Updated 3.45pm

A worker from North Macedonia has died after suffering an electric shock on a construction site in Attard.

The 28-year-old, who had been living in Msida, died soon after receiving hospital treatment for the accident in Triq il-Ħatab on Thursday.

It is at least the fourth fatal accident in a workplace in Malta this year and comes amid increased concerns about the safety of construction sites.

In June a man from Mali died when he fell four storeys from a building site in Qawra. And three buildings have collapsed in recent months - in Gwardamanġa, Mellieħa and Ħamrun.

Hours before Thursday's accident, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority published a report stating that there had been three fatal accidents at work between January and June this year.

In the same period in 2018, one person died while at work. 

However, the report said that overall, occupational accidents had decreased by six per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

Some 1,553 persons were involved in non-fatal accidents at work in the first six months of 2019. Most occurred in the manufacturing sector (15.7 per cent). Another 14.2 per cent occurred in the construction sector followed by the transportation and storage sector at 13.3 per cent.

The largest share of accidents at work involved persons working in 'elementary occupations' followed by craft and related trades workers, it said.

Almost half (46.3 per cent) of the injuries at work affected the upper extremities of the body, such as the fingers and hands. 

In the first half of 2019, 37.5 per cent of non-fatal accidents at work took place in enterprises with more than 500 employees.