Safety first as city rebuilds

Sep 24 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

THE phalanx of tall cranes swinging over the rooftops of Liverpool is symbolic of the programme of regeneration taking place in the city.

It means there is a new confidence here, that people are willing to invest their money in the city’s future, that there will soon be a bright new look to Liverpool, reflecting the renewed spirit of optimism.

But what it also means, sadly for some, is that there is the potential here for a great many more accidents than in recent years.

Build tall buildings, or transport huge blocks of construction material across bustling sites full of workers and machinery, and there is always the possibility that disaster might strike.

No-one is saying that Liverpool’s record in this regard is any worse than anywhere else’s, but it is only right that Health and Safety Executive officials should take a heightened interest in the city when there is so much going on here.

Twenty-nine sites across Merseyside and Cheshire were visited during a recent two-month H&SE inspection programme, and 19 of those received Prohibition Notices, forcing them to suspend operations until corrective action was taken.

A further five were issued with Improvement Notices, compelling them to take action on a particular safety problem within a specified time limit.

H&SE officials say that nationwide there is an "appalling willingness to ignore basic safety precautions", with the main point of concern being any work carried out at height. Last year, 23 workers died across Britain while working on tall buildings, emphasising that this is the most critical area for construction industry safety.

The sad fact is that there are too many people willing to put lives at risk for the sake of getting the job done more quickly, or cheaply.

Yes, we want a new-look Liverpool to be brimful of confidence about the future. But no-one wants lives to be sacrificed to help us get there.