18
NOVEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Construction
health blitz
welcomed
The British Occupational Hygiene Society
(BOHS) strongly welcomed another inspection blitz, announced by
the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) under its Think Health
campaign, to tackle
the unacceptably high
levels of exposures to
health hazards on the
UK’s building sites.
The HSE’s month-long
inspection campaign, featuring the slogan ‘Health as
well as safety,’ took place
in September and October
2014, and followed its previous two-week health blitz
on construction sites carried
out in June this year.
For some time, the Chartered Society for Worker
Health protection has been
greatly concerned by indications of a lack of awareness
of, and compliance with,
key legislation designed to
protect the health of workers on building sites, for
example in the case of occupational exposure limits for
hazardous substances.
These concerns are
confirmed by HSE figures,
which indicate that for
every fatal accident on a
building site, approximately
100 construction workers
die from a work-related
cancer. Occupational cancer deaths are caused by
exposures to hazards such
as asbestos, silica, solar
radiation, coal tars and
pitches. Other major causes
of cancer include painting,
mineral oils, shift work and
diesel engine exhaust.
Further evidence of the
need for awareness can
be found in the figures
released by the HSE following the June 2014 construction health blitz: The safety
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