Updated | Workplace deaths up over last year, injuries showing consistent decline

Work-related injuries have been on the decline for a considerable period of time, however a higher number of deaths were registered in 2016 when compared to the previous year, according to EU affairs and equality minister Helena Dalli.
Speaking during a morning session of Parliament which was debating budgetary estimates for the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) for 2017, Dalli said there had been 7 workplace deaths in 2016.
Each case, the minister said, was the subject of magisterial inquiry, as well as an investigation by the authority. Moreover, she said that despite the increase, the number of workplace deaths in Malta remained comparatively low.
Four of the registered deaths were from the construction industry, one was related to port activities with a further two machinery-related deaths.
Turning to injuries, Dalli said that workplace injury statistics in Malta were based on requests for governmental assistance, which she said made the data comprehensive since this included self-employed individuals.

She added that whereas many countries only recorded instances where workers were away from work for more than four days, local statistics included any instances of time being taken off work due to a work-related injury.
“Since we have been collecting data in the same way for many years, it allows for valid interpretations,” Dalli explained.
She said that, taking a snap shot of the number of injuries over a period of time, a consistent decrease could be noted and it was possible that the country was “reaching a plateau” in the number of injuries registered every year.
The list of injuries published by OHSA distinguishes between the different economic sectors.
Dalli said that this helps in the understanding of which sectors are associated with the largest number of injuries, and therefore which have the greatest inherent risk.
The storage and transport sectors, the minister said, showed an increase in the number of registered injuries, while the construction showed a decrease for the third year running.
She added that while it may be premature to say so, this was partly due to increased efforts by the OHSA to reduce injuries in the sector.
“There seems to be a correlation between the emphasis and importance placed on sector, and the number of injuries registered,” she said, adding that it was imperative to fight complacency and an attitude of ‘everything goes’ through proper and more focused educational campaigns.   
Dalli also pointed out that while there were workplace dangers that were well-known, such as those related to construction sites, there were new conditions and realities where work could affect mental health for example, due to high levels of stress.
“When we look at occupational health and safety, we think of traditional accidents, however in reality there are many other risks at the workplace and the more life becomes fast-paced, the more stress increases,” Dalli said.
She said government was working to better understand risks due to mental health problems caused by one’s employment, while underscoring the need for increased awareness.
Opposition MP Therese Comodini Cachia echoed Dalli in calling for increased awareness on mental health risks associated with the workplace.
She pointed out that in 2016, 30 notification of asbestos removals had been received, only for the authority to have issued guidelines for asbestos removal in April this year.

She called on the Prime Minister not to appoint parliamentary secretary Deo Debattista as OHSA chairman given that he was now a parliamentary secretary.
She insisted that while Debattista had done his best in executing his role, it was imperative that someone be appointed who was not an MP and who was independent and impartial.

She added that a failure to do so would do more harm to the OHSA, rather than protect its work. 
Debattista, on his part, said that evaluators sent by the European Commission, that had prepared a report on the authority’s functioning, had found it to be performing well, despite its small size and relative lack of resources.
He said the report will spur the authority on to do more to achieve even better results.
Turning to the media, Debattista said that the evaluators had noted that while news portals were quick to run stories about workplace injuries, they were often more reluctant to run statements by the authority, or the publication of certain guidelines.
He added that the OHSA did not have the resources to moderate certain comments online that painted a very different picture of workplace injuries than the reality. Debattista emphasised the need for more resources to be made available to the OHSA, as well as the importance of increased cooperation with different agencies and constituted bodies in furthering the OHSA’s role.  
Opposition MP and former minister Carm Mifusd Bonnici voiced his concern with the fact that, while some in society were aware of, and had understood the importance of health and safety principles, there were still many pockets of workers that had still not understood the importance of health and safety principles.
Mifsud Bonnici pointed to the Whisteblower Act introduced during the last legislature, which he said was being underutilised, especially given that it was a tool that could be used to ensure that workplace conditions met legal requirements.
He insisted there was not enough appreciation, including on the part of unions, of how this law could be used to safeguard workers’ rights.
Mifsud Bonnici added that this was especially true of those working under precarious conditions, and that more needed to be done in this regard despite the fact that efforts had been made to address this problem during the last legislature.
He pointed to the what described as the failure of the tribunal set-up to deal with such cases, insisting that for the tribunal to be better suited to its purpose, it must allow for workers to be able to directly submit their reports to the tribunal.
In addition to this, he said, it needed a prosecutor or investigative official, able to look into cases of abuse. 
Partit Demokratiku MP Godfrey Farrugia appealed for the OHSA to be given more powers that would allow it to broaden the scope of its work.
He stressed that beyond the protection of workers, it was time for a greater emphasis to be made on health and safety at public events, including national events. He also pointed to workers employed in hospitals, but who were not professionals, and had very little knowledge of the risks and hazards that might arise in such an environment.
Farrugia also insisted that it was time for the Environment and Resources Agency, as well the Superintendence of Public Health to create structures for monitoring the activities of Small and Medium Enterprises.  
Farrugia appealed for consensus on both sides of the House to constructively work on improving working conditions, especially when considering work-related stress, which he said could lead to depression.
In some cases, Farrugia said, people were forced to leave work and become “invalids” because of stress-related disorders, which he said were also common in government departments because of a lack of meritocracy.