Updated 7pm

The Occupational Health and Safety Authority stopped works at a Sliema Fortina site where two plasterers were seen perched on unsecured scaffolding at least two storeys above the ground.

The workers were caught on footage posted on the Expats Malta Facebook page.

Social media users asked the person who posted the video whether she had alerted the authorities about the incident and guided her to report the case to OHSA by calling 138. 

138 is an OHSA number on which the public can report an accident at work or flag cases of serious risks to the health and safety of workers. People can pass on the information anonymously. 

OHSA itself commented under the post, urging the social media user to get in touch with details about the location of the scaffolding. OHSA later told Times of Malta it visited the site "immediately".

Sources told Times of Malta a stop order was issued for the works at the Fortina site.

Current workplace health and safety laws do not require the OHSA to make public any information about lawbreakers or the fines it issues to them. 

An updated law passed unanimously by parliament this year, the Health and Safety At Work Act, will require the authority to make fines public. It also imposes significantly tougher fines, including potential jail sentences, for those who willingly breach the law. 

However, that law is not yet applicable as the Justice Minister must first publish a legal notice to bring it into force.