COSATU condemns death threat against inspector

By Celeste Ganga
21 August 2007

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is outraged that the Department of Labour inspector, was threatened to death when he closed down a construction site due to a violation of the Health and Safety laws.

“It highlights the acute problem we have, particularly in the construction industry, of very poor standards of health and safety,” says COSATU National Spokesperson, Patrick Craven.

Craven explains that it’s essential that inspectors be given the right to examine all sites and to take action against anyone not complying with the laws, especially as we are approaching 2010.

“There are huge construction projects in 2010 with very tight deadlines. And employers may be tempted to take short cuts with safety," says Craven.

He adds that they insist that employers do not take these short-cuts; they should rather implement even stricter rules regarding safety.

“Just as we too want to meet our targets, it should not be at the expense of workers lives,” says Craven.

COSATU insists that the health and safety law should be fully implemented and when a site is closed down workers should receive full pay.

“Workers should not pay the price for their employers’ law breaking and lack of concern for their safety,” says Craven.