Health and safety 'threatened by claims culture'

One of the biggest threats to health and safety in the construction industry is a growing claims culture, a group of industry figures have claimed.

Speaking at a conference hosted by RRC Training, directors from companies such as PC Harrington and John Doyle told Construction News efforts to improve employee safety are being undermined by litigious problems.

Terry Casbolt, health and safety director at the John Doyle Group, said: "If anyone tells you we do not have a claim culture they are not on this planet. It is no joke."

According to the directors, large firms are making strides to meet the government's target to reduce the number of workplace accidents by ten per cent each year, but enforcing rules on smaller companies is fraught with difficulties.

"When you get a problem it is generally a one-man band working for a client on a non-profitable project, where the Health and Safety Executive does not even know what is happening," David Faulds, health and safety director at PC Harrington Group, told the news provider.

In other news, a man was left with life-threatening injuries after being hit by a falling object while working in a lift shaft on a construction site in Bristol recently.