Government urged to 'tackle grey economy'
October 1st 2007

Following the Construction Safety Summit on 17 September, chaired by Peter Hain MP, Secretary of State for Works and Pensions, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is warning that the Government needs to tackle the grey economy in the construction sector if it wants to reduce the number of accidents and deaths on construction sites.

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB says, "FMB is committed to the highest standards of health and safety but with over 150 000 registered construction firms and only 24 000 affiliated to any recognised trade body there is an urgent need to get more builders to join a trade body such as the FMB to help improve health and safety standards in the sector. If VAT on repairs and maintenance were to be reduced from 17.5% to 5% this would help eliminate the cowboy builders." FMB is also urging the Government to: Embed health and safety training into daily work practice. FMB wants to explore with the Government ways in which health and safety could be made to work more effectively using existing drivers and delivery mechanisms such as Construction Skills, CIS etc Make all HSE health and safety training promotional material freely available.

Increase funding for the HSE.