Need to change mentality and culture

The Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors has been calling for strict enforcement of health and safety regulations on construction sites since its inception three years ago. It has repeatedly advised its members and the construction industry in general to tighten safety measures on construction sites in an effort to avoid more incidents.

As part of its mission to promote a health and safety culture, the federation encourages contractors to sponsor their employees to attend "Safety at Work" courses, organised regularly by BICC together with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority. The federation also firmly believes that in respect of health and safety measures, contractors should not compromise on standards.

Given this commitment to improve safety standards on construction sites, the federation expresses its disapproval of Karl Chircop's shocking comments: "For quite a few contractors, life comes cheap. All they have to do is to engage another worker the next day".

It seems Dr Chircop is completely out of touch with the reality of such a situation and the trauma that any building contractor undergoes in such a tragic eventuality. Deaths and injuries on a building site are a nightmare and no one can afford to take such things lightly, not even the most irresponsible of contractors. Such comments by Dr Chircop are therefore completely insensitive to the families of the victims and deplorable in a civilised society.

The federation fully understands that there exist a number of shortcomings in respect of safety standards on construction sites but one cannot merely and solely point fingers at building contractors, as Dr Chircop has done.

One must keep in mind the difficulty presented by some workers who adamantly refuse to wear protective gear or who remove this gear as soon as the foreman or any other person with authority moves away.

Another factor is the shortage of a skilled labour force and the high job mobility in the building industry. Here the problem lies in the fact that when certain rules are enforced it is too easy for a worker to leave, knowing too well that it is relatively easy to find alternative employment given the prevailing situation. This leads to the employment of an inexperienced and unskilled labour force within the industry.

Dr Chircop states that "if workers complained about their working conditions, everyone knows what would be the next step of their employer". The implication here is clear but definitely not correct so far as the majority of contractors are concerned. First, because it is most unlikely that a worker is fired because of the stated reason and, second, because any worker who loses his job because of this can report the matter to the ETC or the OHSA and proceed, if he so chooses, to find alternative employment with another contractor.

In an effort to enhance safety standards and proper observance to safety regulations the federation has been insisting for a long time on better evaluations of tenders.

In any project, costs for health and safety, including hoarding, lighting and security, should be clearly stated in the "preliminaries" so that no undercutting in prices will be done at the cost of such measures. There is hope that with the indispensable cooperation of the architects in charge of projects, whether public or private, this will be implemented soon.

The federation has also been pressing for the establishment of a contractors' classification. Such a classification would categorise contractors on the basis of professionalism and their commitment to health and safety standards. Depending on their respective standards, contractors would then be issued with a certificate of classification.

The federation would like to commend the good work being done by the OHSA as part of its efforts to ensure better safety standards within the building industry. In certain instances where health and safety regulations were being neglected, the authority has gone so far as to stop all works.

The challenge ahead is that of changing the mentality and culture; however, this will take time.

Mr Xuereb is president of the Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors.