Chapter 4 Managing workers’ conditions

Britain’s construction industry employs around 2 million people. In the past 25 years, more than 2800 of these workers have died from injuries that they have received at work. In 2012/13 there were 39 construction worker and 5 member of the public deaths out of a total of 148 for all workplace fatalities, and over 100 times as many deaths from work-related ill health and disease (HSE 2014b). This trend extends across to a higher rate of injury in construction compared to other industries; with 10% of all reported major injuries occurring in construction (construction accounts for 5% of the workforce), or 1913 reported major injuries (HSE, 2013a). According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 175 000 reportable injuries (defined as over seven-day absence) in construction in 2012/13, against 78 222 reported under RIDDOR, indicating almost 55% under-reporting (HSE, 2014a).