MPs call for tougher court sentencing

MPs yesterday called for tougher court sentencing in health and safety cases as well as the creation of a tribunal to quickly decide compensation to the heirs of workers killed at their place of work.

The suggestions were made when parliament debated the estimates of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA).

At the opening of the debate, Employment Minister Louis Galea said the authority had a budget of Lm479,000 of which a substantial part would go for salaries.

He said the authority was now almost three years old and it was gradually achieving its aims of ensuring that safety standards were improved.

The authority had been central in the updating of legislation and regulations, bringing them into line with EU directives.

There was no doubt, the minister said, that the authority's resources were limited and needed to be developed in the future. But the authority had been very effective with the resources it had especially in better training its staff. It was hoped that the authority would shortly move to new premises.

Dr Galea said the authority had been successful in raising awareness on occupational health and safety. Awareness campaigns were being held not only at places of work, but also in schools. The authority had hosted 200 participants for a workers' health and safety representatives' course. It was also focusing on particular areas of special risk, such as construction sites, areas where there was a risk of radiation and areas of installation of heavy machinery.

Dr Galea stressed that the authority needed to refine the statistics it collected. Although valid according to Eurostat criteria, the authority still needed to ensure that the figures relating to occupational accidents reflected the real number of cases occurring in Malta.

Opposition social affairs spokesman Marie-Louise Coleiro said the Health and Safety Authority had transposed EU safety directives to Maltese law, but much remained to be done for these laws to be enforced.

The government had loaded the authority with much responsibility, without the funds and resources to match. For example, because of the lack of funds, there were only 15 inspectors to cover all places of employment in Malta and Gozo. This meant the authority was reactive and could hardly be proactive, as was admitted by the authority itself in its report.

How many of the inspectors were specialised in dangerous substances and could therefore carry out inspections in this area? Labour MP Joe Mizzi last week said in parliament that the sewage section of the WSC was not in conformity with regulations. What had happened since? One only needed to remember that three workers in this section died while on duty not long ago.

Did the authority employ an occupational psychologist?

She agreed with the authority's drive to instil occupational health and safety awareness in school children, but even in this sector, the authority had complained that it lacked resources.

Ms Coleiro said partners, both corporate and NGOs such as the scouts, should come forward to support the authority in its information campaigns.

The Labour MP observed that according to law, all places of work had to nominate a workers' health and safety representative. But were representatives appointed in all places of work?

An area where health and safety awareness had not improved was in the textiles sector. A survey by the GWU last year had shown that many workers, especially those with less than nine years' experience, suffered repetitive strain injury, but they resisted any changes which could improve their situation, preferring to bargain their health with the money of production bonuses. A large portion of these workers did not think there were any health risks at their place of work.

Such reports should be used by the authority to draw up sector specific awareness programmes.

Ms Coleiro said that while it was the employers' primary responsibility to ensure safety at the place of work, workers on minimum wage were in some cases being forced to buy their own safety gear. This was unfair and imposed a heavy burden on them. Now that the authority was considering introducing administrative fines, who would be liable, the employers or the workers?

She also referred to compensation to the heirs of workers who died on the job. With court proceedings taking years, her suggestion was the creation of a tribunal to hear such cases and conclude them quickly.

Concluding, Ms Coleiro asked if the authority involved itself in workplace bullying and harassment.

She stressed that financial savings should not be made at the expense of occupational health and safety.

Nationalist MP Joe Falzon focused on occupational hazards at construction sites. He said there was an increased awareness by employers in the construction sector but all needed to ensure that employees were properly trained in the use of machinery. It was unfortunate that sometimes people involved in demolition and excavation works lacked expertise and often did not wear safety gear. Particular attention should be given especially to adjacent premises to the sites being demolished. Construction management reports submitted to the authorities needed to be respected.

Indeed, there should be closer collaboration between Mepa, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority and local councils.

Michael Asciak (PN) said legal notices and regulations issued by the authority needed to be given greater publicity. For example, how many knew about regulations on noise? The Nationalist MP said employers were taken to court as a last resort after repeated warnings. The courts should take consideration of the work done by the authority's staff and not impose lenient punishments. The punishment should fit the crime. A Lm100 fine was nothing for a big contractor. When sentences were lenient, court action no longer served as a deterrent.

Karl Chircop (MLP) also referred to the courts, saying cases were taking too long to be decided and the authority evidently did not have the resources to effectively prosecute those who allegedly violated safety regulations.

The authority, he said, needed to be given higher priority, and better funding, by the government.

Dr Chircop said that in a situation of high unemployment, such as at present, there was an increased risk of lack of observance of regulations to save money or retain jobs.

He urged the government to make more airtime available to the authority on state television to promote health and safety.

Referring to the authority's report, Dr Chircop said the authority should publish reports on machinery found defective.

Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo referred to the call for partnerships with the safety authority, saying such a partnership already existed with the Small Business and Crafts Unit which falls under the remit of the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications. This unit sought to bring information to small businesses regarding health and safety issues.

Mr Vassallo noted that according to NSO statistics the number of occupational accidents had dropped slightly. But there was no room for complacency.

He said it was unfortunate that a scheme where workers who were injured were asked to specify defective products which may have contributed to their injury had not worked.

Winding up, Dr Galea reacted to opposition criticism, saying the funding the government was giving the authority was rising from Lm300,000 this year to close to Lm500,000 including EU funds for the forthcoming year.

In saying in his introduction that safety awareness had improved, he was acknowledging that the authority needed to spread its roots to many more sectors and, clearly, more needed to be done for awareness to increase even more.

One should not correlate the number of inspections with the 32,000 places of work in Malta. The first responsibility for health and safety did not rest on the authority but on the employers and then the workers. The authority's role was to monitor, publicise and then to enforce the law. Nonetheless, in carrying out 2,300 inspections last year, the authority had done much more than the 500 inspections in the previous year.

Dr Galea said the authority should take up the calls to involve partners in its activities, including organisations such as the scouts.

On the references made to the sewage section of the WSC, Dr Galea said the OHSA issued a stop order because the section was not in conformity with some EU directives. This showed the authority's commitment to law enforcement not just in the private but also the public sector.

Dr Galea said it was unfortunate that a workers' safety representative had not been appointed at all places of work and the authority would continue to train people to fill this role.

On the administrative fines, Dr Galea said the law already provided for these fines. The plan was for a procedure to be drawn up and the fines to be introduced gradually since the main aim was to prevent accidents in the first place. On compensation cases, Dr Galea said a distinction had to be made between cases in the criminal and civil cases. The authority did not involve itself in the civil cases.

Referring to repetitive strain injury, Dr Galea said solving this problem was not easy as it involved changes to production systems and even a change to working practices which workers themselves sometimes resisted.

The estimates were approved after a division, the opposition voting against.