The government is to look further into recommendations to extend gangmaster licensing regulations to the construction industry.

The government made the announcement in response to a report, published last July from former ACAS chair Rita Donaghy. The report calls for the Gangmasters Licensing Act to cover the construction industry, making 28 recommendations for improving safety in the construction industry, covering safety representatives, building control, the legal system, training and competence, and public procurement.

The government said it will look further at the recommendations to introduce more legal duties on company directors and to extend licensing regulations to the construction industry, adding it fully accepts 23 recommendations made by Donaghy including support of common minimum standards throughout publicly funded construction projects; mutual recognition between pre-qualification schemes; and support for greater worker participation.

Simon Noakes, chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Construction group, says: “The level of fatal accidents in the construction sector would not be accepted in any other industry, work must be done to reverse this and the response from the government is a step in the right direction. We need practical solutions which can be implemented on the ground.”

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union UCATT, says: “The Donaghy report identified that workers being supplied by employment agencies and gangmasters face a significantly greater risk of being injured or killed while working on construction sites. Far too often these companies fail to provide adequate training or protection to their workers. It is these companies, which need to be licensed to improve construction safety.”