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3 September 2007
Improved safety conditions at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium construction
site have persuaded labour inspectors to revoke all prohibition notices they
had served the contractor during an unannounced inspection on Monday
afternoon.
On visiting the site at the invitation of the employer on Tuesday,
inspectors found all areas of non-compliance appropriately rectified in line
with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The prohibition notices which halted operations in certain sections on the
site had been prompted by conditions that were of high risk and
life-threatening to the health and safety of workers.
These had included erected scaffolding of two zones that were not rendered
safe for use, an unsafe welding machine, excavator and tower crane as well as
the provision of proper ladders, shoring and barricading of excavation
work.
The employer subsequently indicated to the department that the issues raised
in the prohibition notice had since been rectified and inspectors were
requested to revisit the site to reassess the remedial action they had put in
place in order to have the prohibition notice revoked or not.
The inspection formed part of the national blitz inspection campaign which
has been rolled out to various construction sites in different provinces
throughout the country. In KwaZulu-Natal, the blitz inspections on construction
sites started last week, from the 20 August 2007 and is currently taking place
throughout the province with inspectors from all 16 labour centres inspecting
construction sites.
The blitz inspections which are set to continue until the end of this week
are aimed to reduce the incident rate in the construction sector that has been
identified as one of the high risk sectors countrywide when it comes to
injuries and workers being killed at the workplace.
Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Cell: 082 906 3878
E-mail: zolisa.sigabi@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
3 September 2007
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
