Wits end with kids on building site

[paperandfireworks]

I am at my bloody wits end with young boys aged 8/10 playing on the building site opposite my house. Have told them the dangers. Have shood them. Have moved to being stern but they come back 20 minutes later. Every bloody evening. Only 2 young men living on the part of the development where I am who I haven't gotten to know yet so no support from the neighbours. I don't even know how far they are travelling to get it, likely from a neighbouring development.

My god it is driving me nuts, beyond dangerous and the thought of their inevitable injuries is driving me crazy. My own teenage DC calling me a "Karen".

Aibu to shoo them? Try something else? Or just chill out?

Call the police and or the building company.

Also speak to your children about the Karen crap which is offensive in my opinion!

Thanks for all the replies. The Karen debaucle has had enough of its own threads, I appreciate what I should have said was that DC were of the opinion I am over reacting. Tbf I am, by the majority vote, unreasonably irate.

Police, HSE, school, perhaps local press

And then, what more can you do? Not much

I often tell my children cautionary tales eg how sad, I read this awful story, this child did X, and Y happened. I hope this will encourage them to make good choices. We can't supervise them all the time. It's scary

I would call 101 and also write a letter to the local newspaper and CC the developers.

I doubt thr newspaper would do anything but the site will get cleared of debris if it needs doing anyway. Gives them a nudge.

@AntiSocialDistancer

I would call 101 and also write a letter to the local newspaper and CC the developers.

I doubt thr newspaper would do anything but the site will get cleared of debris if it needs doing anyway. Gives them a nudge.

Post a letter to them both with the CC , not email.

Are you in the UK?

Please report this to the Health and Safety Executive - the construction site is legally required to be locked up at night in a safe way to prevent access to kids etc for their own safety. We get fatalities every year from kids in bloody dangerous scenarios on construction sites.

Unfortunately you'll need to phone them at the moment - their online form is broken (note: they are not a 24hr emergency service):

"Report a problem to us
The form for notifying health and safety concerns is currently unavailable. You can phone us on 0300 003 1647. Our lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm (on Wednesdays we are open from 10am to 5pm)."

Report it to the HSE. They will do far more than the police will. HSE can shut down the site if it isn’t properly secured.

This must be a tiny local firm if they know kids are going onto their site and continue to do nothing about it. They would be in a world of shit, up to and including criminal prosecution, if any of them got seriously hurt. I would do 2 things: send the builders an email to tell them it's happening (so they can't continue to turn a blind eye) and phone the HSE.

If there's a client separate from the builders (eg they're building council houses so the client is the council) let them know too - they also have some responsibility for site health and safety and if they've got any sense will be straight on the phone to the builders the next morning.

Agree with everyone else op that you shouldn't ignore this. Agree you can call HSE, but also worth trying the local authority as building control also have powers if it's considered a dangerous structure.

A friend’s brother died as a young child on a building site(different country not England). He had no chance. Completely destroyed the family. YAnbu - call the site owners maybe.

Safeguarding. Report to police

It’s so so dangerous to muck about on a building site!

A poor boy fell down a tube mucking about a few years back and died as he couldn’t get out.

I would make a noise about it to the police and building company and document this in case anything happens.
The site should be secure so no one can get on it.

I used to play on building sites when I was growing up and loved it.

Now I am a Structural Engineer and often wonder if that is why.

However, it is dangerous.

Great that you care, but obviously you shooing them is not effective enough. Let the building company know - they may improve security. Let the police know - they might try and patrol your way when they can, and if they can identify the kids, they might be able to have word with their parents too. If school term hasn't finished, it might even be worth mentioning it to the local primary school, who might alert parents to check what their kids are up to.

Police, building company, HSE, school. Not safe at all.

Call the police every time. A few years ago at a building site near me, a young boy died because he was playing and got stuck in a pipe

Usually there would be a site manager/construction manager’s mob phone on a banner where site cabins are- ring him first as he would be the one to get secure panels up around it- as they would be liable if it’s not secured properly- if it’s a smaller firm the ring their main office and if no joy then it’s HSE

Why would the police be interested?

It's a civil matter.

Report the site to the Health and Safety Executive. They will take it very seriously, and visit the site and make sure the contractor takes action to prevent the kids playing there. My friend did this with a site near her, they came out and spoke to the contractors who then installed security cameras that were monitored and had loud speakers - she said it was quite amusing as this deep voice boomed out as the kids were legging each other over the Heras fencing, and the kids couldn't get back out quick enough!

It's so dangerous. If you don't know the parents to tell them what they're doing then I'd call the police.

What @Ariela said is the best advice.