Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to improve health and safety standards and risk assessment processes on contractors working in the construction industry when drawing up construction plans.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) sets out its intervention priorities for the construction industry in its Construction Sector Plan that will be published later this year. A draft version of the Plan is available on HSE’s website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/sector-plans/construction.pdf

This includes HSE inspectors undertaking a programme of targeted, risk based interventions of construction projects, including annual inspection campaigns aimed at the refurbishment sector and smaller projects.

HSE also works with industry through the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) to deliver the aims of the strategy for Great Britain’s occupational health and safety system launched in 2016: Helping Great Britain work well, which can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/strategy/index.htm