INDUSTRYNEWS
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
» THAT’S WHY IT WAS
encouraging to hear from Business
Secretary, Alok Sharma that our
country and our economy needs
the critical contribution of our
construction workforce right now.
This workforce is responsible for
building our schools and homes,
our energy plants and ensuring
our infrastructure supports
everything we do in our daily
lives. Things that our society often
takes for granted without perhaps
a thought about the pressures
behind working in this sector even
on a ‘normal’ day.
Today, these same builders,
plasterers, groundworkers,
electricians; plant operators,
the list is endless; are building
temporary hospital wards for
our country, installing complex
and life-saving oxygen systems
and improving the infrastructure
that we need to function in this
current climate.
As CEO of the Lighthouse
Construction Industry Charity, we
have a moral obligation to ensure
our workforce and their families
aren’t left to cope alone in a crisis
and I have already written to Mr
Sharma to highlight the critical
situation for our charity and our
construction community. Given
that over 50% of our workforce
in construction are either self-
employed, agency workers or
on zero-hour contracts we are
finding it impossible to keep up.
Many of these workers are only
one or two paydays away from
poverty and need our immediate
help.
My proposal to Mr Sharma is
one that could have considerable
political capital. In 2018/19,
*£54.5 million in fines were issued
to duty holders found guilty of
health and safety offences across
all business sectors. A large
proportion of that will have come
from construction companies.
The single largest fine was £3
million and 36 cases received
fines of £500,000 or more. This
revenue goes straight into the
treasury. Surely, it’s not beyond the
realms of possibility that during
these extraordinary times that
some of this revenue could be
ring-fenced and diverted to our
cause? I have always thought that
this money should be returned in
some way back to those that need
it the most, but now it’s critical.
As a charity we already have the
processes in place to manage this
and I’m certain that this proposal
would receive widespread support
by the construction industry. It
would make headline news. I’m
awaiting for a reply.
Our 24/7 Construction
Industry Helpline is still fully
operational but we are already
being overwhelmed with requests
for help. Calls are increasing by
25% each week and it’s going
to get worse before it gets
better. For individuals there
are difficulties in accessing the
support they need. One desperate
caller to our helpline told us
that he was number 22,000 in
an online queue to get access to
Universal Credit.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive
of the Federation of Master
Builders (FMB) has also said that
small construction businesses are
having difficulties accessing the
14 » M AY 2020 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
‘we step in to
provide a lifeline to
those workers that
are falling through
the safety net’
Government funding they need.
10% of their members applications
have been rejected and 84% were
still waiting for a response.
The systems in place simply
cannot cope with the demand.
Thankfully, this is where we step
in to provide a lifeline to those
workers that are falling through
the safety net. We’re providing
emergency financial aid so that
they can buy food for their
families and making sure they
can keep the heating and lights
on. We’re also providing mental
wellbeing support, but tragically
we don’t reach everyone in time.
We’ve just heard from the partner
of a worker who was already
having problems with debt before
the pandemic. Being laid off was
just too much to cope with and
he took his own life in the family
home. His partner found him and
she is now attempting to deal with
the horror of what has happened.
He leaves two young children.
Finally, and on a positive
note; with your support and
the construction community
pulling together, no matter how
unpredictable the future feels at
the moment, we will get through
this and be stronger as a result.
Stay safe.
Bill Hill, Charity CEO
of the Lighthouse Construction
Industry Charity
https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/enforcement.pdf
In an industry where two construction
workers take their own life every single
working day and where 20% of all work
absence is due to poor mental wellbeing,
a pandemic such as Covid-19 is always
going to have a devastating impact.