Once again workers have died in an accident that was wholly preventable. The deaths this week of two foreign laborers working on Jeddah’s new sewage system was, the authorities say, the direct result of safety regulations being ignored. That is outrageous and the announcement by the authorities that the contractors will be charged and punished will be welcome not only to all those who work in the construction trade but to anyone on the side of fair play and justice. The contractors must surely have known of the dangers involved in laying trenches in Jeddah’s sandy soil. This was not the first time that trench walls have collapsed with deadly consequences; three months ago, two other workers died in an almost identical trench accident in Jeddah; there were other similar fatalities last year. Such a cavalier attitude to the lives of expatriate workers is outrageous and inhumane. There has to be an end to it.
Lives are being thrown away as if worthless because contractors want to cut corners and costs — in this case by not shoring up trench walls. What makes this even more scandalous is that the costs of safety measures are invariably built into construction contracts — usually one percent of the total contract price. Into whose pockets is the money going if it is not being spent for what it was meant for?
There are plenty of safety regulations in this country. That is not the problem. The trouble is that they are not being enforced. That is at least partly because no one seems to know whose job it is. The municipalities say it is not their responsibility; ditto the police. It is not buck-passing; it is simply that no one body seems to have been given the job or if they have, they are not aware of it.
The fact that in this latest tragic case there will be a prosecution and penalties may make other contractors more careful in future. But that will not be enough. Companies will still try to cut corners, hoping nothing goes wrong. There will always be those out to pocket a slice of the contract for themselves. Safety regulations need to be rigorously enforced constantly through regular and unannounced inspections of building sites, but not just building sites. Safety at work should be an issue at all places of work. Municipalities are the logical authorities to carry this out. They are there on the spot. They know what is happening in their areas. Within every municipality, there should be a work safety officer, operating according to set guidelines that are the norms in most other countries.
All this and related issues certainly merit the authorities’ closest attention.
