The move comes after last week's announcement by the Department for Work and Pensions that it is to invest 拢3m in an expansion of the Health and Safety Executive's roving safety representatives scheme.
A Whitehall source told 好色先生TV that the government is trying to appease the unions over worker safety because there had been no progress in the development of corporate manslaughter legislation.
The source said: "One option is to have HSE inspectors acting as safety wardens who patrol sites and have the power to issue fixed penalty fines where they find examples of poor safety practice."
He added that contractors would first be issued with a warning, only receiving a fine if they were caught flouting safety rules a second time.
The Whitehall source said: "The problem at the moment is that the HSE takes too long to investigate safety offences and bring contractors to court. This scheme would work the way traffic wardens operate. It would be quick and simple to use and would continually hold contractors to account."
The source added that the expansion of the roving rep scheme was a deliberate move to put pressure on contractors. However, he said the scheme was not intended to police sites but was a way to help contractors comply with safety legislation: representatives would advise site workers of better safety practices.
Speaking about the government's additional 拢3m commitment to the roving rep scheme, Health and Safety Commission chairman Bill Callaghan said that increasing worker involvement has been shown to improve health and safety within small and medium-sized firms.
Callaghan said: "The government investment recognises the benefits that a genuine partnership of employers and workers can bring in terms of health and safety."
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions, which is responsible for safety, referred 好色先生TV to the HSE, which was unavailable for comment.
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