The Nationalist Party has criticised the white paper for a new Health and Safety at Work Act as having many shortcomings and not coming up with a way to solve Malta’s increased number of construction deaths problem.
A white paper proposing a new Health and Safety at Work Act was announced two months ago and it proposed the idea of increasing the applicable penalties for employers.
A new report released by The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation for the Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN) last week, found that the number of wall collapses and the frequency of ensuing deaths increased from 2016 onwards, along with the exponential increase in approved development permits.
The PN had launched a consultation process on the white paper. During this consultation process, the PN consulted with the Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects and Engineers), the Malta Occupational Health and Safety Practitioners, the Malta Developers Association, the Health and Safety Practitioners Union, and a number of other parties.
In a statement released by the PN, signed by Ryan Callus, it said that the PN disagreed with the decision the government made to change the name of the Health & Safety Coordinator to Project Supervisor. The title of Health and Safety Officer should remain as it is, the PN said because it makes it immediately identifiable.
The PN also said that the proposed amendment does not specify what competencies the Health and Safety Office should have. It added that this ambiguity could lead to accidents and fatalities
The list of people who operate as Health and Safety Officers should be in the public domain, the PN added, for the sake of transparency, accountability and good governance.
From the consultation meetings, PN said it became clear that there is a need for more coordination between the Building and Constructions Authority (BCA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA), with all the parties involved such as the property owner or developer, the architect, the engineer, and the contractors.
As things stand with the white paper, the PN said that it will create a work environment that lacks regulation. This issue has already led to a number of workplace fatalities, particularly in the construction sector, the PN added.
The bill presented by Robert Abela’s government has many shortcomings, the PN said, which do not meet the many promises the government made.
The consultation process made it clear that the government does not want to address the situation from a holistic perspective, the PN said. It added that this does not bode well for Malta which has recorded an abnormal increase in workplace fatalities from year to year.