August 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
54
health & safety
“RECENT ARTICLES IN
the media have
incorrectly quoted figures regarding injury
statistics, which paint the construction in-
dustry in a very poor light,”says Deon Bester,
occupational health and safety manager
for the Master Builders Association of the
Western Cape (MBAWC). “Although we have
seen some improvement in the number of
accidents and fatalities, these figures are still
disturbingly high. One accident or one fatality
is one too many.”
“It is interesting to note that on average,
half of the fatalities experienced in the indus-
try are as a result of motor vehicle accidents.
These are accidents that occur when people
are being transported to site or fromone site
to another with the use of a company vehicle
and are not accidents directly related to
actual construction activities. These need to
be policed by the traffic department, but this
does not appear to be happening, as one sim-
ply needs to drive on our roads and observe
the way in which people are transported on
the backs of open vehicles. However, we, as
an industry, must take responsibility for our
actions and inactions,”he continues.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act
clearly defines the duties of the employer,
employees and chief executive officer as
well as acts or omissions by employees,
Collective construction industry concern
According to statistics from Federated Employers Mutual Assurance
(FEM), over the past three years the number of accidents has
decreased from9 150 in 2010 to 7 947 in 2012. The number of fatalities
too has declined from 96 to 69.
in terms of upholding health and safety at
work. In 2012, government, organised labour
and organised business came together and
wrote the Construction Health and Safety
Accord, the purpose of whichwas to promote
better occupational health and safety in the
construction industry by having this tripartite
agreement in place. “Unfortunately, it seems
that to date, the only party doing anything
towards improving health and safety is
organisedbusiness. Despite this, the employer
is continuously blamed when accidents hap-
pen,”states Bester.
“While there are employers who ignore
the basic health and safety requirements,
as set out in the Act and Construction
Regulations that are currently under review,
anecdotal evidence indicates that 80% of
accidents are caused by employees acting
unsafely. This, after companies have spent
hours training and informing employees on
safety procedures and have paid vast sums of
money to provide personal protective equip-
ment which is simply not used. Furthermore,
employees ignore basic health and safety
rules. All of these contribute to the high
number of incidents recorded. The MBAWC
has tried on many occasions to engage the
unions and the Department of Labour on
this issue but to no avail. We need to work
together to improve the situation,”he explains.
“Health and safety is a collective concern and I
call on all parties and relevant departments to
step up and take action,”concludes Bester.
●
Deon Bester, occupational health and safety
manager for the Master Builders Association
of the Western Cape.
