12 November 2009
Maputo — The Confederation of Free and Independent Unions of Mozambique (CONSILMO), the smaller of Mozambique's two trade union federations, has protested at the derisory fine imposed on a building company responsible for the deaths of two of its workers.
The two men, Anselmo Zucula and Fernando Mucavel, fell to their deaths from the ninth floor of a hotel under construction in Maputo on 26 October.
An investigation undertaken by the General Inspectorate of Labour (IGT) found that the company, SB-Construcoes, "did not observe the basic rules for health and safety at work envisaged in the country's labour legislation".
The report from the IGT said there should have been a supervisor on duty, but he was not on site at the time of the accident. Furthermore, no protective equipment was in use to prevent accidents.
The IGT ordered SB-Construcoes to correct the irregularities in its security system, and imposed a fine of five times the minimum wage. The minimum wage in the building industry is 2,115 meticais a month. The fine is thus 10,575 meticais, which is equivalent to just 386 US dollars at current exchange rates.
CONSILMO, one of whose founding members is the building workers' union, described the fine as "feeble" and "unjust"
The Maputo secretary of CONSILMO, Anastacio Matsinhe, told AIM that while he did not think the company should be closed down, which would be damaging to its employees, he regarded five times the minimum wage as "nothing to pay for the loss of two lives"
This accident highlights appalling safety conditions in the building industry. AIM has been visiting building sites across the capital, and has found that, in general, workers are not given safety belts when working high above the ground, and lack even simple protective equipment such as hard hats, gloves and boots.
In the outlying suburb of Zimpeto, a Chinese contractor is building Mozambique's new national stadium. AIM has seen some workers here without even a pair of gloves, even though they are handling nails and other sharp implements. They have no appropriate footwear - just sandals or flip-flops bought with their own money.
Matsinhe argued that the authorities should take much stronger measures to impose safety condition on building sites. "Accidents are common in the building industry", he said. "In many cases, including this one of SB-Construcoes, its because of lack of care by the employers".
The IGT should step up inspections of building companies, Matsinhe insisted, so as to force them to implement adequate health and safety measures.
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