Health and Safety

Taylor Wimpey is suing an architect for up to £50m, claiming it was responsible for cladding defects at a 450-home high-rise scheme in Cardiff. Victoria Wharf in Cardiff Bay features seven residential towers, each over 18 metres, and was completed in 2008. The scheme was developed by Taylor Wimpey, built…

Public safety could be put at risk because Network Rail does not fully understand its own structures such as bridges, a regulator has warned. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it would bring in a consultant to investigate how the infrastructure operator assesses certain physical assets, as it…

A judge has fined Network Rail £3.75m over the death of two of its employees, who were killed after being hit by a train. The rail infrastructure operator pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety law in relation to the incident that happened in South Wales six years ago. Swansea…

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will lead on fire safety issues in a post-Grenfell overhaul,  Sir Keir Starmer has said.  The prime minister confirmed yesterday (13 February) that “responsibility for fire” from 1 April will be given to housing secretary Angela Rayner within the MHCLG, which…

A self-employed roofer has received a suspended prison sentence after a man suffered serious injuries after falling from a scaffold in Devon. Iain Smith fell from a height of more than 25 feet while working for Daniel Hooper, trading as Hooper Roofing, on 13 June 2023. Hooper, of Brook Road…

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has acknowledged there are “teething troubles” with its regulation of building work, but added that “a very large proportion of cases” fail to comply at first.  When the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) took over building control of higher-risk building projects in April 2024, it…

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is not taking any action over the collapse of a building in Glasgow city centre, Construction News can reveal. No laws or regulations were breached in the incident, according to HSE inspectors who visited the scene in the hours after the four-storey building came…

The number of incursions into cordoned-off National Highways areas nearly trebled in 2024, posing a safety risk to construction workers. Data obtained by Construction News under the Freedom of Information Act shows there were 5,899 incursion incidents on the road agency’s network in 2024, or around 492 every month. The…

A stone worktop company has been ordered to pay more than £10,000 after two employees were injured by falling stone slabs. Three quartz slabs fell from a stillage onto Steven Constable and Struan Dunsmore while they worked at Bespoke Stone’s workshop on Dales Road, Ipswich. The two men had been…

A former office building being prepared for demolition collapsed in Glasgow city centre on Wednesday afternoon (22 January). The building, at 138 Hydepark Street, is on the site of a proposed 26-storey student accommodation block where Graham is main contractor. The scheme is being developed by its client arm Graham…