Unfortunately, accidents while working on construction sites are not uncommon. The Health & Safety Executive has reported that as of 2020, 81,000 workers are suffering from work-related ill health in the construction sector.
Construction work falls under three categories: -
- Construction of buildings – general construction of buildings, including new work, repair, additions and alterations;
- Civil engineering – civil engineering work, including road and railway construction, and utility projects; and
- Specialised construction activities – covering trades that usually specialise in one aspect, common to different structures. This can include demolition, electrical, plumbing, joinery, plastering, painting and glazing.
47% of construction site accidents were caused by falls from height, with other accidents caused by tripping over something, collapsing or overturning, struck by a moving or falling object, struck by a moving vehicle, and contact with electricity or electrical discharge.
There are of course regulations in place to protect employees from having accidents. These include: -
These regulations place obligations on employers to reduce the risk to the lowest possible level reasonable for the task at hand.
The main objective of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 is “to set a high standard to prevent collapses which involves taking into account the hazard during the planning stage”.
If your employer fails to adequately reduce the risk or follow the standards as out by the regulations and yourself or a colleague suffers an injury this can give rise to a breach of duty which can form the basis of a personal injury claim.
All jobs undertaken by those employed within the construction industry should be considered and minimise to the lowest possible level or removed completely if possible. It is understood that some jobs while working at height cannot have the risk factor removed but your employer must ensure they have done all they can to reduce this risk as much as possible.
If you think you may have a claim following an accident at work, you can contact us to discuss the matter on 0800 988 8082 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will get back to you right away.
