Man crushed to death by heavy glass

S fenech

Jan 15th 2009, 12:23

Charlie, may you rest in Peace, you will be sadly missed.

I'm from Australia, and this is a terrible thing to hear about. OH&S is taken so serious here. So much so, the responsibility of reporting OH&S issues is with workers. If your employer will not fix the problem, you go to the government department, you call inspectors. it is a crime here not to provide your employees with a safe workplace and safe practices.

I'm not saying we don't have accidents, however we get the message across to everyone, if in doubt don't do it. we advertise heavily. A current advert has a family hearing the news that an accident has occured where the father works. the worry of the family, and the joy when he walks in the door. Work safety is not about money, its about family and loved ones.

Charlie's family has lost the right to say good bye.

Joseph Vassallo

Jan 15th 2009, 10:42

First of all I wish to emphasise that my comments are not in relation to this specific accident, but rather to health and safety (H&S) in general.

Accidents will never be completely eradicated, but training in H&S, to all levels, including company directors, will help.

It is the directors’ responsibility to ensure that H&S is an integral part of the company’s ethos, and it is their responsibility, and the workers’, to ensure that all personnel are given the right training, the right equipment and the right attitude ( no cutting around corners).

I have always found OHSA officials to be extremely helpful, however they need to be given more resources to monitor and inspect work places and to educate people.

The education authorities too should consider the possibility of setting up serious H&S courses, and if need be, a pass should be mandatory. This will not be easy to implement, but not impossible.

Finally, the prevailing H&S legislation should be applied as strictly as possible – I get the impression that we enact laws just to say that we have done this and that, but laws which are then not applied in their true spirit are worse than useless.

A.Attard

Jan 15th 2009, 09:13

@A.Attard

I think we all agree that the Italians are just as non-chalant as we are if not worse. If we need to take somebody's example, the people to follow are the Swiss and Germans and to a lesser extent, the British.

A. Attard

Jan 14th 2009, 12:35

@B. Agius
You should come to Italy to see their European standards!

B Agius

Jan 14th 2009, 09:48

Has Malta yet achieved European safety standards yet? Accidents can happen anywhere unfortunately but far too many industrial type deaths appear to still happen in Malta.