Nearly one in three refurbishment sites seriously endangers workers鈥� lives, the Health and Safety Executive has claimed.

The executive inspected more than 1,500 sites in June and July, and brought work to an immediate halt on 244 occasions, owing to dangerous conditions. It made 426 orders in total over the two months. More than half were against dangerous work at height.

Stephen Williams, the HSE鈥檚 head of construction, said: 鈥淥ur inspectors were appalled at the willingness to ignore safety precautions. Despite knowing what they should be doing, many people allow bad practices to continue.鈥�

The figures emerged days before Peter Hain鈥檚 health and safety forum to tackle negligence in the refurbishment and housebuilding sectors. On Monday, the work and pensions minister will meet industry figures to discuss what can be done to lower their sector鈥檚 high fatality rates. Refurbishment, repair and maintenance sites saw 39 fatalities last year.

Recently contractor Rokbuild was fined 拢175,000 for an accident that left a worker paralysed.

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