HSE hosts mock trial showing importance of safety in construction jobs
Construction jobs employers have been invited to take part in a mock court case hosted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The staged trials hosted by the HSE are part of an attempt to show people in construction jobs the consequences of when safety measures are ignored and something goes wrong. It hopes to demonstrate the importance of health and safety jobs in the industry for not only preserving safety for workers but also in preventing employers from criminal liability under the Health and Safety at work.
According to industry magazine Building, the first faux trial took place at Northampton's 17th century Sessions House Court in late July. This saw a fictitious construction company ("Wendy Houses") and its 'director' prosecuted by the HSE's investigators about an accident where an employee's leg was crushed by a bucket falling from an excavator - also played by an actor sitting in the public gallery.
In the scenario presented, the HSE investigator has discovered that the driver of the excavator had not been given a full induction upon starting at the site - and was unaware that the firm was using a type of digger that required a safety pin to secure the bucket, which then 'fell' onto the injured employee.
During the trial, the head of the company - "Mr Wendy" - claims that the fault is not due to lax company policy but to workers failing to adhere to the training they had been given. By the end of the trial, this claim has been supported by the mock jury; whilst his firm is at fault for not giving an induction, Mr Wendy himself was simply let down by incompetent employees. In a real case, the magistrate would have fined the firm £12,000 plus costs.
Speaking to Building's Andrew Hankinson, one of the attendees - many of whom work in health and safety jobs at construction firms - said that the fake trial "provided a great insight into how the HSE sees things and how that affects contractors."
Author: William Hobson
Keywords: health and safety jobs, construction jobs