Re:Construction podcast Episode 195: labour, safety sentencing and Tier One risk insights
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Industrial relations in UK construction are under scrutiny as Bishop & Taylor examine current disputes, bargaining structures and how site-level behaviour is shaped by national agreements. The podcast also questions the consistency of health and safety sentencing, comparing penalties for similar breaches under the Sentencing Council’s guidelines and their impact on contractor risk management. A detailed discussion of what constitutes a “Tier One contractor” explores turnover thresholds, direct delivery capability and how these definitions affect framework eligibility and supply chain structuring.
Technical Brief
- Episode 195 is framed explicitly around health & safety sentencing rationality under current UK guidelines.
- Discussion centres on how Sentencing Council guidance is applied to construction-site safety breaches in practice.
- Bishop & Taylor examine disparity between fines and custodial sentences for ostensibly comparable duty-of-care failures.
- They question how turnover-based fine calculations interact with contractors’ risk appetite on complex, hazardous works.
- Commentary touches on whether current sentencing levels materially influence board-level investment in safety systems.
- The episode also probes how “Tier One” status affects allocation of safety responsibilities through multi-layered supply chains.
- Labour relations coverage includes how national agreements shape enforcement of site safety rules and stop-work decisions.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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