Action call after 11 site deaths in two months
Action call after 11 site deaths in two months
The construction industry has claimed yet more lives, taking the total since 1 April to 11. The latest fatalities were on 2 June. A 52-year-old man was installing a gas fire fell from a roof as he fitted a flue in a chimney. And a 44-year-old man died after falling through a fragile rooflight at the back of his house in Southall, Middlesex, while showing a roofer what work he wanted done. Construction union UCATT said the number of deaths in the same period last year was nine. It added this year there had been nine deaths in the month from 4 May to 3 June alone. UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie commented: 'This is very bad news for the industry but especially tragic for the families and loved ones of those who have died and my thoughts are with them at this difficult time.' He added: 'This scale of fatalities reinforces our demand for firm sentencing as part of the corporate manslaughter legislation.' Earlier this year, Alan Ritchie said 'it is the prospect of a jail sentence that will change the behaviour of company directors, not a fine' (Risks 200).
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