VietNamNet Bridge – A dramatic scene unfolded last week in HCM City when three young workers fell from the Giga Mall construction site on Pham Van Dong Boulevard (Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, Thu Duc District) and were seriously injured, raising concerns about safety at high-rise construction sites.

A dramatic scene unfolded last week in HCM City when three young workers fell from the Giga Mall construction site on Pham Van Dong Boulevard (Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, Thu Duc District) and were seriously injured, raising concerns about safety at high-rise construction sites.— Photo plo.vn

The dangerous situation is a consequence of State management authorities’ labour safety shortcomings and the failure of investors, supervisors and contractors to follow regulations.

According to Sài Gòn Đầu Tư Tài Chính (Saigon Investment and Finance) newspaper, the accident happened at the construction site for Khang Gia Land Investment and Trade Company’s “supermarket, entertainment, movie” project.

The company hired the Thuan Viet Construction-Trading Co Ltd to build the development.

Thuan Viet company further outsourced some of the labours, signing a contract with Toan Hung Construction Service Ltd and a group of freelance construction workers.

At 9:00 on the morning of September 24, workers heard a disturbance and looked up to see three of their colleagues falling from the building. The three victims – Phan Khac Tien, 32, Phan Minh Toi, 29 and Nguyen Minh Duy, 31 – were all freelance workers from the central coastal province of Binh Dinh. They were moved to Thu Duc District General Hospital for treatment.

A representative of the contractor, Nguyen Dinh Truong, said it was likely an accident. “One person slipped, pulling the others,” he said.

This is the latest in a string of recent construction accidents in the city.

On September 11, two workers died at the Saigon Homes trade and apartment centre on Huong Lo 2 Road (Binh Tri Dong A Ward, Binh Tan District) when the scaffolding they were using to transport bricks to the 10th floor of the building collapsed. They were Ha Van Khoa, 58 and Nguyen Thi Nhung, 59.

On September 19, onlookers panicked as a 20 metre crane from a Gia Dinh Automobile Company construction site fell onto Van Dong Boulevard (Go Vap District). Fortunately, there were no injuries.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Labour Safety Department put HCM City on a list of 10 cities and provinces with the most deaths due to workplace accidents.

In 2017, HCM City reported a total of 1,492 work-related accidents, causing 123 deaths and 306 serious injuries.

According to the labour ministry, the city now has more than 400,000 enterprises and factories with a combined 4.5 million workers.

As the largest economic area in the country, the workplace safety issue is becoming a hot topic.

Experts from the labour ministry and other relevant agencies agreed that carelessness from investors and workers was to blame for most construction accidents.

There are labour safety procedures and work safety methods in place to prevent dangerous work environments, but they are not always followed properly. In theory, properly permitted construction projects must account for the quality of the plans, labourers, materials, technical equipment and construction processes.

Construction sites should have labour safety departments to proactively conduct safety checks in all of the aforementioned categories.

Many construction projects in HCM City follow a different model: investors conduct safety checks only after a workplace accident has already occurred.

Nguyen Ngoc Hai, director of the HCM City Science Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, said accidents in the construction sector account for 67 per cent of total work-related accidents, with falling and electrical shocks being the primary causes of injury.

Hai said contractors often sign short-term deals with small sub-contractors who lack technical experience. Since sub-contractors do not need to set up long-term safety practices, they often manage to skirt regulations designed to keep workers safe. Additionally, some workers are not educated in personal protection and therefore fail to use the protective equipment they are given.

Oversight agencies will continue to inspect businesses that have had accidents to prevent similar incidents. Enterprises that violate safety rules will be punished. Inspectors will transfer investigative reports to the police in serious case.

Local authorities and labour inspectors share the responsibility of examining construction sites and enforcing safety regulations.

Source: VNS