A CAMPAIGN to cut the toll of deaths and injuries on construction sites in the North-East has arrived in Gateshead.

The Working Well Together bus visited the International Music Centre site at the start of the week, where a team raised health and safety awareness among construction workers in the area.

The bus tour is part of a national campaign by the construction industry working with the Health and Safety Commission's Construction Industry Advisory Committee to reduce the number of people killed and injured every year on building sites in the UK.

Fatality rates last year hit their highest level in a decade, with six in every 100,000 workers dying at work.

Bill McKay, the HSE's construction inspector in the North East, said: "Eight workers were killed in 2001- 2002 in the region, the largest number for many years, and this is a very disturbing figure. Two workers have been killed in construction accidents since April this year.

"The tour bus takes the Working Well Together message directly to the people who need it most - construction workers, site managers, designers, clients - anyone, in fact, who works or is involved in work on a construction site."

Workers visiting the bus will be able to get information on topics, including working safely at heights, reducing the risks of workplace transport accidents, avoiding skin problems such as dermatitis, cement burns and skin cancer, and avoiding back injuries and hearing problems.

The bus is due on Teesside later this year.