Health & Safety on Site: Is Cardiac Health Part of the Conversation?

The conversation needs to continue.

Health and safety is fundamental to construction, but with busy sites, changing environments and multiple risks to manage, it is important that the conversation never stops. The latest HSE figures recorded 25 fatal injuries to construction workers in Great Britain during 2025/26, highlighting that construction remains one of the UK's higher-risk industries.

But site safety isn't only about preventing falls, machinery incidents, or other accidents. Health emergencies can happen at any time, and cardiac health deserves greater attention.

Recent research from the British Heart Foundation and Toolstation has highlighted the issue within the trades. 63% of tradespeople surveyed said they know someone in the trade who has been affected by cardiovascular disease, while 49% have never spoken to a doctor about their own health.

The nature of construction work can also mean people are working alone, across larger sites, or in remote locations. When a cardiac arrest occurs, every second matters. More than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in the UK each year, and early CPR and defibrillation can significantly improve the chance of survival.

So if something happened on site, would everyone know where the defibrillator was and how to access it?

Site preparation for the unexpected

For construction sites, accessibility is particularly important. A site may be large, temporary, or some distance from public facilities, meaning precious minutes could be lost simply trying to location appropriate equipment.

Emergency preparation should sit alongside more familiar areas of site safety. The iPAD Semi-Automatic Defibrillator, brought out through Lapwing Innovation Hub, is an example of turning a real-world need into a practical solution. Designed for workplace environments, it provides voice and visual guidance, a CPR metronome and automatic self-testing.

Future improvements to lower the statistics

The construction industry has made significant progress in health and safety, but there is always more that can be done. We need to keep talking about the obvious site hazards, while also making space and budget for conversations around cardiac-related medical emergencies.

Innovation has a role to play by identifying these gaps and developing practical solutions that work in real environments. Ultimately, health and safety is about more than compliance. It's about making sure everyone gets home safely at the end of the day.

Sources:

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain. HSE – Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain

British Heart Foundation – Tradespeople and heart health. BHF – Partnership with Toolstation and new trades research

British Heart Foundation – The Circuit / Defibrillator statistics. BHF – The Circuit

British Heart Foundation – Defibrillator access and use. BHF – Defibrillators used in just 10% of cardiac arrests where available