There was an abrupt rise in construction deaths in the late months of last year, according to figures revealed at January’s HSE board meeting.

In October and November there were 13 fatalities in the sector, compared with 18 for the whole of the previous six months — down from 32 in the same period the previous year.

More than half the October and November total were caused by falls from height. The sudden rise mirrors a leap the previous year; there were 12 fatal incidents in the industry in October-November 2008, five of them due to falls from height.

HSE’s injury figures for the 12 months to April 2009 had shown a fall in construction fatalities to 53 down from 72 in the previous 12 months but some commentators, such as Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union UCATT, had been skeptical that the drop in deaths signified any safety improvement but was rather down to reduced building activity in the recession.

John Spanswick, chair of Bovis Lend Lease and the Strategic Forum health and safety group urged the HSE to launch a construction safety campaign mixing targeted inspections and publicity similar to the one used recently to raise awareness of asbestos risk.

HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger said he would consider Spanswick’s suggestion and agreed that falls from height in particular are a problem for several industries.

Rita Donaghy’s report into construction deaths, published in July last year, made several recommendations to improve safety in the industry including the appointment of a government minister with responsibility for construction and a new safety duty for board directors.