Chapter 07

HRM Insight 7.3: The cause of accidents (pg. 174)

An analysis of what actions should be considered to put a safe system of work in place to prevent this type of accident recurring

There were 77 fatal injuries in 2006/7 in construction, 21% of which were due to workers being hit by a moving or falling object.
Reference: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.htm.
The HSE have produced a large quantity of advice specifically aimed at the construction industry to eliminate the risks.
Details of all prosecutions can be found on the HSE website and the Company names and details are all published.

Further Information

This case study was based on examples of similar prosecutions that can be found on this website. I was prompted to search for this case after witnessing builders throwing waste materials into a skip from the roof of a two-storey house that was situated next door to a school; at the time children were walking to school. I am pleased to report that following a quick call to the HSE, this was stopped and that no accident had occurred.
In this case the employer is responsible for carrying out a risk assessment of this activity and for implementing a safe system of work. It is not sufficient to control the risk in this case by expecting experienced or trained employees to know to not overfill a bucket used to lift bricks. A safe system should include mechanisms to close and lock the container and a mechanism to ensure that the container cannot fall if accidentally released during the lift.
The employer must take adequate steps to ensure that personal protective equipment is adequate for the job and is used. It is not an acceptable to defence to state that the employee had a hard hat and chose to leave it in his car. Adequate PPE must be provided and if necessary safety rules should be enforced using disciplinary measures, if training is not being followed. The employee has a duty of care to comply with rules but the employer has a duty of care to carry out risk assessments and to train employees to follow an appropriate safe system of work.

Further activities

Research the types of accidents and incidents that result in prosecutions and the typical penalties that seem to arise. How frequently does a prosecution result in a prison sentence compared to relatively small fines? Do the fines and penalties applied to Companies responsible for fatalities seem to be proportionate?

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 07.