The Building Industry Consultative Council is in discussions with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority over introducing compulsory safety cards for all workers in the building industry.

Council chairman Robert Musumeci said the safety card would show that workers have received the necessary training in occupational health and safety.

Although the card was not at present mandatory, a number of workers had already attended courses to obtain the cards, he said.

He was speaking at the presentation of 254 safety cards to workers, as well as 96 certificates to workers who attended a course for masons and 33 certificates to participants in a course in concrete technology.

The presentations were made by Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit at Project House, in Floriana yesterday.

The courses were conducted by the council in collaboration with other entities including the authority and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology.

Mr Zammit said that since its inception, BICC - which has a purely consultative role - had been instrumental in the training of workers in the industry at all levels.

The council had reached around 2,000 workers through various training programmes. Participants came from practically every level and included operators, project managers and even architects.

No fewer than 1,000 workers employed with various departments or sections within the ministry have attended BICC courses on occupational health and safety.