Experts seek answers
August 1st 2007 The hearts and minds of workers and employers in the construction industry have to be won if the industry is to get its fatal injuries rate down, leading figures have concluded. The Construction Industry Strategic Response Forum met at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health to discuss how the industry can improve safety, following this year's 28% increase, and five-year high, of 77 fatalities. Representatives from organisations including the Construction Confederation, ConstructionSkills, IOSH's Construction Specialist Group, UCATT and the Association for Project Safety also attended. John Lacey, chair of the IOSH Construction Specialist Group, says "Members of the group feel that there is a need for more information on each of the fatalities from the Health and Safety Executive to help industry learn from its mistakes. Just classifying something as an 'electrocution' death, for instance, leaves us guessing on far too many factors.We need to know clearly how each of these accidents occurred in order to prevent them happening again." The group will seek to meet with the HSE's chief inspector of construction, Stephen Williams, to discuss the issues raised and to form a common approach to them. More articles from IOSH: | 
