Health and safety inquiry launched

The Occupational Health and Safety Authority has launched an investigation into the deaths of two workers on a construction site in Hamrun on Tuesday.

The investigation will be carried out in parallel with the inquiry being conducted by Magistrate Doreen Clarke, OHSA chief executive Mark Gauci said when contacted yesterday.

He added it was not prudent at this point to comment further about the accident. Godwin Buhagiar, 44, a father of four, of Siggiewi, and Slobodan Drljic, 25, from Bosnia Herzegovina, who lived in Gzira, were crushed to death under tons of freshly-laid concrete after a ceiling under construction collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Drljic, who had a Russian girlfriend, had been living in Malta for about five months.

The bodies were recovered from under the concrete in a two-hour operation by personnel from the Civil Protection Department and the Armed Forces of Malta.

The police said that a post mortem on the two victims, held at St Luke's Hospital mortuary yesterday, showed that they "died as a result of skull fractures and other fractures in other parts of their bodies".

Three other workers were hurt, although not seriously.

Dr Gauci said the OHSA's investigation was in line with the provisions of the 2000 Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act.

The law, he added, also gives the authority the right to make recommendations to the police regarding any court action that may be taken.

The Labour Party yesterday expressed concern about what it said were the frequent tragic accidents occurring at workplaces, and called on the OHSA to conduct regular inspections.

The MLP's spokesman on social security, Marie Louise Coleiro-Preca, asked what action the OHSA was taking to enforce its regulations on the protection of workers at building sites. The government had the duty to take steps to reduce the risks posed to workers, especially those in the construction industry, she said.

Families who suffered the loss of relatives in such accidents should be given assistance, not only to establish what had happened but by way of solidarity and compensation, she added.

Meanwhile, work at the site, which lies along Barbara Street, was at a standstill yesterday as onlookers gathered outside the closed gates and expressed sorrow at the tragedy. What went wrong, some asked. Were all the necessary safety precautions taken? On one side, leaning against the gate, with his head buried in his hands and tears in his eyes as he occasionally looked up to gaze at the concrete mass, was Mr Buhagiar's future son-in-law.

Mr Buhagiar had four children, the youngest, a boy aged 13. Formerly of Zebbug, he was living with his family in Siggiewi.

He had been working on the site as a foreman for the past four months and had previously been involved in the construction of a hotel in Libya.

His funeral will be held in Zebbug today at 3.30 p.m.

Fellow workers had told the media on Tuesday evening that the foreign worker who died in the accident was from Serbia. It now transpires he was from Bosnia Herzegovina.

A friend of his here is in contact with the relevant authorities and his family so that his corpse will be taken to his home town for burial after it is released by the inquiring magistrate.

The Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment cancelled the launch of the construction site regulations due yesterday, saying it was inappropriate in view of the tragedy.

The government was expected to unveil details of the regulations after the Cabinet approved a memo presented by Minister George Pullicino.

The ministry also expressed sorrow at the tragedy.

The Chamber of Architects (KTP) urged its partners in the building industry to persevere in a common education drive for all the players at all levels with regard to the implementation of proper and adequate safety measures at work.

It also urged the state to provide the OHSA with the necessary resources to fully carry out its statutory duties.

The KTP hoped that, in the near future, it will not be necessary to resort to the rhetoric of such statements after an accident has occurred.

It also extended its condolences to the families of the victims.