Building site union calls for more London safety inspectors

NEARLY a fifth of all workers killed on building sites in Britain are in London, figures out today reveal.

Now the construction workers' union is calling for more safety inspectors in the capital.

Fatalities remain at 11 a year for the second year running, while deaths in the rest of Britain have gone down sharply, according to the UCATT construction union.

The union is worried about the low number of Health & Safety construction inspectors working in the capital.

Its London region secretary Jerry Swain said: "It is appalling that deaths in London are as high this year as they were last year, despite the large drop in construction work being undertaken.

"It is essential that the level of inspections, enforcement and prosecutions is increased so that construction workers are better protected."

The number of construction site deaths in the UK was reduced to 53 in the past 12 months compared to 72 the year before, a decrease of 26 per cent, due mainly to the recession which has led to a decline in contracts and more workers being laid off, the union points out.

The most likely cause of death is falling from a height, research shows. Four out of 10 of all building site fatalities in the past 12 months up and down the country were caused by falls. The second most common cause was workers hit by a moving or falling objects.