Research from HSE found that a quarter of the fatal injuries to workers in the UK occurred in the construction industry across 2021/22.
Workwear Guru, who supply construction clothing and apparel for sites and companies, conducted a survey in 2021 that looked at the best places to work in construction. These countries were ranked based on the average salaries available, the cost and quality of living in said country, and the safety of working conditions on these sites.
From the findings of the survey, the top 10 best places for the industry are dominated by countries located in and west of Europe. Switzerland takes first place, followed by the UK in second, and then Belgium.
However, this is the overall score and the country with lowest incident rate for accidents is Poland with just 4% of workforce reporting injuries while working. Singapore similarly has a low incident rate of 5%, and the UK also has a relatively low rate of accidents at 8%.
On the opposite end of the scale, the list for the 10 worst places to work in construction features locations all over the globe. The worst place in the world for workplace safety is reported to be Myanmar in Asia with an incident rate of 58%.
Regarding these results, UK van leasing company Van Ninja suggests that workers should be adequately trained in safety practices that can be implemented to improving job site safety. These should include sections on awareness of the tools they are working with, the cleanliness of the site, and identifying potential hazards before they occur, as well as sections on communication with other members of the workforce to prevent potential hazards forming. They have also said that site managers could benefit hugely from extra training focusing on proper supervision, monitoring, and reporting of the sites and any potential incident dangers or those that have occurred.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the value for new orders was up 22.8% in only the first quarter of 2022. With more projects for companies to work on, an extra emphasis must be placed on worker safety to avoid any potential incidents that could not only injure your workforce, but subsequently slow down progress.