Anyone working on a construction project – whether engineer, surveyor, project manager or contractor – is responsible for ensuring that work is completed safely and to high professional standards.

When the duty of care is breached due to negligence, an injured party must be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

The case of a 78-year-old woman left wheelchair-bound after falling into an uncovered manhole in Mosta Square is further evidence of the low standards of care that many professionals in the construction industry adopt.

Speaking to Times of Malta, the woman said, “when I stepped out of the shop and onto the pavement to cross the road, I saw an uncovered manhole. When I tried to step over it, I realised there was yet another hole, and I fell into it”.

Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon said the entity was unaware of the accident, adding that IM’s contractors are obliged to maintain working sites according to conditions and standards issued by the regulatory authorities.

It does not take profound investigations to conclude that this incident is probably the result of low standards of care and even lower determination to enforce these standards.

A breach of care can involve health-and-safety laws meant to protect those working on a construction project and third parties who can be put at risk by professional negligence. A road builder may be legally responsible for a pedestrian’s injury for failing to observe reasonable safety standards.

The duty of care kicks in once a contractor signs a construction contract with his principal, which, in the case of the Mosta incident, is Infrastructure Malta ‒ a government-controlled entity.

The duty of care to vulnerable third parties is clearly not given sufficient priority in government construction projects. To be fair, it has never been given priority.

Transport Malta recently tweaked the safety regulations for developers and contractors involved in construction projects. One of the new regulations is that developers could be fined more than €1,000 if they fail to create a safe passage for pedestrians around construction sites.

This is hardly an effective deterrent for ‘cowboy’ contractors only interested in maximising their profits. The physical and emotional damages that can be caused as a result of adhering to these lite regulations amount to much more than this insignificant penalty.

When a road user suffers damages due to the professional negligence of those primarily responsible for a construction project, they must go to court and prove several things to gain compensation. They must prove that a professional in the construction industry had a duty of care towards third parties.

They must also prove that the professional breached the duty of care and that they, as victims, suffered physical damages or financial loss.

This is an arduous task that could be avoided if the health-and-safety standards that expose the public to a high level of risk are raised and, more important, imposed at all times.

For too long, the construction and road-building industry has been the cause of various incidents resulting in fatalities or serious injuries of members of the public. There is no reason why a pedestrian should go through a dangerous obstacle race as he walks through a public space.

The shameful disregard of sensible health-and-safety regulations by contractors and the failure to enforce these regulations by the authorities must be curbed with determination and urgency.