The article argues that extreme heat is increasingly affecting construction costs, productivity and programme certainty, with many organisations lacking dedicated weather-adaptation budgets. It highlights how standard contract mechanisms, including NEC4 and JCT, may not automatically provide relief unless weather conditions meet specific thresholds, making proactive planning and record-keeping essential.
The HSE has said it will not introduce special measures aimed specifically at preventing deaths of construction workers aged 60 and over, arguing that age itself is not the primary risk factor. Instead, it emphasised that employers should assess individual vulnerabilities and adapt risk assessments accordingly, while noting that the construction workforce is ageing. The HSE also indicated that its response to the consultation on possible updates to RIDDOR reporting requirements will be published in the coming months.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation has extended two improvement notices served on Bouygues Travaux Publics SAS and Laing O’Rourke Delivery Ltd, partners in the Bylor joint venture at Hinkley Point C, after a worker was seriously injured by a falling formwork panel. The regulator said the firms had made progress but still need more time to demonstrate full compliance with the notices, which relate to planning, management and monitoring of construction work under CDM 2015.
An Essex skip-hire operator and his company were sentenced after repeated Environment Agency warnings about an overflowing waste yard near Braintree were ignored. The site was found to be operating without the required environmental permit, with waste accumulation creating environmental, fire and human safety risks.
The article argues that rising workplace conflict, combined with greater use of generative AI, is changing how grievance and complaint cases are raised and presented in the UK. It highlights particular pressures in construction, where bullying, discrimination and harassment issues are reported above the sector average and where AI-generated complaints may be longer, more persuasive and sometimes inaccurate.
Lindner Prater and St James have been convicted of health and safety breaches following the death of a man struck by a falling window from the Corniche residential tower in London. Wintech and Foster + Partners were cleared, and sentencing for the convicted parties is due at Inner London Crown Court in September 2026.
A domestic building firm has been fined £60,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries in a fall through an unprotected roof light during roof refurbishment in Fulham. The Health and Safety Executive found that suitable fall protection measures were not in place and that the company breached Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
IOSH has warned that complex subcontracting, agency labour and fragmented supply chains in construction can obscure modern slavery risks and make exploitation harder to detect. Its survey found many businesses lack formal processes to assess these risks, despite some respondents expressing confidence in their ability to manage them, and the issue is underscored by rising modern slavery case numbers in construction.
A landlord was prosecuted after failing to comply with an Improvement Notice served by South Holland council following an inspection that identified serious hazards in a rental property in Long Sutton. The hazards included excess cold, stair-related fall risk, fire hazards, and damp and mould, and the landlord was fined after officers found the required works had not been completed.
The Environment Agency has announced four arrests linked to an ongoing investigation into large-scale illegal waste dumping at Bolton House Road in Wigan, with one suspect also connected to a separate site in Leicestershire. The article says the case involves environmental, fraud and money laundering offences and forms part of a wider government crackdown on waste crime.
Research cited by the Chartered Institute of Building indicates widespread gaps in awareness and management of respirable crystalline silica among housing sector construction managers. The article highlights that many respondents were not consistently using exposure plans, were unaware of the workplace exposure limit, and did not fully understand the health risks, prompting calls for stronger controls and better training.
The Health and Safety Executive has named four companies that were served with prohibition notices over safety concerns linked to engineered stone. The firms are based in Worcester, Coventry, Oldbury and Italia Stone Ltd, though the extract does not provide further detail on the specific hazards or enforcement circumstances.
