Building a construction business carries substantial risk to business owners and those in charge of employees.
According to December 2021 report by the HSE, which quotes data produced by RIDDOR: The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences. There were 74,000 ‘health related ill health cases’ recorded over the last 3 years, through the period of 2018/12 – 2020/21.
Of the 74,000 cases, 54% (40,000) were new or long-standing musculoskeletal incidents, 27% were recorded as stress and depression incidents and 18% accounted for other non-specified reasons. Together with this, during 2020/21 there were 39 fatalities, of which 50% were falls from height.
Within the sector, the construction includes three broad industry groups:
- Construction of buildings – general construction of buildings, including new work, repair, additions and alterations.
- Civil engineering – civil engineering work, including road and railway construction, and utility projects; and
- Specialised construction activities – covering trades that usually specialise in one aspect, common to different structures. For example: demolition, electrical, plumbing, joinery, plastering, painting, and glazing.
Whilst statistics for stress, depression and anxiety within the construction workplace were much lower, musculoskeletal incidents accounted for the majority. These main injuries occurred while handling, lifting, and carrying, plus slips, trips and falls.
Reducing risk to business operations
Here at JRW Risk Solutions, we encourage construction companies across the West Midlands to regularly review their company insurance to evaluate their cover. Generally, Construction companies take on new projects which are constantly evolving and can present a new risk to business. This can mean taking on:
- New equipment
- Extra tradesman
- New skill set
- Different location
Furthermore, all these changes can impact on risks for a business and so construction companies should be prepared to protect their employees, their location and their business against unforeseen circumstances. By putting a risk assessment in place before each process and training employees, tradesman and contractors with the right health & safety knowledge will reduce risks when lifting, handling, and moving around the site whilst also preventing significant fatalities. Finally, to find out more, please get in touch with our team or see our construction website page for more details.
Read more on the HSE report at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.pdf