• Registration deadline for existing high-rise residential building in England has now passed
• Over 13,000 dutyholders have started or completed their application
• Registration is a legal duty brought in by the Building Safety Act 2022, following the Grenfell fire

The Building Safety Regulator’s new regulatory regime has moved further ahead in its vital registration programme of in-scope high-rise residential buildings, that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys tall, with two or more residential units.

Building registration is a major step in a package of measures to ensure high-rise residential buildings are safe for residents and users. The registration information provided by dutyholders will be used by the BSR to help it prioritise buildings for the building assessment certificate process from April 2024.

Principal Accountable Persons (PAP’s) were given until the 1 October 2023 to register all high-rise residential buildings in England. It is now an offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered building.

Chris Griffin-McTiernan, Deputy Chief Inspector of Buildings at BSR, said: “We are encouraged to see that since the HRB registration service opened in April, the majority of Principal Accountable Persons (PAP’s) have recognised their mandatory registration obligations. When the registration deadline was reached on 1 October, over 13,000 applications had been started.

“We are now urgently reminding the minority of dutyholders who have missed the deadline for completing their registration application, that they could now face significant sanctions, including prosecution. Please respond to your legal duty – act now and register to avoid action being taken against you.”

Detailed guidance for owners and managers of high-rise buildings on their legal duties for registering their building, and information on how to complete the application, including the key building information, has been available since April 2023.

BSR’s recent programme of over thirty stakeholder sessions have focussed on supporting people with completing their registration applications, ready for the Regulator to begin the building safety certification process.

Further guidance and support for building owners and managers is available on the ‘Making Buildings Safer’ campaign website here.

Notes to editors:

About BSR: The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is established within the Building Safety Act 2022, as an independent regulator within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). BSR will raise building safety and performance standards and oversee a new stringent regime for high-rise residential buildings, as well as overseeing the wider system for regulating safety and performance of all buildings and increasing the competence of relevant regulators and industry professionals.

About HSE: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.

About the Building Safety Act, 2022: The Building Safety Act gained Royal Assent on the 28 April 2022 and makes ground-breaking reforms. The Act overhauls existing regulations and creates new powers that will enable lasting change across the built environment.

A snapshot of good and bad practices of how workers’ exposure to dust is being managed and controlled on construction sites across Great Britain has been revealed.

As part of its Business Plan, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out more than 1,000 inspections between May and July, focusing on what businesses and workers were doing to prevent or adequately control the risks from construction dust.

HSE’s Dust Kills campaign supported the site inspections, which raised awareness of the inspections, provide helpful advice, information, and links to guidance, for employers and workers. Almost two million connections were made to the campaign via the social media channels alongside extensive stakeholder and press coverage.

The inspections by Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety revealed examples of good practice on sites and within companies. These included; the use of motorised water suppression alongside face fit tested FFP3 respiratory protective equipment (RPE) to reduce exposure to silicosis and lung cancer causing respirable crystalline silica (RCS); air fed hoods (or powered air respirators) being used when using high powered cutting saws during carpentry to prevent exposure to asthma causing wood dust; and the inclusion of details of HSE’s campaign within company health, safety & environmental newsletters to raise awareness of the effects of dust exposure and the importance of effective control measures to improve the long-term health of construction workers.

However, HSE’s inspectors also found many examples of poor practice, including no on-tool extraction in place on high powered cutting saws that generate silica and wood dust, along with poorly maintained extraction equipment such as hoses and units making it ineffective; suitable RPE not being made available on site for workers to use or making it available but not ensuring it is used; and the health of workers not being considered when carrying out the simplest of tasks such as sweeping up indoors, which requires damping down to control the dust generated and the provision of suitable face-fit tested RPE.

A key area of concern for the regulator is that inspectors are still finding sites where the hierarchy of controls are simply not considered at all; where no effective design or planning has taken place to eliminate risks from dust, such as considering the use of pre-cut materials, and nothing being in place to minimise the risks by use of suitable control measures, such as water suppression and on-tool extraction and the use of RPE.

HSE’s Acting Head of Construction Division Mike Thomas said: “Regularly breathing in the dust generated by many construction activities can cause diseases like lung cancer, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and silicosis.

“Every year we see construction workers die from these diseases caused or made worse by their work because the necessary precautions required to protect their long-term lung health have not been taken by employers and workers themselves.

“The 1,000 plus inspections completed took place across a range of construction sites to check the action businesses are taking to ensure their workers’ health is being protected.  Some of the examples of good practice found on sites during the campaign are really pleasing.  But, as can be seen by some of the poor practices found by our inspectors, where planning around the risks of dust and controls to prevent exposure are not even considered, it shows there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“A full evaluation of the inspection data is underway, and we will release more information in due course.”

The early findings come at the start of UK Construction Week that runs from 3-5 October in Birmingham.

The law requires employers to prevent the ill health of their workers as far as reasonably practicable, which includes prevention or adequate control of workers’ exposure to construction dust.

Ideally, elimination of the risk of exposure to dust for workers should be achieved by good design and planning.  Where this is not possible, measures should be put in place to control dust and provide workers with appropriately fitted RPE.  Employees should also play their part by taking responsibility for wearing and maintaining RPE provided.

Notes to Editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. Further details of HSE’s Business Plan can be found: HSE annual business plan – HSE

3. HSE partnered with construction and occupational health organisations to highlight the control measures required on site to prevent exposure to dust. The network of Dust Killspartners includes Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) and Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), Construction Leadership Council (CLC), Health in Construction Leadership Group (HCLG) and Construction Dust Partnership. For more information visit the Work Right campaign page.

