HSE shuts down refurb jobs

HSE's blitz on refurbishment jobs across the UK in February led to it shutting down 300 of 1,100 site visited and issuing 395 enforcement notices, half of which were prohibition orders (requiring action before sites can resume work). The results are similar to those from last summer's check on the sector.

Construction News's angle was to report the HSE's intention to target propety developers, hoping that they as clients would be able to improve safety pratcices of their contractors. Contract Journal reported angry responses from responsible refurbishment companies who felt that they were unfairly being tarred with the same brush as less reputable operators. Building did not run the story in its magazine, having reported it on its website.

Last year over half of the workers who died on construction sites were working on refurbishment jobs with the number of deaths in the sector rising by 61%.