The rise of health and safety standards in the workplace means that it is more important than ever for companies to consider the various methods of PPE that they can procure for their workers. To use an example of a popular media source, the friendship between Bob the Builder and his truck friends Scoop, Muck, Dizzy et al indicates a harmony between man and machine that building and construction companies would be well advised to follow as an example in the future years to come. Not enough building and construction firms or private contractors in this company set themselves the appropriate accreditation of health and safety standards that ought to be met on every worksite in this country.

Whilst there are many companies in the industry, as has been mentioned in previous articles of this kind, that are dedicated to supplying decent and protective PPE to their employees and are concerned with achieving targets of “Zero Harm” and reduced damage costs, it is evident that more firm managers and site supervisors need to follow the example set by the children’s television series in order to ensure that the safety of their onsite workers are not put into jeopardy as they so often are. Whilst it might seem easy for a grown man to sneer at a show like Bob the Builder with the serpentine hiss of the cynical adult, it is evident that more construction firms need to go back to basics and put the safety and wellbeing of their workforce first before anything else. Indeed, history has shown all too well the ignorance and lack of commitment to health and safety in the workplace.

The steep rise in fines reported by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) this year is something which all enterprises in the building and construction industry need to be aware of. Watching Bob the Builder might not be a cure, but it might be one way of arousing the respect and compassion that all members of the construction workforce deserve but which so many (as the IOSH demonstrates) do not get.