The board of inquiry set up to investigate the death of Jean Paul Sofia in December 2022 found that the vetting methods that are being used to this day are insufficient. The vetting process is neither transparent nor guarantees serious scrutiny. Whoever does the vetting cannot remain anonymous nor hide behind the BCA. Indeed, this is detrimental to the BCA itself, the board said
Ultimately, whoever does the vetting must carry the weight of the responsibility of his/her judgement. Any protection of decisions may only be given by the BCA. That said, the BCA, in its own right, must not only ascertain the qualifications of those carrying out the vetting but also have insurance coverage for professional indemnity. To elaborate, the latter qualifications are to be as follows; only experienced architects who have worked in the field may carry out vetting; without exception. Furthermore, they must also be listed publicly by the BCA, the board said in the report, presented to the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
The Board said that the public must have quick and effective access to 24/7 up-to-date reporting on buildings and construction sites that are cause of public health concern. This reporting will lead to prompt action on site for people at risk and reassurance to the rest of the general public. To ensure this, every construction site must have a 24/7 site notice clearly seen by the public with the number of the BCA including its hotline. Finally, the BCA must cease its habit of taking offence at calls to action by the public to look into suspicious building activity. This is the only way the BCA will be effective for public safety.
It is essential that national building codes written up and published as soon as possible for the industry to better itself. Architects and the BCA must be in agreement with each other and put aside their non-professional disputes. Furthermore, there must be a point of contact between these two parties for their respective opinions. It is important that a timeline must be given for the project in question with a deadline that is adhered to. Until national building codes are drawn up, the European Building Codes are to be put into action. The latter outline standard technical specification for all public works contracts in EU member states. That said, they are to be applied to private works locally also.
If OHSA officers report misdemeanours, the practice of taking them to court on the basis of incompetence must cease. Furthermore, OHSA must be on site earlier than is the current practice and be able to cease all work in case of a grave health and safety violation. Health and Safety regulations must also be revised to place definite responsibility clearly on the respective individuals, such that they will stop any finger-pointing. The developer and contractor both hold responsibility for health and safety measures on the construction site.
There must be a simplification in the hierarchy of competent person/safety officer, client and project supervisor for efficiency and to decrease the risk of conflicts of interest. The site safety officer must have the authority to cease all work in the instance of a liability and only permit work to continue after the liability has been resolved. On the other hand, the project supervisor must be given legal protection. They should not be threatened with being let off should action be taken for the sake of health and safety. Furthermore, they should be given the ability to cease all work for the sake of safety. This is to apply both to the public and private sectors.
Third Country Nationals (TCN’s) are entering Malta in an uncontrolled way and those currently working in construction were found to lack skill cards and are unable to effectively communicate in English, the board noted. JobsPlus appears to depend on their employer’s vouching for their skill and competence. It also makes no effort to employed better-skilled individuals for the employment of the TCN’s, indeed should a foreign certification of skill be presented, JobsPlus makes poor effort to authenticate them. And despite all this, it is JobPlus who issues Single Work Permit from Identity Malta. The Board now recommends that Identity Malta alone is to be responsible for issuing Single Work Permits.
The board found that the public entities for on site inspections leave much to be desired. So much so, that the site of Jean Paul Sofia’s death was never inspected by anyone or any authority. Even INDIS did not control the site following the drawing up of its contract which occurred on the pretext that its regulations would become active following completion of construction. The public entities for inspection were found to be understaffed and occasionally omit certain inspections. As a result, the whole system of enforcement must be rethought and restructured, there must be a drive for employment and an overhaul of the inspection methods, the board said.