Robert Merry, an independent stone consultant and project manager who ran his own company for 17 years and now also runs training courses on project management, gives his personal slant on the stone industry this month.

The January edition of NSS, page 10, contained an article headed ‘Shadow Construction Minister condemns h&s cuts’. The government’s reduction in the number of health & safety regulations is a scandal. The message is confused. Cut costs, sure, it’s the catch phrase of the year, but don’t put people’s lives at risk.
There are only two other industries that exceed the death rate of the construction and manufacturing industries. One is agriculture – lots of men on their own with very powerful machinery. “Workplace deaths rise again, farming disproportionally dangerous” is the headline on www.safetynews.co.uk.
The other industry that is more dangerous than construction is waste recycling.
There were 50 deaths in the construction industry in 2011 (higher than in 2010 although the government says the trend is still downwards) and in manufacturing it was 27. The stone industry straddles both statistics. Did the numbers rise from 2010 because of the recession? Were employers ignoring the legislation? If they were, was it because they can't afford it?
In a recession you cut the wages, make them pay for their own tea & coffee in the factory and don’t bother with health & safety training. But we can’t afford to lose 77 people a year. Nor even seven. One is too many. I didn’t sign up to this industry to put my life at risk.
If I join the Army there is probably a clause somewhere which says in the event of injury or death I have no right to complain or make a fuss. I should ‘man-up’ and clean that SA80 (standard issue British Army small arms).
I could have signed up at the careers evening at Buckingham County Secondary School when I was 15. I nearly did. The Army had the best stand. Better than the Sigma Coatings paint factory stand – ‘Ever fancied a Life in Paint?’ Not really, but I ended up working there for six months.
Think about the down side of ignoring HSE legislation – injured employees don’t come to work but you still have to pay them; the moral of those injured drops along with the rest of the workforce who start to worry about their own safety; if the injury is severe the employee might never return to work; then there’s compensation, legal fees, increased insurance premiums, diverted management attention and even the recruitment costs of replacing people.
In 2011 there were 2.3million days lost in construction and 1.9million days lost in manufacturing, both due to work-related injuries or illness. That’s a lot of tiling, stone fixing, a few thousand edges polished, metres cut, vanity bowls made, kitchens fitted, memorials carved, sales made and profit lost.
We have a moral obligation to make the workplace safe. I know it’s a pain going to any major construction site and complying with the legislation, but up until last year it was working. The figures were on a downward trend… go to www.hse.gov.uk and read the stats.
I could write about bunny rabbits, the approaching spring and the fact that my contract came to an end and I have a brief period with time on my hands – also known as ‘resting’ in the theatrical world, darling. This has now afforded my partner the opportunity to produce a list of ‘important household decorating jobs you now have the time to do’. Oh bugger! Get me out of here.
Instead, I worry about my health and the health of the industry I work in. Don’t cut back on health and safety, please. Train your staff to be safer, to look out for themselves and others. In the long run they will be more motivated, produce more for you, impress your client’s and most importantly, still be alive and in one piece to work for you.

Robert Merry ran his own stone company for 17 years and is now an independent Stone Consultant and Project Manager. He also delivers training programmes on all aspects of Estimating and Project Management – details and dates on the website www.stoneconsultants.co.uk.
Tel: 0207 502 6353 / 07771 997621 robertmerry@stoneconsultants.co.uk