Construction sector health and safety numbers had not been improving in tandem with the industry, said Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) construction industry performance programme manager Dr Rodney Milford at Thursday's launch of the CIDB health and safety report, held in Tshwane.

He added, however, that statistics available to measure fatalities and injuries in the industry were severely lacking, which made painting an accurate picture of current trends difficult.

According to the Department of Labour (DoL) there were 162 fatalities in the construction industry, excluding motor vehicle accidents, in 2007/08, compared with 79 in 2006/07, 81 in 2005/06, and 54 in 2004/05.

However, around 40% of all fatalities in the construction industry were linked to vehicle accidents, while the CIDB also believed there was much underreporting to the DoL.

Yet another set of statistics, believed to be quite accurate, came from the Federated Employers' Mutual Assurance Company, or Fema, which, however, accounted for only 20% of civil engineering contractors in the industry.

Milford said the Compensation Commissioner should be able to report on health and safety in the industry most accurately.

However, yet again the numbers were flawed, as the latest round of available statistics was from 1999 and, therefore, ten years old.

All of these aspects made reporting on health and safety in the construction industry a difficult job, said Milford.

He added that the sharp rise in DoL fatalities did not necessarily provide an accurate assessment either, as the construction industry had been experiencing rapid growth in projects, work, and employment since earlier this decade. In relation to employment numbers, fatalities and injuries had, therefore, not necessarily worsened, even if every such event was still very much regrettable.

Why then the insistence from the CIDB that the construction industry's health and safety record was not what it should have been?

Milford explained that South Africa was not lacking in health and safety legislation, but that the report found enforcement to be sorely lacking. Also, those government officials inspecting building sites lacked the requisite construction expertise to spot noncompliance.

Industry also did not escape scrutiny, with Milford noting that there was inadequate management commitment to health and safety, as well as inadequate supervision on the adherence to health and safety codes on site.

There was also not sufficient training on health and safety issues within construction companies, and a lack of worker involvement – which was not necessarily the employers' fault, noted Milford. Workers and employers should both become more involved with this issue.

He also said that tertiary education courses, such as university civil engineering degrees, did not even touch on health and safety matters.

Apart from far more accurate statistics to be made available, so the industry could have a better idea of where it stood in terms of health and safety matters, there were other remedies available to improve the numbers.

Milford said it was possible for the public sector to use its procurement potential to achieve improvements in the construction  industry's health and safety performance.

Government and government organisations could, for example, only prequalify and select contractors with recognised health and safety management, skills and competencies to compete for contracts.

Government was currently the biggest driver in South Africa's construction industry, with an infrastructure budget of R787-billion over the next five years.

CIDB CEO Ronnie Khoza noted that the “current construction health and safety systems were clearly not working too well”.