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February 14, 2025
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) together with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) have signed an agreement through which they will continue to give more security to third parties, workers, and the public. Among the main initiatives listed in this agreement, the two authorities will start carrying out joint inspections on construction sites.
This was announced during a press conference addressed by the Minister for Justice and Reform in the Construction Sector, Jonathan Attard, together with BCA acting Chief Executive Perit Roderick Bonnici and OHSA Chief Executive Dr Josianne Cutajar.
This conference saw the signing of this agreement through which the authorities concerned are establishing procedures on how these inspections will be carried out, as well as how to share information and investigation reports as necessary. It was explained how the outcome of investigations should be passed on to the enforcement authorities, for necessary to be taken.
Minister Attard said that last August, the authorities started working on a pilot project of joint inspections on construction sites, which enunciated the necessity of such a project and led to the formalisation of the current agreement.
“Since the last week of August, around 550 joint inspections have been carried out, from which it resulted that 134 actions were taken by BCA officials and 147 actions by OHSA officials. It should also be noted that during these inspections, there were a number of instances that both the OHSA and the BCA had to take action on the same site,” the Minister explained.
Minister Attard said that this initiative reflects the Government’s commitment to continue raising standards in the sector, which is also in line with the report of the public inquiry linked to the tragic death of Jean Paul Sofia.
Meanwhile, investment within both authorities continued to be made, with employees in both authorities having increased in the past year, with an emphasis on the enforcement aspect. At the BCA, the number of workers in recent months has increased to 84, with 26 of them serving in the enforcement section, which in the coming months will be further strengthened by another 20 officials.
When it comes to the OHSA, the commitment to increase the number of workers has been maintained. During the last 12 months, the Authority has almost doubled its human resource from around 30 to 55 workers, and more work is underway to further increase them.
Meanwhile, during this conference it was stated that the two entities will start collaborating on providing education to workers within the construction industry, while providing training on health and safety. Six months after the launch of the designated helpline 138, both entities will ensure to continue promoting this helpline so that the public is better informed about their rights in terms of construction and health and safety at work.
On his part, BCA Chief Executive Perit Roderick Bonnici said that this agreement will continue to improve the strong relationship which already exists between BCA and OHSA, so much so that the two entities have agreed that where investigations result that one of the entities must take legal action, the two entities will be cooperating together through information sharing vis-à-vis the relevant investigation. He also explained how through this agreement, the two entities will also be sharing enforcement practices, so that enforcement is more holistic.
OHSA Chief Executive Dr Josianne Cutajar explained how OHSA together with the BCA have worked together over the past months to reach an agreement on coordination and collaboration on a number of sectors, with the aim of achieving higher standards of health and safety in the country. With this agreement being signed today, the OHSA has placed the principles of health and safety at the highest level where decisions are taken on legislation, regulations, as well as policy-making on construction. This augurs well to further strengthen health and safety in this very important sector in our country.
