More than 600 inspections of residential construction sites in Alberta resulted in close to 400 orders issued.

Occupational Health and Safety did the inspections from Sept. 12 to Oct. 11 and issued 394 orders, including 83 stop-work orders.

A lack of fall protection, or a fall protection plan, accounted for 131 orders, about one-third of all orders issued.

Dave Hancock, minister of Human Services, responsible for Occupational Health and Safety, says the province needs to create a culture of workplace health and safety in all Albertans.

He says he wants to assess the impact of all three focused inspection campaigns the province conducted this year.

For the past several months, OHS has carried out a pilot program of evening and weekend inspections, including the recent residential construction campaign.

Hancock says the stepped-up schedule will continue on a regular basis.

''There are many sectors of our province's workforce that don't clock in from nine to five,'' said Hancock.

''Revising the working hours of our OHS officers to include weekends and evenings only makes sense. This, along with our ongoing educational efforts and continuing to work with industry and safety associations, will help improve compliance in the workplace.''