Industry Press Releases
Polish advice for construction workers
1st February 2007
This week sees the launch of a Polish translation of the Electrical Safety Council's guide on Safety in Construction - Bezpiecze?stwo elektryczne w budownictwie .
The guide, designed to help electrical contractors understand the requirements for a safe working environment, has been translated to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Polish workforce in the UK Construction Industry.
According to government figures, some 600,000 migrant workers from Eastern Europe have come to work in the UK since 2004. Many of them are working within the construction industry and Polish workers are by far the largest national group accounting for over 60% of the total.
The English version of the Electrical Safety Council's leaflet, which is backed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has already been widely distributed among the construction industry in the UK with over 40,000 copies circulated in the last four months.
Phil Buckle, Director of The Electrical Safety Council said: ""Every year there are a number of deaths and major injuries involving electricians - we want to do all we can to reduce these and effective communication with Polish construction workers will help to ensure their safety and the safety of others in the buildings they work on.
"While the electrical standards and requirements in Poland are broadly the same as those in the UK, it is important that we do all we can to ensure the Polish workforce are aware of them and comply with them - as we already do for their UK counterparts. We want to provide useful guidance to what is a growing and important part of our construction industry today."
Dr Jan Mokrzycki, President of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain said: "We are pleased to see the Electrical Safety Council showing support to the Polish community in the UK through the translation of this leaflet. I am sure it will be a really valuable resource and will help to ensure the safety of Polish construction workers in the UK."
In the first instance the guide will be produced as a download on The Electrical Safety Council's 's website and they are currently investigating the possibility of finding suitable organisations who could distribute copies of the leaflet to the Polish construction community.
The Electrical Safety Council produces a number of other guidance leaflets for both consumers and industry and will be looking at translation needs for these in the future.
Copies of "Electrical Safety in Construction" or " Bezpiecze?stwo elektryczne w budownictwie " can be downloaded from here
