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We are pleased to hear that the Gangmaster Licensing laws will be extended to the construction industry as part of a government inquiry into the number of deaths in the construction industry.

Yvette Cooper the Work and Pensions Secretary will release a report: ‘One Death too Many’ which summarises the findings of the government inquiry. The report recommends:

• The gangmaster licensing laws be extended to the construction industry;
• The appointment of a fulltime minister of construction;
• Measures to make it easier to prosecute directors of construction projects with poor health and safety standards.

Following the release of the report the government will consult with building firms and unions before responding later this year.

The TUC have long campaigned on health and safety standards in the Construction industry, by their estimates, 2,800 people have been killed in the last 25 years on construction sites or as a result of construction activities. In 2009 the equivalent of one construction worker has died every week.

Campaigners blame the poor health and safety standards in the industry on casualisation of the industry and the illegal gangmasters who are supplying unskilled labour to construction companies to carry-out skilled and dangerous work. The report endorses this view stating that unions can play an important and positive role in driving up health and safety standards in the industry.

While we welcome this announcement, from our own work we know that the Gangmaster’s Licensing Authority is already stretched, if its remit were extended to enforcing standards in the construction industry, the government must ensure that it is adequately resourced.