A total of 87 magisterial inquiries into workplace deaths and injuries that have occurred over the last seven years are still open.
A leaked list dating to 2015, seen by Times of Malta, shows that magistrates are still investigating 29 workplace fatalities, the earliest of them going back to May 2018.
The list includes details on the date, locations and names of the victims. Some of the injured have been waiting for years for the magistrates to conclude their inquiry.
The earliest workplace accident on the list is dated August 2015 and the latest September 2022.
Two of the first injuries on the list are from a Sliema boat accident dating back to May 2016. It was reported that two men, at the time a 26-year-old and a 45-year-old Moroccan, were fixing a boat engine anchored off Tigne when the incident took place. The case is still awaiting a conclusion.
The bulk of the 29 workplace deaths on the list occurred on construction sites. Many were foreigners who fell to their deaths.
One of the earliest on the list was 26-year-old Mabruk Abubaker Abdullatif, who fell a height of several storeys at a construction site in Sliema. The accident happened back in November 2018 and, yet, the magisterial inquiry is still open.
Another construction site victim was Romeo Antonio Scolari, who fell from a height at a site in St Julian’s.
The Italian, who lived in St Julian’s, was 40 years old when he died in March 2019.
Dieidy Coulibaly, from Mali, fell four storeys at a construction site in Qawra in 2019. His inquiry is still ongoing.
One victim of a fatal workplace accident not on a construction site was Emmanuel Grech, 65, who was doing cleaning work at Daniel’s Shopping Complex, in Ħamrun when he fell two storeys back in January 2019. His case is still awaiting conclusions.
Another was Elenia Briffa. The public mourned the death of the 19-year-old postwoman, who died at Mater Dei Hospital shortly after the Maltapost Paxter she was driving turned over in Marsa.
The last victim on the list whose inquiry is still ongoing is Luca Curmi, who fell a height of four storeys at a construction site in Munxar in September of last year. Curmi worked as a technician with Heritage Malta.
“This is a mirror of our reality,” Occupational Health and Safety Authority CEO Mark Gauci told Times of Malta yesterday when asked about the long list of pending inquiries.
“This is why we are pushing for the bill to involve OHSA in court investigations into workplace accidents, so that we can speed up the conclusions.”
Last week, a bill seeking to speed up magisterial inquiries by involving the authority in court investigations passed its first reading in parliament.
Currently, OHSA oversees workplace safety and ensures the well-being of all workers in all workplaces.
The authority can investigate matters related to occupational safety including death or injury but it is not involved in magisterial inquiries.
“There are cases when OHSA findings are conflicting to that of the magisterial inquiry and this can cause complication and further delays,” Gauci said.
Should the bill get parliament’s approval, the new law will give OHSA the green light to participate directly in court investigations.
“If the bill is passed, we will see speedier conclusions, justice acting faster and a stronger deterrent effect.”