HSE Declines Age-Specific Safety Rules for Older Construction Workers
Published on 08/14/2026 at 17:17 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has ruled out introducing targeted safety measures for construction workers over 60, despite fresh data showing they account for nearly a third of industry fatalities. The regulator insists age is not the decisive factor in site accidents, and is instead holding employers responsible for adapting their existing risk assessments to protect an ageing workforce.
Fatalities Highlight an Ageing Workforce
Figures for 2024/25 show that 10 of the 35 construction deaths recorded involved workers aged 60 or older. The statistics reflect a sector undergoing significant demographic change, with CITB data from 2023 indicating that around 24% of the construction workforce is now over 55 — nearly double the 13% reported in 2000.
The pattern extends beyond construction. Across all industries, the HSE recorded 40 deaths among workers aged 60 or above in 2025/26, out of 126 workplace fatalities in total. That marks an improvement on the previous year, when 49 of 124 deaths fell within that age bracket.
HSE Director Rick Brunt said that while the workforce is undoubtedly getting older, age should not be treated as the defining factor in safety incidents. The regulator's position is that existing health and safety law already provides sufficient protection — provided employers properly adapt their site-specific risk assessments to the realities of their current staff.
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Enforcement Action and Site Safety Failures
The decision comes against a backdrop of significant fines and prohibition notices for safety breaches. Lima Construction Ltd was fined £50,000 following a 2022 incident in New Malden, London, in which a 55-year-old worker died after falling three metres through an unglazed window.
The HSE's investigation found that protective boarding was only fitted after the fatal fall, and that weekly scaffolding inspections had been missed for several weeks beforehand.
In a separate case in Northumberland, Len Smith & Son Building Contractors was fined £20,000 after a 24-year-old bricklayer fell through a polycarbonate roof sheet in February. The worker sustained a broken sternum and fractured vertebrae.
The HSE highlighted the absence of a safe system of work and a proper risk assessment, reiterating that falls remain the leading cause of workplace deaths in the UK — accounting for 31 fatalities in the most recent annual data. The regulator has also issued prohibition notices to Story Contracting over excavation safety and fall protection violations.
Wider Regulatory Stance
The refusal to introduce age-specific measures follows other notable decisions from the watchdog. The HSE recently clarified that it will not investigate the deaths of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit claimants, despite 110 deaths being identified in the department's internal process reviews during 2025/26. The regulator says it cannot act because no recognised health and safety standards exist for the DWP's internal administrative procedures.
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In a separate move, the HSE has ordered four firms to stop working with engineered stone over inadequate protection against silica dust — a substance that causes silicosis, an incurable lung disease. While stopping short of a general ban on the material, the regulator is stepping up pressure on firms to enforce rigorous dust control measures.
