THE SAFETY of employees working in closed and confined spaces came under the spotlight at a forum organised by the Labour and Social Development Ministry yesterday.
Forty employer representatives from the construction and contracting sector attended the workshop titled ‘Towards Safe Confined Spaces’, held at the ministry’s Zayed Town complex.
The session facilitated by Labour and Social Development Ministry acting director for inspection and safety directorate Mustafa Al Shaikh focussed at strengthening the principles of safety from occupational accidents at worksites.
“Through this specialised event, the ministry aims to raise awareness among the contractors so that they ensure preventive measures against worksite occupational accidents,” said Ministry’s Labour Affairs Assistant Under-Secretary Ahmed Al Hayki.
“The ministry sees this as very important – spreading awareness – especially among contractors and workers in the construction sector, road projects, sanitation and special projects, to ensure that there is no recurrence of worksite accidents in confined spaces.”
The GDN earlier reported on two tragic incidents involving sanitation workers who died while carrying out maintenance work in manholes.
Last month Aslam Mondol, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi, was carried away in a deluge after a pipe burst while he was working at a depth of less than three metres in Muharraq.
In November last year three sanitation workers suffocated to death in a sewerage tunnel on Budaiya Highway. Debasis Sahoo, 30, Rakesh Kumar Yadav, 31, and Mohammed Tousif Khan, 32, inhaled a high concentration of toxic methane gas while working down a manhole.
“The occurrence of accidents in workplaces with limited space is unfortunate and the workshop introduced participants to the legal and technical requirements for working in confined or closed spaces,” said Mr Al Hayki.
“Additionally, the session also discussed many other scenarios of occupational accidents and the necessary safety requirements to be taken to work in these locations.
“All of these contribute in enhancing the degree of professional awareness among both employers and workers.
“The importance of applying these standards, in co-operation with the relevant authorities will help us reduce occupational accidents at worksites – which is a collective effort.”
The GDN reported earlier this year that worksite accidents in Bahrain’s public and private sectors surged by more than 150 per cent between the first and last quarters of last year, according to the statistics compiled by the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO). It showed 870 work injuries reported among citizens and expats in Q4 2020, up from 345 in Q1 2020.
The rise showed a steady trend, with 501 cases in Q2 and 688 in Q3.
The leading cause of injuries in Q4 2020 was ‘slip or fall’, with 60 cases involving Bahrainis, and 50 cases involving expatriates.
This is higher compared with same period in the first quarter under the same category, with 25 cases recorded among Bahrainis and 22 among expats.
Other causes of injuries included collision with moving machinery (46 cases), injured by falling objects (76), and falling from height (45).
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