A recent survey has revealed that almost half of workplaces in the UK have never had a health and safety inspection, including more than 80% of construction workplaces.
The survey of health and safety representatives was carried out by the TUC, and found that manufacturing is the only sector in which a majority (57%) of safety reps said there had been an inspection during the past year. This can be compared to the hazardous construction industry, where there were apparently 65,000 work-related injuries and 67,000 work related illnesses in 2015, but only 17% of reps were aware of an inspection in the last year.
Nearly one in two (46%) respondents said that as far as they know their workplace has never had an inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Just one in four reps (24%) reported an inspection within the last 12 months.
The TUC says that by 2019/20, Government funding of the HSE will have been slashed by nearly half, and in recent years, local councils have reduced workplace inspections by 97%.
“Huge cuts to the HSE and to local authorities continue to undermine vital safety protections at work,” commented TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady. “That means more workers at risk of accidents in unsafe workplaces every day. It's time to fund the HSE properly and make sure bosses know that they can't get away with chancing workers' lives in dangerous workplaces.”
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