The sub-contracting system being used in Cramptons and by certain other builders has created a climate of carelessness about safety on sites, because employers have no direct responsibility for the workers. An accident is described as 'serious' if the worker needs more than three and a half days off work because of it. These have to be reported, but the average time off reported to the HSA has been sixteen days. Back in the 1980s, when the building industry had mainly direct employment and legal protection for workers, there were only six fatal injuries in the whole decade. The widespread deregulation of the industry means that the workers and the unions have no control over the sites.
Illegal practices are rampant.
As a result of the campaign of mass pickets on Cramptons sites in Dublin over the last few weeks, the Construction Industry Federation has been forced to deal with the issue of sub-contracting through C45s. The CIF has been denying that any abuse exists, although its members have been coercing young builders into working on RCT1s. Many of these workers are eager to go on PAYE because at the moment they cannot get mortgages and they have no protection in the case of accident or lay-off. When the five Clonskeagh workers were sacked they were told that Cramptons was not their employer and BATU could do nothing officially to help them. The extent to which the Industrial Relations Act can be used as a stick to beat workers was evident in the judge's ruling on the DCU case.