Big UK Push for Safety at Design Stage
The importance of incorporating health and safety measures into account at the design stage will be highlighted today at a free "Designer Safety Awareness Day" conference in Wales, part of the Working Well Together industry partnership bent on improving construction safety throughout Great Britain. Speakers for the conference include Philip Wolfenden of general contractor Wilmott Dixon. Wolfenden will describe safety elements included in the $32 million Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport, a bustling Welsh city. The event takes place at the facility.
Britain's Health and Safety Executive supports WWT. "Construction is one of the most hazardous industries to work in. There are more than two million people employed in construction in Britain, which makes it one of the country's biggest industries," said HSE's principal inspector for construction in Wales, Chantal Nicholls. "But by its very nature, it's also one of the most dangerous, with many deaths caused each year, as well as considerably more injuries or illnesses."
The conference will help industry professionals obtain clear information on the recently introduced Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 make almost everyone on a construction site responsible to some extent for health and safety. In June, WWT presented its 2007 Worker of the Year award to Jim Murphy, a manager at Ellmer Construction.