The North East construction industry got a shake-up after the Health and Safety Executive carried out random checks on working conditions. Inspectors visited 69 building sites and issued 43 prohibition notices and six improvement notices. An unnamed site in Newcastle was served with eight prohibition notices. The checks, also carried out across Britain, follow a spate of accidents on construction sites. There were 114 fatal injuries in the industry between April 1, 2000, and March 31, 2001, including eight members of the public. Another 5,046 people suffered major injuries, 317 of whom were members of the public. In May 2001, joiner Thomas Hounslow, 46, of Stainton Grove, Seaburn, Sunderland, died after a guard rail gave way on scaffolding on work to the Metro link to Sunderland. In January this year John Crimmins, 33, of Stonethwaite, and Fred Cook, 38, of Abbots Way, both of North Shields, were killed by a massive electric shock when gear they were moving touched power cables in Co Durham. Paul Stewart, 23, of Walker, Newcastle, was one of four men who plunged to their deaths when a gantry fell on the Avonmouth bridge in 1999. A construction division of the HSE was set up in April to look at industry problems. Many North East building sites were visited by HSE staff in a four day blitz last week. Bill McKay, the HSE's North East principal construction inspector, said: "Visits show working practices on many sites are totally unacceptable. "There are still too many fatalities and serious accidents and responsible people in the industry must see safer practices adopted. "There are better ways of doing things now and safety has got to be observed. Good health and lives are at stake." Half of the prohibition notices were served to deal with the risks of working at a height, as falls account for nearly half of construction fatalities. Pam Waldron, HSE head of operations in Northern England, who led the blitz, said: "As in the London inspections, we found standards on many sites well below the required standard. "I saw many examples of weak site management and lack of control of sub-contractors allowing unsafe practices. I also saw individuals putting themselves at risk by ignoring site rules. Sadly, this indicates a common pattern in Britain." Today, the HSE will check conditions have improved since their inspections. | 
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