Construction Health & Safety News, Advice and Information from PP Construction Safety

HSE records and intelligence reveals pattern of UK construction project deaths

Each month we report on the deaths that occur on construction projects using the HSE in-year details of all deaths at work under their jurisdiction. The HSE information is ‘as reported’ by third parties and does not purport to be a formal statistical release.

The data for 2010/11 has now been used in conjunction with press reports etc, to establish the picture of construction project deaths during the full period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. See below.

We estimate that 52 construction project related deaths occurred during the period. Our immediate observations are:

1. Falls from height remain the principal cause of deaths and the majority involve falls from roofs on smaller projects;
2. Struck by vehicles or mobile plant is the second biggest cause. These deaths tend to occur on larger projects and often involve roadworks and lorrys/vans reversing near sites; 
3. Excavation deaths occur on smaller projects and four workmen died in one incident;
4. Falling or moving objects incidents often involve materials falling from vehicles; and
5. Structural collapse deaths occured on only two projects with two workers losing their lives in each incident.

The official provisional HSE data on UK fatalities at work will be published in the coming month.  

Fatalities on construction projects in 2010/2011

These records are from the HSE database of in-year fatalities. The links provide more detail from press reports etc. In some cases we have been unable to secure information beyond that provided in the HSE database. 

Falls from height 

• 06/04/2010 Keith Ragan – fall through fragile rooflight
  

  Fragile roofs and rooflights

• 21/06/2010 Ktysztof – fall from height
• 23/07/2010 Jamie Lee Duddin – fragile roof fall
• 05/08/2010 Trevor Dixon – fall from height
• 10/08/2010 Roger Jary – fall from height
• 21/08/2010 Amrick Singh Mann – fall from height
• 03/09/2010 Michael Lassen – fell from ladder in cathedral
• 22/10/2010 Raymond Corner – fall from height
• 14/12/2010 Anthony Causby – fall from height
  

  Short term roofwork

• 29/12/2010 Philip Lonergan – fall from height
• 18/01/2011 Armand Jonathan Meguer – fall from height
• 08/02/2011 Tony Lawrence  – fall from height
• 01/03/2011 Dean Martin – fall from height
• 17/03/2011 Graham Needham – fall from height

 Struck by vehicles or mobile plant 

• 07/05/2010 Gary Mellor struck by reversing scaffolding lorry
• 16/06/2010 Edward Fitzgerald – crushed by excavator
  

  Struck by vehicles or plant

• 23/06/2010 Peter Brown – trapped between MEWP and structure
• 24/06/2010 Ryan Gregg – roadworks vehicle struck by goods vehicle
• 27/07/2010 Karl Green – reversing vehicle outside site
• 18/08/2010 Richard Pountney – struck by vehicle in roadworks
• 26/08/2010 Marcel Daisley – crushed by overturning dumper
• 20/10/2010 Mihai Hondru – struck by reversing  dozer on roadworks
• 09/11/2010 Brian Gutteridge – struck by lorry in yard
• 24/11/2010 Danny Baldock – struck by site vehicle

Excavations 

• 14/04/2010 James Sim – trapped in trench collapse
  

  Collapse of excavations

• 30/09/2010 Xi Hou Ye – excavation collapse
• 18/10/2010 Andrew Lancaster – trapped in a collapsing trench
• 02/12/2010 Anghel Milosavlevici – excavation collapse
• 21/01/2011 Daniel Hazelton – crushed in excavation
• 21/01/2011 Tomas Hazelton – as above
• 21/01/2011 Peter Johnson – as above
• 21/01/2011 Adam Taylor – as above

 Falling or objects 

• 20/05/2010 Leeson Lavender struck by a falling post
  

  Falling objects

• 12/05/2010 Tony Baines struck by steel beam
• 05/08/2010 Anton Dochev – struck by a falling object
• 22/09/2010 Peter Knight – struck by moving object
• 22/10/2010 Edward Storrie – struck by a falling load
• 07/01/2011 Andrew Dytiche – struck by falling bricks;

 Structural collapse 

• 21/10/2010 Kevin Ruffles – struck by a falling structure
  

  Collapse of structures

• 21/10/2010 Matthew Skeet – struck by a falling structure
• 19/02/2011 Kalwan Singh-Dale – building collapse
• 19/02/2011 Jason Singh-Dale – as above

 Electrocution 

• 09/06/2010 Paul Willet – suspected electrocution 
• 11/05/2010 Bradley Gardner MEWP hit overhead cable
• 10/08/2010 Peter Usher Wilson – electrocuted
• 16/10/2010 Martin Walton – electrocution
  

  Electrocution

 Carbon monoxide

•  13/12/2010 Matthew Nixon – CO poisoning
• 29/12/2010 Zoe Anderson – CO poisoning (MoP)

 Crushed by installations

•   18/03/2011 Matthew Quigley – crushing injuries
• 28/06/2010 Semelia Campbell – child (6) trapped by gate

 Others

•  16/06/2010 (Gavin Bedford) classified as manufacturing but appears to involve ‘construction work’ – struck by fall object
•  03/07/2010 (Karolina Golabek) child trapped in an automatic gate. 

This article was posted on 17th June 2011