The General Workers' Union is considering carrying out spot checks on construction sites to ensure health and safety measures are in place, even if it does not represent any of the workers.
GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said the union was very concerned about the absence of health and safety in certain workplaces, echoing the concern expressed by his counterpart at the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin.
"The situation is very worrying. We can no longer speak out after accidents happen," Mr Zarb said, adding that it was imperative for construction workers to get unionised so that they could be protected. Last week, Mr Vella launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing it of not strengthening health and safety legislation as it had promised to do back in November 2007.
With two work-related deaths in the span of five days last month and a 31-year-old man critically injured in an accident at a construction site last Monday, workplace safety is once again in the spotlight. The injured man, from Siġġiewi, is still in intensive care receiving treatment for the head injuries he sustained after a three-storey fall in Marsaxlokk.
Mr Zarb said that years ago former Employment Minister Louis Galea had promised to increase the number of inspectors who monitor work sites. Mr Vella had also spoken of this, saying that in a letter he received from Social Policy Minister John Dalli - who has taken over the labour portfolio - last week he was informed that the Occupational Health And Safety Authority was still working on a draft to amend the law.
Mr Zarb said construction workers were the worst off, especially because they were not unionised and had nobody to fight for their rights. Moreover, the employment of foreigners could bring about language barriers that would, in turn, increase health hazards.
When contacted, the chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council, John Ebejer said that, evidently, more needed to be done both in terms of awareness and enforcement, although over the years there were several initiatives on health and safety by different entities, including the BICC itself.
"The social and economic cost of accidents on construction sites dictates that workers in the building industry give greater importance to safety. It also necessitates the allocation of more human resources to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority so that it can better enforce regulations," he said.
No reply was forthcoming to a question sent to the Social Policy Ministry last Monday, asking what the authorities were doing to improve health and safety.