A dockside warehousing company has been fined £127,500 after a worker fell 25ft through an open hatch on a trawler which had no edge protection.

David Eggins, a father-of-two, was working aboard a fishing vessel docked at the quayside at Cattedown Road, Plymouth on 16 December 2019.

While acting as a banksman for a crane lifting pallets of frozen fish from the vessel’s hold, Mr Eggins was knocked through an unguarded hatch by an unsecured wheeled bin, as the vessel moved on the water. He fell between 25/30ft onto the floor below suffering multiple fractures to his head, neck, back, pelvis and ribs. He also sustained internal bleeding and spent over three months in hospital.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Cattedown Wharves Limited had failed to take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of workers during the operation. They were in charge of the unloading operation and should have taken adequate measures to ensure the safety of their employees.

HSE has guidance available for safety on fishing vessels.

Cattedown Wharves Limited, of Fisher House, Barrow-in-Furness, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act.

The company was fined £127,500 and was ordered to pay £13,767 costs at a hearing at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 29 September 2023.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Emma O’Hara said: “David Eggins was seriously injured in a fall which should not have been able to happen.

“The fine imposed on Cattedown Wharves Limited should underline to companies that the courts, and HSE, take a failure to follow the regulations extremely seriously. We will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all that they should to keep people safe.”

This HSE prosecution was supported by HSE enforcement lawyer Alan Hughes.

Notes to editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.

A prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is being brought against Falcon Tower Crane Services Limited after a crane collapsed in Crewe, Cheshire and three men lost their lives.

Rhys Barker, 18, from Castleford, David Newall, 36, from Bradford, and David Webb, 43, from Northampton, died following the incident at a construction site on Dunwoody Way on 21 June 2017.

Falcon Tower Crane Services Limited is accused of breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The charges follow a long and complex investigation by HSE. A Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing is due to take place at Chester Crown Court on 6 October 2023.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

A campaign launch, an important investigation update, cautions for fraudulent divers, as well as a host of successful prosecutions were among the top stories published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) during September.

Waste management company fined £3m following HSE investigations

At the beginning of the month, Valencia Waste Management Limited, formerly known as Viridor Waste Management Limited, were fined a total of £3million after two men died in separate incidents.

HSE investigated the firm after the deaths of Michael Atkin and Mark Wheatley in 2019 and 2020.

Michael, a 63-year-old HGV driver from Wetherby, was killed while collecting wastepaper bales at the firm’s Grendon Road site in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire on 10 October 2019.

Just months later, 31-year-old agency worker Mark, died while lifting two skips with a lorry at a depot in Bovey Tracey in Devon on 17 January 2020.

The devastated families of both men paid tributes to the impact of losing their loved ones

Divers and company director receive police cautions for fraud

Two offshore commercial divers and the director of a diving company were sanctioned for exaggerating credentials.

HSE investigators slammed the trio for false claims of diving experience that could have jeopardised their own and other divers’ lives in an offshore incident.

Following the investigation, two divers from the Portsmouth area had their diving qualifications withdrawn.

Both men and the director of a commercial diving company also received police cautions for fraud.

Gas Safety Week: Engineer of the Year discusses career, regulations and diversity

An award-winning gas specialist at HSE described the “emotionally taxing” week he spent at the site of an explosion that claimed the life of a two-year-old boy.

Steve Critchlow, a principal registered gas engineer, was called to Mallowdale Avenue in Heysham, Lancashire, following the blast in May 2021.

He stayed at the site for a week as part of his investigation for HSE.

His report helped support the conviction of a man who received 15 years in jail for manslaughter.

HSE to lead investigation into double fatality at Teesworks site

On 15 September, we announced that an investigation into the deaths of two men at the Teesworks site in 2019, will be led by HSE.

John Mackay and Tom Williams died following an explosion at the site.

This remains a criminal investigation that Cleveland Police will continue to support.

Grimsby company fined £200,000 after driver suffers chemical burns

A company in Lincolnshire was fined £200,000 after a driver suffered chemical burns to his feet assuming he was standing in a puddle of rainwater.

The man had been offloading his tanker with a delivery at the Laporte Road site of Tronox Pigment UK Limited, in Stallingborough, Grimsby, on 9 August 2022.

The driver was actually standing in a pool of water containing caustic, a corrosive chemical substance.

Time running out as deadline to register high-rise buildings nears

On 20 September, a warning was given that time was running out to register high-rise buildings with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

It will be a criminal offence for any qualifying building not to be registered with the new regulator after 1 October 2023. Registration opened in April 2023.

Those responsible for high-rise buildings not registered by the deadline could face significant sanctions, including prosecution.

HSE campaign highlights dangers from metalworking fluids

Businesses are being warned to make sure their staff are safe when working with metalworking fluids or coolants.

Exposure to metalworking fluids – also referred to as ‘white water’ – can cause harm to lungs and skin through inhalation or direct contact with unprotected skin; particularly the hands, forearms and face.

HSE plans to carry out unannounced inspections between now and March 2024.

Company fined £1.275m after man crushed to death

A Birmingham company was fined £1,275,000 after a 26-year-old man was crushed to death during maintenance work at Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire.

Tarmac Aggregates Limited failed to ensure critical defects were recorded and rectified in a timely manner.

Luke Branston, from Leicester, died in the early hours of 21 June 2017 after becoming trapped between a conveyor and a feed hopper.

His family say they are devastated by his passing.