"We are at a crossroads once again" – Wolstenholme on industry's health crisis

Jon Masters
01 February 2016

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As co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council and Crossrail chief executive, Andrew Wolstenholme is spearheading a new drive to tackle the industry's endemic problems of ill health. We have an opportunity to change, he says.

In 1815, Britain led the way in safety when the first prototype of Davy’s safety lamp for miners was demonstrated. Over two hundred years later, fatalities on construction sites are now a shocking exception rather than the norm. In the 40 years since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act, fatalities in the workplace have dropped by 80%. While this is a significant achievement, 100 times more people die as a result of poor health in the construction industry as do from accidents on site.

Last week, in the exact same room at the Royal Institution that Humphry worked on the Davy lamp, the inaugural Health in Construction summit brought together more than 150 chief executives from the UK’s top construction companies to commit to tackling the causes of ill health in our industry.

"Much of the innovation we see in the industry still thinks safety first rather than giving an equal billing to health." Andrew Wolstenholme

The Government has identified £411bn of major infrastructure projects over the coming years. In order to deliver them we need a fit and healthy workforce, yet construction workers retire, on average, 6-10 years earlier as a direct result of poor health. We lose 1.2million work days a year due to the environment we put our workers in. Not taking action on the causes of ill-health is not just irresponsible, it’s bad business.

In the UK construction sector there were 3,500 deaths from occupational cancer during 2014/15. The most significant cause is exposure to asbestos and silica. If not properly managed, many construction processes can cause significant breathing problems and lung diseases, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

We must ensure the environment we send our workforce into is clean as well as safe.

On Crossrail we have collected data and conducted research about our working environments and put in place control measures. Our rail systems suppliers have developed innovative hardware solutions, such as an automated drilling machine, which will drill over 250,000 holes in the tunnels for the cables, walkways and other equipment to support the operation of the railway. This will reduce the risks to workers from exposure to silica and other respiratory risks. This is an important step but much of the innovation we see in the industry still thinks safety first rather than giving an equal billing to health.

As co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), I aim to move the health agenda forward by working with key industry bodies, such as the Health in Construction Leadership Group and Infrastructure Client Group, and ensure it underpins each of our core work streams - skills, supply chains, innovation, sustainability and exports. The CLC will provide support to the industry and act as the bridge to government, but ultimately it is for the industry to take ownership of the challenge.

"We must ensure the environment we send our workforce into is clean as well as safe." 

Back in 2001, at the Construction Safety Summit, the industry was given six months to start a revolution to improve safety or face being forced to do so by a new Safety Act. It woke us up. The industry changed. We are at a crossroads once again. We have an opportunity to change this industry.

Andrew Wolstenholme OBE, co-chair Construction Leadership Council and chief executive, Crossrail Limited