Site fatality for members of the National Specialist Contractor’s Council (NSCC) has dropped by half in the space of nine years.

The point of reference is the date at which NSCC began collecting information.

The 2011/12 accident survey also revealed the major injury rate dropped 43% and the over 3-day rate fell by 60%.

The fatality rate for 2012 amounts to 1.8 of every 100,000 NSCC workers, compared with the industry rate of 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

The NSCC major injury rate was 204.1 per 100,000 workers and the over 3-day injury rate was 496.0 per 100,000 workers. This showed a drop of 22% from 2010/11.

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Almost half of all accidents resulted from handling, lifting and carrying or slips and trips.

All NSCC member organisations took part in the survey, which included over 2300 businesses.

The size of the workforce covered by the survey increased to over 112,000 operatives compared to 98,000 in 2010/11.

NSCC Chief Executive Suzannah Nichol MBE, said: "Construction is a high risk industry but the success of the Olympic Delivery Authority in delivering the Olympic Park with no fatalities and a below average accident rate proves that, if we make health and safety on site a priority, we can successfully reduce the number of accidents that occur.

"By collating accident information from the specialist sector, NSCC is able to identify trends and tailor the guidance and support available to members to reduce the risk of similar accidents recurring in the future."

(IT)