Covid-19 breaches in decline on construction sites

BSG’s report is based on 4,400 independent site inspections carried out between 1st June and 31st August 2020.

The drop in breaches has been attributed to more companies adapting to new working practices on construction sites, including social distancing, in light of the pandemic. Over time it is expected that this trend will continue as the industry becomes more accustomed to operating under the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus, BSG said.

 The most common types of Covid 19 ‘non-compliances’ reported by BSG safety advisers over the last three months have included:

• management and operatives not following social distancing guidelines
• inadequate welfare facilities on site with insufficient cleaning regimes
• too many people in the canteen area with insufficient segregation
• not enough hand sanitizing stations on site
• PPE not available when required
• outdated Site Operating Procedures found on site.

The Site Operating Procedures are produced by Build UK and published for the whole industry by the Construction Leadership Council.  They were first published on 23^rd March as the UK went into lockdown in a bid to help construction sites stay open safely. Like so much official advice, construction’s Site Operating Procedures were subject to regular revisions. Version 5 was published on 1^st July.

BSG managing director Stephen Bell said: “We are pleased to see that Covid-19 breaches have fallen since we began risk assessing companies’ prevention measures to counter the coronavirus. Although we expect this downward shift to continue, now is not the time to become complacent so it is vital that our industry remains vigilant and continues to follow government Site Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines.”

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