A public inquiry report into the Corradino construction site death of Jean Paul Sofia runs for almost 500 pages. 

More than 40 of those are focused on recommendations of how the government should revamp construction-related rules and processes, as well as procedures related to the allocation of public land to private investors for industry. 

The inquiry report was presented to the government and Sofia's family on Wednesday morning. Copies were immediately distributed to the press. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela reacted by saying certain officials whose shortcomings had been highlighted in the report must resign immediately, though he stopped short of naming names. 

Planning and building regulations

  • Require a full planning permit for projects involving public land. Currently, projects in industrial estates like the Corradino one are fast-tracked through the Planning Authority (PA) using a Development Notification Order.
  • Introduce laws regulating free-standing buildings and clearly state which entity is responsible for overseeing them.
  • Require free-standing buildings to also submit a method statement of works to the , Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Currently, this is only requested when a development is adjacent to third party property.
  • Require a geologist's report to be presented with any method statement involving excavation.

 

BCA, training and licencing

  • The BCA must speed up its verification process for contractors who have registered for a license.
  • Introduce a classification system for contractors, to ascertain their competence and skill levels.
  • Totally overhaul method statement vetting processes to make the person vetting statements known. This has already been introduced into law. 
  • Make skill cards for construction site workers mandatory. Anyone found working without one must be stopped on the spot.
  • Review licencing criteria for builders.
  • Require contractors to have all-risk insurance policies and make that a prerequisite for getting a contractors’ licence
  • Ensure construction-related training courses are overseen and certified
  • Increase bank guarantees given to the BCA to 20% of the architect’s value of the works
  • Ensure the BCA immediately suspends works if there is any damage to third parties.
  • Rid BCA and OHSA boards of any real or potential conflicts of interest.
  • Reintroduce a diploma, instead of degree, for people interested in the building and construction profession. 

OHSA

  • Separate the OHSA’s executive arm from all other areas, to avoid conflicts of interest.
  • Update its legislation using an incident and dangerous situation reporting model used in the UK.
  • Require site technical officers to be warranted civil engineers.
  • Require the OHSA to start collecting statistics on near-misses and dangerous incidents that do not result in injuries. Gurnal
  • Developers and contractors must be held responsible for health and safety measures at the workplace, rather than having site safety officers report deficiencies to the OHSA.
  • Site safety officers and project supervisors must be empowered to be able to stop works if they spot deficiencies. Project supervisors need legal protection shielding them from getting fired by developers if they take action to address dangers.
  • OHSA inspectors must inspect construction sites, stopping work when health and safety are seriously compromised.

 

Insurance and reporting

  • Introduce employees liability insurance for workers which also applies in cases of accidents with vehicles and protects third parties.
  • Make it easy for the public to report possible infringements to the BCA at any time of day. Site notices should display phone numbers. Reports must be followed up promptly.

Building codes

  • Building codes must be completed and published as soon as possible.
  • Until codes are published, the sector should apply European building codes at a local level.

Regulate foreign workers

  • Revamp administrative practices for importing low-skilled foreign workers. Workers at construction sites must have a skills card and be able to communicate in a common language. Identità should not simply serve as a rubber stamping authority.

Beef up enforcement

  • There is a lack of inspectors in all relevant authorities, from the BCA to OHSA or Jobsplus.
  • Inspectors also need more training to allow them be more effective.
  • BCA fines for infringements are far too low and do not serve as a deterrent.
  • The PA, BCA, OHSA and JobsPlus must have effective channels of information to work better together.
  • Artificial Intelligence should be used to augment more prevention and safety in workplaces

Malta Enterprise, INDIS

  • Malta Enterprise and INDIS Malta should be merged into one entity, reversing their previous split.
  • Revise procedures for land allocations to be more transparent and ensure applications are evaluated against clear and serious criteria
  • INDIS to be required to scrutinise applications approved by Malta Enterprise, rather than just rubber stamping them
  • OHSA cases in court should be heard expeditiously by one magistrate. Until the end of July there were 105 pending cases.

Self-regulation does not work

  • Self-regulation in the construction does not work.
  • Consider having a single authority to regulate every aspect of the building and construction industry, as proposed by the president of the Chamber of Architects. That might involve merging regulatory entities.
  • Reconsider a law allowing OHSA officials to be present during a magisterial inquiry investigating incidents of serious injury or deaths in workplaces. There is a real risk of conflict of interest.

A more proactive MCCAA

  • The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority should be more proactive and serve its purposes.
  • Amend laws to ensure obligation of CE markings related to construction products are better fulfilled

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.