Lawyers warned this week that construction companies in Scotland are among those that are performing poorly on health and safety.

Analysis from law firm Pinsent Masons showed that enforcement actions from the health and Safety Executive jumped by 38% in the first six months of this year.

Figures south of the border are falling, as companies sharpen up their health and safety act.

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But while enforcement actions in London have fallen from 739 in the first six months of this year to 393 in the same period this year, Scottish companies are continuing to put their workers at risk and put themselves in the path of 'improvement' or 'prohibition' notices from the HSE.

These notices could become expensive soon, as the HSE is due to introduce a new charging system this autumn, allowing it to recover costs of investigations and enforcement measures in cases where an offence has occurred.

And construction businesses accounted for 42% of all enforcement actions in the UK in the first half of 2012.

Laura Cameron, a regulatory specialist at Pinsent Masons, said: "The significant increase in actions in Scotland is striking."

(NE)