§ 38. Mr. Manuelasked the Minister of Labour how many accidents have occurred from 1949 to 1959 owing to the caving-in of trenches being excavated for the provision of sewer and other services; and how many of these accidents were fatal.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. Peter Thomas)Comprehensive statistics of accidents resulting from the collapse of excavations are only available from 1954. From that year to 1959, inclusive, 842 such accidents were reported, of which 80 were fatal. These figures relate to all excavations and separate figures are not available for sewers and other services.
§ Mr. ManuelDoes not the Parliamentary Secretary think this is rather an alarming state of affairs? Is there any safety legislation of a protective nature which will ensure that these cave-ins do not take place? Or does he think there is a need for some steel protection, such as a shield, to stop the tragic loss of life and the large number of accidents?
§ Mr. ThomasThe numbers which I gave to the House are a very small proportion of the 17,000 accidents which take place each year on construction sites, but I agree with the hon. Member that every effort should be made to prevent these accidents. As the hon. Member knows, it is intended that the safety provisions of the building regulations which refer to excavations on building sites will be extended to cover works of engineering construction. Preliminary draft regulations were sent out to interested organisations on 31st March for their comments. Before these regulations can finally be made, there will be full consultation and a statutory draft will have to be issued.