Perhaps unsurprisingly, a new study compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found, on looking at workplace mortality figures, construction workers to be subjected to some of the most dangerous working conditions in the UK, second only to farming. The consensus was that the inherent hazards presented by dealing with heavy machinery and working at height put workers at risk of suffering injuries related to falls, slips and other accidents.'
While most construction firms, of course, have robust health and safety strategies in place to alleviate on-the-job risks as much as possible, Aggregate Industries has been keen to assert that suppliers also have an integral part to play.
Richard Wilson, Head of Health & Safety at Aggregate Industries, said: “Construction health and safety has come a long way over the past couple of decades on account of new legislation and more serious investment in health and safety systems. However, there is still much work to be done - the figures are still far too high with 43 workers fatally injured in the construction sector 2015/2016.
“As an industry, it is important to come together to address this. By involving suppliers earlier on in the supply chain, for example, businesses can look to share ideas and benefit from informed guidance when it comes to the safe delivery, movement and supply of goods.”
As a business committed to driving the safety agenda, Aggregate Industries has launched a number of new initiatives over the past year in a bid to help customers enhance the safety of their workforce.
This includes the recent introduction of moving floor trailers which use an in-built moving floor to move product out of a trailer to the desired location, offering much greater stability and ability alleviating the risks of tipping associated with traditional articulated tipper trucks.
Upping the safety ante further, Aggregate Industries also offers high amp lifts, enabling customers to more easily offload products onto their vehicles when on site and has even revised its packing loads for simpler and safer offloaded.
Finally, with high congestion and a small footprint adding to the safety risk in London, the business’ London Concrete team is fully FOS compliant. As such, all drivers have had training to meet these standards ensure they have high a high level of road-safety awareness, while all mixer units are compliant and vehicles are fitted with extra mirrors for increased visibility.
Wilson adds: “In addition to investing heavily in the health and safety of our own workforce, we are committed to doing everything we can to help customers ensure safety on site – from ensuring ease of handling of product through to improving road safety. These are just a number of initiatives we have in the pipeline.”
