This may have been petty bureaucracy gone mad, or there may have been some underlying valid concerns that triggered this action. We just don't know and we can't guess.
What I have observed and continue to observe is that there is a prevalent culture in the building industry -- certainly amongst all of the crews that have worked on my site -- to ignore sensible HS and use of PPE. I really just can't understand why this is case. Why do building workers seem to have a wish to be deaf, have crappy lungs and eye problems in their later years? A few examples that irritate me or have irritated me:
The frame erection crew was working on our second floor around the unguarded staircase void which was a 5m drop onto a concrete slab. I had to insist that they put up a temporary safety rail.
Our builder's scaffolder has no concept of safety on access paths -- unprotected bolts and poles sticking out dangerously. Most of these could be avoided with 10 seconds thought or at least mitigated with protection, but no: 10 seconds of brain-work and 30 seconds of extra effort is an ask too far.
I've asked for clear access paths to be kept to and from our build and around it, and when I turn around there's a new bag of graded stone in the middle of one -- it was a convenient space to use, so why not use it?
Cutting and hammering without ear defenders, eye protection or dust masks.
I could go on but I'll leave it to others to give examples. I don't know about spreading culture in the building trade but I do within the IT industry. You can't to this by taking punitive measures against the workers on the ground; you have to have to do this top down with firm consistency and continuous education.
In the case of a large scale timber construction, it has specific issues / risks that need to be addressed:
proper fire compartmentalisation across the site;
proper enforcement of practices which minimise fire risk
being a JiT style-operation, there needs to be clear storage and movement policies for framing components, etc.;
being a rapid build technology, workers can quickly end up working at height, so height and fall safely need to be integrated into the working practices;
ditto use of heaving lifting gear / cranes.
As I say, we just don't know in this case, but I do think there are lots of areas where I could see a poor management and safety culture resulting in H&SE action.