Construction law will reduce accidents
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Even though the investigation into the collapse of the roof framing which caused injuries to the construction workers on the job site are still ongoing, the Cayman Contractors Association (CAA) is saying this is yet another example of safety problems throughout the industry where inexperienced contractors are working at a level beyond their skill. Furthermore, for 20 years, the Contractors Association has asked each new Government administration for a Builders Bill which is finally getting addressed. Steve Hawley, President of the CAA, explained that the problems the industry faces is not necessarily from deliberate but simple ignorance which is the cause of the most recent accident and that is why he believes codes and standards need to be enforced. “As for the responsibility of the contractor, it’s not so much that he is negligent, per se, it’s more that he is uninformed,” he said. “He didn’t know the right way to do the job and an accident resulted. So often we have seen otherwise responsible people who simply don’t have the necessary experience to know that they are about to get in trouble. “For example, if a residential contractor is doing his first structural steel building, there is great risk that the dangers inherent in steel building construction will not be anticipated.” Mr Hawley explained that to put a check on the high number of accidents, Government is addressing the problem through prevention by hiring more inspectors to enforce the pending Builders Bill. “Both Building Control and Employment Relations operate through inspections. They do a fine job, but the problem is that they cannot be on every site, every day, all day. Immediately following an inspection, an accident can happen,” explained Mr Hawley. “Government would need literally hundreds of inspectors to adequately cover all projects on Cayman at any given time. However, this problem could easily have been avoided simply by consulting an engineer prior to constructing the supports for the heavy weight that was about to be placed on them. This is what is normally done by those contractors who are qualified to do such work and it is being done safely every day,” he said. Mr Hawley explained that many worksite injuries could be prevented if contractors are licensed by category of qualifications, which is proposed in the Builders Bill. Then as companies gain more qualifications, it can be moved into a higher category. “In this system everyone including the general public is protected and the problem is corrected before it happens,” said the contractor. “This is an excellent bill, which and when it is passed it will, for the first time, assure that such matters are addressed properly,” added Mr Hawley. He added that what cannot be ignored is the primary reason for excessive numbers of worksite accidents and some fatal ones are directly related to the hundreds of contracting companies that started up in order to take advantage of the construction boom following Hurricane Ivan. More : caymannetnews.com |