Time and again in recent years the point has been made publicly that the significant increase in the construction of large buildings in various parts of the country ought to be more than sufficient cause for us to shine a more prominent spotlight on the issue of safety and health in the building sector.
Truth be told, it is, these days, the easiest thing in the world to detect safety and health transgressions on building sites some of which even pose dangers to passersby.
Every time that a workplace accident occurs—like the one early in December at the Robb and Camp streets Food Court construction site—there should be a thorough and professional investigation, if only to ensure that lessons are learnt that result in the application of corrective measures that might save lives in the future. Another reason why these investigations are important is because of the prevalence of the view that indiscretions are swept under the carpet in thick clouds of either corruption or nepotistic practices.
The Ministry of Labour, which has the mandate to ensure occupational health and safety, has a considerable responsibility in the matter of these investigations.
After the Food Court accident this newspaper did its customary journalistic investigation out of which we were able to learn a few things, including, first, that an accident had indeed occurred; second, that four men had been injured and, third, that they had been taken to a private city hospital for treatment. For good measure, we published the names of at least two of the injured men.
It transpires that no one, as far as we are aware, has publicly challenged the report that the Food Court accident had in fact taken place or, for that matter, any of the other information on it placed in the public domain by the Stabroek News. In other words, the body of information generated by Stabroek News’ reporting would have been useful to the Ministry of Labour in its work.
However, almost two months after the Food Court accident the Ministry of Labour is not in a position – or at least so one of its senior officials told us – to confirm that an accident did take place. It admits that it has heard reports about the accident but – if we understood them correctly – has not been able to uncover a scintilla of evidence that an accident did indeed take place.
Well heavens to Betsy! What exactly is going on at the Ministry of Labour? Weren’t the investigatory work of the media, the four injured men in the hospital and the names of two of these men more than sufficient to cause the ministry to want to follow up the matter?
It is not a matter of simply taking Stabroek News’ word for it. As we understand it, construction sites must, under the law, be in possession of an employee register. At the very least that register could have been perused by the Labour Ministry with a view to determining whether the names of the injured men published in this newspaper, were listed in the site register.
At the end of the conversation with the Ministry of Labour official – and while the official did say words to the effect that the Ministry was still in the process of seeking to determine whether an accident had indeed occurred at the Food Court worksite – we were left with the distinct impression that the ministry is far from comfortable with being engaged on the subject. We found, for example, that faced with direct and pointed questions on the matter, the ministry official became decidedly hot under the collar, accusing the reporter (who was speaking with him on the telephone) of being hostile; although, to his credit, the official subsequently agreed to have the discourse restored to a condition of amicability.
The position of the Stabroek Business is exactly what that of the Stabroek News has been all along. No blame can be apportioned before and unless a satisfactory investigation is done. Simultaneously, we maintain that the Ministry of Labour should get on its bike and seek to determine what happened at the Food Court; who, if anyone is culpable and what lessons may be learnt from the accident. Of course, the longer the state of apparent official inactivity persists the greater the chances that the trail may grow cold.
As an aside we believe that incidents like the Food Court accident that might have critical safety and health implications for the private sector are just the kinds of occurrences on which the business support organisations, the professional bodies and the labour movement should sound their voices constructively. It is not enough simply to let these occurrences drift away like chaff in the wind.
