A TOTAL of 54 building sites in Greater Manchester and Lancashire had enforcement action taken against them during a week-long Health and Safety Executive (HSE) safety blitz.

The number of sites where action was taken represented more than 40 per cent of the construction areas visited by inspectors during the crackdown.

Vincent Joyce, HM principal inspector of construction, said: "We took this action to stop dangerous work where serious risks to people's health and safety were identified.

"Although we came across some well-managed sites, these were very much in the minority and I am disappointed at the overall standard of health and safety found, especially as HSE widely publicised the campaign prior to the blitz."

During the exercise, a team of 14 Health and Safety Executive inspectors served 48 prohibition notices to stop unsafe working practices. A further six improvement notices were issued, mostly for inadequate transport arrangements.

This campaign formed part of a co-ordinated blitz carried out by six teams of inspectors across the North of England and Scotland.

In all, 444 construction sites were visited and 206 prohibition notices and 53 improvement notices were served.

Figures issued by the HSE show that 44 per cent of fatal injuries to workers in construction between April 2000 and March last year were caused by falls from heights.

And 17 per cent were due to workers being struck by moving vehicles and eight per cent struck by moving or falling objects. Seventeen per cent involved workers being trapped by objects either collapsing or overturning.