The Health and Safety Executive is examining recommendations made in a Transport for London (TfL) report demanding the construction industry takes responsibility for the disproportionately high number of cyclists killed by its lorries in road accidents.
The TfL report found the industry displays a “lack of ownership of road risk” and should take safety on the roads as seriously as safety on site.
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The report called on the HSE to extend its role and the regulations that govern the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) to include road accidents involving construction vehicles “as a matter of urgency”.
The current RIDDOR legislation places strict limits on the HSE’s role in relation to accidents involving moving vehicles.
A spokesperson for the HSE said: “HSE has now received a copy of the report and will meet with TfL to discuss its recommendations.”
Almost 50% of cyclist deaths in road accidents in London in 2011 involved construction lorries, even though HGVs account for just 5% of traffic on the capital’s roads.
The report states lorries delivering construction materials should be refused entry to sites if they are not fitted with the full range of mirrors, safety bars and sensors to improve visibility.
It also recommended that delivery slots at sites should be less rigid and more “realistic” to deter drivers from rushing.
However, one London-based subcontractor criticised the report. “How can we be responsible for vehicles we don’t own, don’t operate and don’t maintain?” he said. “We’re going to end up taking another cut in profit to pay for a qualified person to inspect every lorry that delivers materials to sites. That’s what will happen, because clients won’t pay for it and major contractors won’t pay for it.”
But TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy said lorries working on the £16bn Crossrail project complied with safety demands when contractors started turning away companies whose lorries were not fitted with full safety features.
A spokesperson for the London Cycling Campaign said: “The report does a good job of defining what is practical. Every trip to a site is as much the responsibility of developers, contractors and subcontractors as the safe operation of the site itself is.”
