Health and Safety

Learning lessons from onsite accidents is vital. But examining the cause of disasters that are narrowly avoided can be just as useful. Keith Cooper finds out how firms are collecting information from close calls to improve health and safety

Something seemed wrong to the slinger signaller when the load was attached to…

Meeting the government’s 2030 deadline to build 40 new hospitals will rely on intense activity from construction firms. Greg Pitcher takes the programme’s temperature

Time flies when you’re having fun, but slips away alarmingly fast when trying to meet a target for hospital construction while battling the effects of a…

Peter Johnson is chairman and founder of rainscreen cladding provider Vivalda Group To hear news outlets giving unequivocal statements while an incident is in progress is highly unusual and yet this is what we all woke up to on June 14, 2017. Long before the incident was brought under control,…

Chris Hallam is a partner at CMS Law Last month’s opening of the Elizabeth Line has reminded us – such that it was needed – that politicians don’t need to be asked twice to don a hard hat and hi-vis if there’s a photo opportunity in the offing. It’s play…

Andrew Eldred is director of workforce and public affairs at trade body ECA This month saw the publication of a new report on installer competence. It was prepared on behalf of Working Group 2 (WG2), which is charged with establishing a new, post-Grenfell competence regime for installers, which Dame Judith…

The new Building Safety Act extends liability for safety defects out to 30 years, bringing far-reaching consequences for contractors. Joshua Stein investigates

When the Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent at the end of April, it included a five-fold extension to liability for safety defects in residential buildings. The new…

As a low-carbon material, timber has a big role to play in achieving net zero, but fire-safety concerns and a lack of testing are holding back its use. Greg Pitcher reports

Imagine a scenario where the UK has met its goals and achieved net-zero carbon in construction. What does the built…

“This is just the start,” says Peter Baker, chief inspector of buildings at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), on the Building Safety Act’s recent Royal Assent. “The act is very complex and very comprehensive,” he explains. “But it is primarily an enabling piece of legislation […] It will have…

Automated remote monitoring of machines via telematics can unlock valuable insights, although collating transmitted data can bring its own hurdles, as Keith Cooper reports

Telematics technology looks like a great tool for construction firms. It allows data from machines – from vans and trucks to excavators and loaders – to be…

Bill Dunkerley is a regulatory lawyer at law firm Pannone Corporate It has been almost five years since the Grenfell Tower fire, and the stark and tragic realisation that the existing system of regulation fell far short in ensuring building safety and the protection of people. While the clock has…