The Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) has expressed its sorrow over a new fatal workplace accident in Peyia that resulted in the death of a 52-year-old worker, calling on all stakeholders in the construction sector to immediately review health and safety procedures on their projects.
In a statement issued on Monday, ETEK said all construction projects should be halted where the necessary protective measures have not been put in place.
The chamber stressed that, under the Vision Zero strategy, no fatal accident is acceptable and that the goal must be to prevent every workplace accident.
“Prevention cannot be an after-the-fact reaction, but must be incorporated at an early stage in every phase of a project, with particular emphasis on its design and planning,” ETEK said.
The latest incident, it added, served as a painful reminder that health and safety on construction sites must remain an “non-negotiable priority”.
ETEK also stressed that the Health and Safety Plan (HSP) should not be treated as a formal document prepared merely to comply with legislation.
Instead, it said, the plan must serve as a substantive and dynamic prevention tool, incorporating measures addressing the actual risks associated with each project. It must also be implemented on a daily basis and updated whenever the work, conditions or risks change.
High-risk construction work requires particular attention
The chamber said particular attention was needed for high-risk activities, including work near overhead electrical networks, the use of concrete pumps, cranes and other mechanical equipment, work at height and work in confined spaces.
Such risks, it said, must be identified and addressed before work begins. Specific risk assessments should be carried out, existing infrastructure and hazardous areas identified, and clear and practical safe working methods established.
ETEK said responsibility for health and safety on construction sites is collective and extends to everyone involved in construction projects, beginning before work starts.
Project owners, designers, supervising engineers, health and safety coordinators, contractors, subcontractors and workers all have specific obligations within their respective roles and responsibilities, while effective coordination between all parties is essential, it said.
Safety coordinators should be appointed early
ETEK further stressed that health and safety coordinators should be appointed at an early stage so they can effectively carry out their role and contribute to the integration of health and safety considerations into the design and planning of projects.
They should also be able to play a key role in continuously monitoring the implementation of the required safety measures, the chamber said.
ETEK called on all stakeholders in the construction sector to immediately review health and safety procedures on their projects and ensure that no project proceeds without the necessary protective measures.
“Procedures for ensuring health and safety are not bureaucracy but an investment in safety and human life,” ETEK said.
“No project, deadline or financial consideration can be more important than the safety of the people working on it,” it concluded.
Source: CNA
