30 March 2010 – Government responds to Donaghy Report into construction deaths

The Government today publishes its response to Rita Donaghy’s report into construction deaths, Yvette Cooper has announced. The response follows widespread consultation across government, trade unions, business organisations and the construction industry.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper said:

"I would like to thank Rita Donaghy and her team for their excellent work and their wide ranging recommendations. I hope that the action set out in the response further improves the safety record in the construction sector and provides comfort to the families of those who have been killed by construction-related accidents.

"This response is not an end in itself though, and we must continue to work together – government, business, unions and workers – if we are to ensure that jobs in construction are as safe as any other."

Rita Donaghy’s report contained 28 far-reaching recommendations for improving safety in the construction industry, covering safety representatives, building control, the legal system, training and competence, and public procurement.

The Government fully accepts 23 recommendations made by Rita Donaghy including support of Common Minimum Standards throughout publicly funded construction projects; mutual recognition between pre-qualification schemes; and support for greater worker participation. It will look further at the recommendations to introduce more legal duties on company directors and to extend licensing regulations to the construction industry.

The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned Rita Donaghy’s inquiry to see what more could be done to reduce deaths and increase safety in the construction industry.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Government’s response to Rita Donaghy’s report is available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/policy-publications/fatal-accidents-inquiry.shtml
2. Rita Donaghy’s report, ‘One Death is too Many – Inquiry into the Underlying Causes of Construction Fatal Accidents’, was published on 8 July 2009. It is available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/policy-publications/fatal-accidents-inquiry.shtml
3. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions commissioned the Inquiry into the Underlying Causes of Construction Fatal Accidents on 4 December 2008, and appointed Rita Donaghy as independent chair of the inquiry.
4. Rita Donaghy CBE was Chair of ACAS between 2000-07 and has held a number of other public appointments including as a Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the Low Pay Commission. Rita was President of the TUC from 1999-2000 and a Member of the TUC General Council from 1987-2000.
5. Great Britain consistently has fewer fatal injuries in the workplace than other European countries and fewer construction deaths. Provisional figures show that the number of people killed at work in 2008-09 was 180. There were 53 deaths through construction accidents in 2008-09 compared with 72 deaths in 2007-08. Yet the fatal accident rate in the construction industry remains over four times the average for all industries.

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