The Occupational Health and Safety Authority is investigating Monday’s accident which cost a 26-year-old construction worker his life.

The OHSA is investigating the fatal accident at a construction site in Sliema on Monday.The OHSA is investigating the fatal accident at a construction site in Sliema on Monday.

OHSA chief executive Mark Gauci said the Sliema construction site and the working conditions were being reviewed by the watchdog, apart from a magisterial inquiry that had already appointed a number of technical experts.

Akram Almshay, a Libyan national, died after falling from a height of several storeys. He dangled from a rope on the side of the building for about 90 seconds after the wooden plank he was standing on while plastering an outside wall gave way. Writing on Facebook, his widow, Amira, wrote: “You will be forever my husband”. Her post was met with an outpouring of grief for the young family’s loss.

Dr Gauci said the law placed safety responsibilities on a number of “duty holders” at construction sites. 

“In the case of construction activities, specific responsibilities have been assigned to the client,” he said.

Though Monday’s incident was dramatic, he said, it was as serious as other workplace fatalities recorded throughout the year.

Asked about the use of suspended platforms at construction sites, Dr Gauci said such practice should only be resorted to when safer methods were not technically possible. When work necessitated such methods, it should be ensured that only fully-trained workers were involved. The whole system, including the plank, the ropes and other equipment should be checked by a competent person, he added.

“It is important that such a system is set up properly and the components have adequate structural integrity,” he said.

Also, workers should make use of what was known as a fall-arrest system that was properly anchored to act as a fail-safe.

Such work, Dr Gauci advised, should never be carried out by solitary workers.

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