Safety statistics prompt search for better fall protection

摘要

The UK design and construction industry has been 'deregulating, relaxing and gaming the fire safety and health and safety regulations' for too long, says Paul Bussey, chair of a highly informative RIBA Journal webinar setting out the duties of architects regarding fall protection design. It's now time, he adds, for a major culture change. 'Principal designers have a significant role in ensuring robust fall protection in building design,' he says, citing the recent introduction of the Building Safety Act (2022), which supplements HSE Guidance and the CDM Regulations (2015). The need to design with safety in mind was underlined by some shocking safety statistics set out by the first speaker, Bernardine Cooney, head of the Regulatory Support Unit, Building Safety and Construction Division, at the Health and Safety Executive. A recent fatal injury rate of 1.63 per 100,000 workers in construction is around four times the all-industry rate. Falls from height were by far the biggest cause, accounting for just over half the 40-45 fatalities per year. They also accounted for 19 of non-fatal injuries. Much more remains to be done to nip 'totally unacceptable' risks of working at height in the bud, said Cooney, by evaluating these risks early in the design process, and tapping into the right resources.