Health & Safety Authority publishes details of inspector's findings

Dec 03, 2018

According to the Health and Safety Authority's Safety Health Matters newsletter, they carried out over 900 construction inspections, focusing on the risks posed during excavation works such as engulfment, and on the risks from timber frame handling and the erection of timber framed houses. 

Of these over 900 inspections, 628 of them required formal enforcement action to be taken. These actions took the form of either prohibition or improvement notices. Informal notices (reports of inspection) were left with contractors and other duty holders in 322 cases. 

Inspectors found that in 97% of cases, underground services were considered before digging, 86% had systems in place to prevent trench collapse, and 88% had weekly thorough examinations of trenches, with 84% conducting daily checks. This number drops to only 66% in relation to the identification of engulfment risk in health and safety plans.

Finally, inspections of timber framed houses found that 70% had conducted a fire safety risk assessment for construction, 55% had scaffolding design available, but only 27% had design completed that outlined the necessary temporary supports. 

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