Health and Safety

Insurers and the government have developed a new insurance approach that could speed up removals of unsafe cladding, such as that involved in the Grenfell Tower disaster. The International Underwriting Association (IUA) said it hoped to resolve what had been a “difficult” market for firms seeking cover. It worked with…

One person has died and three people have been injured in an incident at a concrete company in Devon that has prompted a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. Devon and Cornwall Police were called by the ambulance service to reports of an industrial incident at West Country Concrete Products…

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has issued an urgent warning to all contractors over the safety of fire dampers. Inspections by maintenance contractors found that a “huge number of dampers” had been incorrectly installed and would fail to work during a building fire. BESA’s head of technical Graeme Fox…

A worker at Hinkley Point C has been seriously injured after his leg was struck by a falling panel. The incident took place on Saturday. According to a colleague speaking to the Somerset County Gazette, a wall "came away and landed on top" of the man. "A steel frame box…

Pre-tax profits at Costain rose by more than a fifth in the first half of this year, thanks to inflation protection mechanisms written into its contracts. In interim results for the half-year ended 30 June, published this morning, the contractor reported pre-tax profits of £11.2m, compared with £9.1m during the…

Plans for a new £300m, state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Cambridge have moved one step closer, after being given permission to find a contractor. The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH) project, which is part of the government’s larger New Hospital Programme (NHP), aiming to deliver 48 hospital schemes by 2030, has…

A site worker on a Galliford Try project near Brighton was knocked unconscious after a colleague dropped a bottle filled with urine from a 50m crane. Police were called to investigate after the bottle, launched by the crane operator, struck an unnamed co-worker at the site of a new health…

Thirty-four hospital buildings in England have roofs made of concrete that are at risk of collapse, ministers have revealed. Last year the BBC found that a number of NHS facilities with roofs, floors and walls made from planks of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) could suffer from structural collapse as…

Construction and services business Equans has been appointed by Birmingham City Council to retrofit 300 houses as part of a pilot scheme for decarbonising the council’s 60,000 properties. Located in the east of the city, the properties will be used to test various approaches to improve thermal efficiency, reduce carbon…

Construction industry charity the Lighthouse Club has joined a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) mental health campaign in the hope of reaching small businesses. The group, which provides financial and emotional support to construction workers and their families, is now a partner in the Working Minds campaign, launched by the…