The General Workers Union has appealed for better health and safety protection on workplaces after the tragic death of a construction worker in Sliema on Monday. 

The man plunged to his death at a building site in Sliema.

The union said in a statement that the incident clearly highlighted the fact that some employers still felt they could ignore health and safety regulations. Published footage of the incident, the union said, showed that the workers were not wearing the necessary harnessing to carry out the work safely. 

The 26-year old construction worker, a Libyan national, fell around seven storeys to his death at a site in Qui-Si-Sana while working off the side of a tall building. 

The GWU said that while it was employers' responsibility to to ensure that workplaces were free of any risks to their workers' safety, workers themselves should also be conscious of regulations and avoid any unnecessary risks that could end in disaster. 

"The Occupational Health and Safety Authority must therefore be given all necessary resources to ensure that these regulations are observed both by employers and employees," the GWU said. "Our country can never accept in this day and age that construction workers are still working without the necessary equipment and protection."

The union appealed to workers who may have doubts about danger on the workplace or who feel they have not been given the necessary equipment to make contact.