To date this year there have been 22 prohibition notices issued by the Island’s Health and Safety Inspectorate – compared to 25 in for the whole of last year.
Such notices require workers to take immediate action, as they have been deemed to be putting themselves or other staff at ‘serious risk of injury’.
If action is not taken they are liable to prosecution and potentially a fine, imprisonment or both.
There have been eight health and safety cases in court already this year and Tammy Fage, director of health and safety, said the courts are now handing down stringent fines.
She is also calling on members of the public to help keep workers safe in Jersey by reporting potential health and safety breaches they see.
‘We are seeing lots of issues with working at height at the moment which is difficult to explain. One theory would be that the industry is booming at the moment and there are not enough subcontractors around to carry out the work. So small businesses branch out and do work outside of their competence area because they cannot find the subbies to do it.
‘Also the recession and economic downturn caused lots of experienced people to leave the industry. Consequently you lost all that experience and not a lot of training was happening.’
She added: ‘We are now issuing so many enforcement notices that we are publishing them on a quarterly basis rather than twice a year.’
Although not all of the prohibition notices relate to the construction industry, Mrs Fage said the industry accounts for about 10% of employment in Jersey but 23% of the Inspectorate’s case load.
The department now have four full-time inspectors up from three. ‘As such our proactive work, the unannounced visits, has doubled,’ said Mrs Fage. There have been 154 proactive, unannounced inspections so far this year.
She said it was important that workers recognised that it it was not just company directors or bosses liable to prosecution if they fail to adhere to health and safety rules. Individuals, if the evidence is available, can face prosecution too.
So far this year the department has received 203 complaints about health and safety issues in Jersey – which includes reports from workers and members of the public. Mrs Fage said complaints cannot be anonymous but her department can work with staff to ensure their workplace does not find out the complaint came from them.
Mrs Fage, who has worked in the job for more than 20 years, said she has seen the impact serious accidents can have on individuals and their families. ‘Our main focus is prevention. Serious accidents can change an individual’s life but also their family’s too.’
To report health and safety concerns in the workplace, call 447300. Updates about health and safety notifications are posted regularly on the government website gov.je under the Health and Safety Inspectorate section.
