The Helpline 138 has been launched, providing a centralized 24/7 system for all inquiries related to construction, health and safety

Minister for Justice and Reform of the Construction Sector, Jonathan Attard launched a new helpline that serves as a 24/7 reference point for all matters related to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Starting today, professionally trained agents will be available to direct citizens’ calls to the respective authorities.

“This is another initiative from a series of reforms and services which we announced and which we will continue to announce in the coming weeks to continue raising standards in the construction sector. This new helpline is also a confirmation of our commitment to give a stronger and more effective voice to workers and those affected by the construction sector,” said Minister Jonathan Attard at a press conference.

The minister went on to thank Ms Isabelle Bonnici who was present for the launch of this service. He explained how he kept regular contact with Ms Bonnici including on other services on which work is underway.
This contact led to the identification of the number used for this helpline: 138, in remembrance of the date of the birth of the late Jean Paul Sofia whose birthday was on the 13th of August.

Minister Jonathan Attard said that he believes that the work being done on the reforms in this sector should be done in remembrance of all victims and their families, however he personally felt that this particular service should commemorate the life of Jean Paul Sofia.

“This helpline is one of five immediate initiatives announced at the end of February. After this launch, the new OHSA law, and the service of free service by lawyers and architects to assist third parties affected by construction – which will be launched shortly – within six months we will have carried out the absolute majority of these initiatives”, concluded the minister.

Dr Josianne Cutajar, CEO of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority, explained that the authority, in collaboration with servizz.gov, have established an emergency contact where the servizz.gov agent will be able to identify high risk situations (such as workers working on a bridge without protective clothing or cases of serious danger where vehicles are used on roofs) and forward them directly to this line for immediate action.

Similarly, the helpline shall serve for the Building and Construction Authority to further strengthen the regulatory and enforcement aspect of its work. BCA’s acting CEO, Architect Roderick Bonnici listed a number of services that shall be covered by the 138 support line. These include questions related to regulations on damage avoidance to third party property, site management regulations, energy performance certificates and the licensing of builders and contractors.
Also present for this conference were the Servizz.gov CEO Mr Massimo Vella, Mr Emanuel Grech from the information Management Unit of the Ministry for Justice and the Reform of the Construction sector and employees from both authorities.

The press conference was held at the offices of the Building and Construction Authority, with Minister Jonathan Attard saluting the memory of engineer Robert Schembri, a dedicated Member of the BCA board, who lost his life tragically over the weekend.