Disregard for health and safety

Having read the article No One Thanks Mepa For The Good - Chairman (November 29) I want to highlight some negative perceptions that the public could have about the authorities.

I am a visitor to this lovely island and have been here for a couple of months. But I can't help noticing the lack of safety at some of the building sites around the island.

The photo accompanying the article in question (above) highlights some of the things I would like to mention and the lack of health and safety regulations at work.

The men on the scaffolding should never have been on it seeing how they are showing total disregard for basic safety requirements. It's an accident waiting to happen.

The scaffold is erected right up to the corners of the building, kept together with a single tie at an angle. No visual signs of the scaffold being tied into the building for rigidity are showing.

There are no stop ends at all to any of the scaffold landings, which would help prevent people from walking off the ends, so preventing a serious, if not fatal accident.

There are no toe boards to the bases of the platforms and in the photo it shows a bucket close to the edge which could very easily be knocked over, causing injury to someone below.

The ladders to the working platforms stop flush with the platform leaving no hand holds to carry on climbing up safely onto the platform itself.

The men are not wearing hard hats, which contravenes basic health and safety rules and regulations.

There is a rope tied onto the scaffolding that is keeping it together. There is nothing to stand on to haul anything up. There should also be a proper means of lifting things, i.e. a properly fitted block and tackle or pulley.

The man standing at the end of the scaffold talking to the other men on the other scaffolding have nothing to stop them from falling.

I could go on but it grieves me when I see this total disregard for safety by employers.