of New York’s biggest players in construction and property, including real estate magnate Donald Trump, who explains why the UK is on his radar now more than ever and WSP’s Cantor Seinuk, the UK-owned structural engineer busy rebuilding the city’s skyline. If Obama does win on Tuesday, New York is where his “change” will show first.