BUILDING sites across the North-East are to be investigated over the potential dangers for employees working high above the ground.

The "Don't Fall for It" campaign, launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), comes to the region after two men were seriously injured when they plunged 20ft from a scaffolding tower.

A 47-year-old gas engineer and his 24-year-old colleague were working on a building in Chesnut Street, Darlington, on Wednesday when the tower collapsed.

The older Gas Services Northern worker suffered head, neck and spinal injuries and was yesterday in a stable condition, in James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

His workmate was being detained in Darlington Memorial Hospital after suffering a suspected broken leg. He was also described as being stable.

The HSE initiative began in June, with assessments carried out at sites in Durham and Sunderland and will be extended throughout the rest of the North-East next month.

Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees, according to the HSE.

During 2001-02, four construction workers died in the North-East after falling from height at work and another 50 were seriously injured.

Bill McKay, the HSE's principal inspector for construction in the North-East, said high falls were the biggest killer in the industry.

"Inspectors want to see an improvement in how the industry is managing work done at height, and in June we saw many examples of people using innovative and safe forms of access methods and equipment," he said.

"There is no excuse for doing work at height in an unsafe manner.

"But clearly, the message of how to reduce falls from height is not yet understood by everybody working in construction and so all those involved need to be reminded of the risks."