HSE lauds Yorkshire development site for good practice

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive may be more used to enforcing safety standards at British employment and construction sites, but they are not beyond bestowing praise on sites that have gone above and beyond the statutory requirements.

One such site is the Raithwaite Hall development at Sandsend on the Yorkshire coast, which was praised following a recent spot check by inspectors. They said it displayed good practice that far exceeded the level legally required of them.

The £30 million development of the 80-acre site is seeing the construction of a 45-bedroom five-star luxury resort by contractors, Wates.

HSE inspector, Alasdair Green, said that the company was leading the way when it came to ensuring the safety of the more than 70 workers on site. These actions include load limit signs for the scaffolding that give physical equivalents - one tub of mortar and two packs of bricks - to the five kilo Newton load that can be supported.

"An example of good practice is cables up and out of the way. It is very simple but means we have clear walkways. The most common type of injury is slips and trips," he said of the tying of equipment cables to walls instead of the floors. "The signs are also a nice touch. They have put how much weight can be put on the loading bay and in terms the lads understand rather than in kilo Newtons."