SECRETARY OF STATE for work and pensions Peter Hain is to convene a forum of construction employers and trade unions to find ways to curb rising fatality rates, after the HSE's latest figures revealed a jump of more than 25 percent in building deaths. The forum, which will meet in September, will focus on firms in the housebuilding and repair and refurbishment sectors (which have shown the greatest increase in fatalities). The HSE's provisional fatality figures, published at the end of July, show deaths in construction rose by more than 25 percent in the 12 months to April 2007. The 77 people who died on building sites last year (up from a record low level of 60 in 2005-06) represented a rate of 3.7 fatalities per 100,000 workers (up from 3.0).
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