14 warnings over danger on roof tops

Firms urged to raise their standards

OLDHAM construction firms have been urged to improve their safety standards after receiving 14 formal warnings.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors served 148 enforcement notices across Greater Manchester in 2009, immediately stopping unsafe work being carried out at height.

They issued another 29 notices requiring safety improvements to be made.

HSE is concerned that some companies may be trying to save money by allowing staff to work on roofs without scaffolding or other safety equipment.

A safety event being held in Salford today has been organised with the help of trading standards officers to raise awareness of the dangers of working on roofs without the correct equipment and the standard of work expected in the industry.

Neil Jamieson, a principal inspector for HSE in the North-West, said: “We’re worried that some roofing and building companies in Greater Manchester are trying to cut down on costs and undercut each other by not using scaffolding and other safety equipment.

“Falls from height kill dozens of workers every year and seriously injure hundreds more. But the number of deaths will carry on rising if firms don’t accept they’re putting their workers in danger.

“We will continue to take action against companies that do not take the safety of their workers seriously, and will prosecute those that fail to provide the necessary scaffolding.

“It simply isn’t worth companies trying to cut costs if lives are going to be put at risk.

“And it will cost them time and money in the long run if we decide to take any kind of enforcement action.”

Falls from height are the biggest single cause of workplace fatalities in the UK.