Developers and health and safety officials yesterday crossed swords over the construction industry’s reluctance to assume sole responsibility for onsite accidents.
Malta Developers Association vice president Sandro Chetcuti insisted developers could no longer be held accountable for employees who did not comply with construction site regulations.
“What can employers do to ensure full-time safety if workers are not adequately trained or licensed,” he said, leaving the podium to prowl the stage while addressing a seminar on construction site safety, organised by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.
The developer claimed that a growing prejudice against operators was down to “a few bad apples” and urged the media not to let “a couple of bullies” give a bad name to the “hundreds of honest developers”.
We have built a magnificent empire with some of the most beautiful hotels and structures in Europe
“We have built a magnificent empire with some of the most beautiful hotels and structures in Europe,” he said, sparking rapturous applause from the audience of developers and industry representatives.
However, OHSA CEO Mark Gauci insisted the laws regulating the industry could not easily be changed because they were based on EU directives.
Rather, he urged developers to fall in line with regulations and ensure workers’ safety.
A 2004 legal notice on building site practices is the main legislation regulating health and safety of construction workers. The notice sets the minimum standards and basic practices to be followed.
These include the use of safety gear, appropriate rigging and a safety implementation plan to be submitted in the preliminary stage of a site’s development.
Construction magnate Angelo Xuereb said not enough training was being offered to construction workers, who often had no idea of the basic standards of safety.
An OHSA officer recently visited a construction site where a 12-year-old was operating cranes
He suggested all tradesmen on construction sites should be licensed, adding that the majority of accidents were the workers’ fault.
Mr Chetcuti said he was satisfied with the relatively low number of construction site accidents, pointing out that while 23 per cent of industrial accidents happened in the manufacturing industry, only 14 per cent had occurred on construction sites.
“We have come a long way. More accidents happen on Arriva than on building sites,” he said, prompting more applause from the audience at the Dolmen Hotel’s conference hall.
A series of shocking photos of workers in dangerous construction sites prompted jeers and chuckles from a large section of the audience. The photos, compiled by OHSA site inspectors, featured makeshift scaffolding, bare wired electrical extensions in pools of water and impromptu walkways along five-storey-high facades.
OHSA officer Kevin Gauci told the audience he had recently visited a construction site where a 12-year-old was operating cranes. “He might have been one of the best behaved crane drivers I’ve ever seen but it was totally unacceptable,” he said.
A council member of the Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors, Jason Paul Vella, said contractors were facing a similar situation.
He pointed out that tight contractual obligations and clients’ insistence on lower expenses meant contractors had to walk along a delicate tightrope.
On top of these pressures, Mr Vella said contractors also had to navigate the challenges facing workers. He pointed out that in the hot summer months many workers were understandably reluctant to wear safety equipment.