Strict safety rules come to construction sites

The Addis Ababa City Construction Bureau has drafted a new health safety construction regulation requiring contractors to fulfill mandatory safety materials and procedures before they start work.
The proclamation forces the contactors to provide the necessary safety dress and shoes, have separate toilets and dressing rooms for both genders, showers, dining rooms, a clinic with a nurse and doctor.
Using wooden scaffolding for more than one project is also forbidden in the draft regulation and the contactors should have health insurance coverage for workers.
A system will be put in place so that site management can quickly obtain information about unsafe practices and defective equipment. Safety and health duties should be specifically assigned to certain persons, the draft regulation reads.
All contractors (including utilities, specialist contractors, contractors nominated by the client and the self-employed) have a part to play in ensuring that the site is a safe and healthy place to work.
Contractors are in danger of having their licenses permanently revoked if they violate safety rules multiple times.
Demelash Gebremariam head of the bureau said that the goal of the regulation is to decrease death and injury and project delays due to poor occupational health environments at the construction sites.
“Numerous work-related injuries, illnesses, property damages, and process losses occur at different workplaces but due to underreporting or misclassification as a result of lack of thorough standards, or unfamiliarity with the existing guidelines, people are not normally aware of such events and their actual or potential consequences. Thus, effective corrective actions are required.”
Recent research indicated that although there are appropriate health and safety rules for governing construction work, there is lack of enforcement of regulations from government & regulatory bodies responsible for ensuring compliance and they are not properly resourced to carry out their legal responsibilities. Clients and consultants do not consider safety issues as perquisites for awarding projects and they do not even include this as criteria in the contract. Many projects don’t include regular training, and supervising by trained staff.