Construction sites are one of the most dangerous places to work, with the industry approximately employing 7% of the UK workforce. Dangers include working at height, working with hazards on ground level, operating heavy machinery and large amounts of manual handling. Each of these situations needs to be assessed before hand, to do this your employer should carry out a risk assessment.
As your employer is aware of all of the risks on site, they have a duty of care to their employees to make sure that they do everything necessary to prevent injury on the construction site. If they were to neglect this duty of care they would be putting you at risk of injury, and themselves at risk from an insurance claim.
The Government’s health and safety Commission are responsible for the safety regulations, these are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They aim is to ensure that risks in the workplace are properly managed to reduce the risk of accidents. The health and safety laws also cover:
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
- Food and Environmental Protection Act
- Control of Pesticides Regulations
- Laws that cover health and safety in specific industries such s mining, nuclear, railway, explosives and offshore oil and gas
- Older laws that predate the Health and safety at Work Act.
- They cover a range of industries but not all workplaces.
As well as those listed above the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up in 1996 to make Europe’s work places safer, healthier and more productive.
The UK construction site accounts for 25% of fatal accidents at work and 16% of the major accidents. Most accidents happen when moving around the work place, there are a lot of areas of risk when on site. To ensure employees don’t lose concentration when working on a construction site the law states it is important that workers take regular breaks.
If you become involved in an accident whilst working on a construction site then you may be able to get compensation. It is important that you get medical attention immediately after the accident, no matter how serious. If the accident wasn’t your fault then you may be able to make an injury claim for compensation.
Unfortunately construction sites can cause injuries that workers may not realise until later in life. With the amount of hazards on site some often go unnoticed, this is rarer nowadays. However exposure to materials such as asbestos can cause long-term damage, and by the time it has been diagnosed it is often too late to do anything.
If you want more information on any injuries that you have received whilst at work on a construction site then the Injury Lawyers will be able to help. Our team of fully qualified lawyers will offer you free legal advice, and take on your claim on a no win no fee arrangement.