A ONE-TONNE crane hook at a construction site fell and landed on a car, crushing the vehicle and killing the person in it, recently. This happened in the busy Jalan Raja Chulan during peak hours.
Then, there was the collapse of a bridge that was under construction in Penang, which also fell on a car and killed a person in it. The incident also occurred during peak hours.
A similar accident took place during the construction of the monorail in Kuala Lumpur. There are more such examples, but the ones given are sufficient to how the danger posed by construction work to those unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Once upon a time, prior to compulsory safety regulations at construction sites, workers were falling to their deaths from the upper floors of towers being built — not that fatal accidents involving workers have stopped now.
In February, two workers in the construction of the MRT1 were crushed to death when a section being built fell on them.
Why are these tragedies happening? Straightforward negligence on the part of the companies involved. In the crane incident, one cannot but assume that poor maintenance was the culprit. The cable holding the hook must surely be made of stainless steel. Unless there had been sabotage, it is difficult to imagine that any wear and tear had gone unnoticed if regular maintenance was conducted. Or, was there a lack of maintenance? After all, the culture of regular servicing to ensure the upkeep of equipment remains quite an alien concept in the country, be it at the worksite or home.
Therefore, for safety reasons, machinery that carry inherent dangers must be kept in good working condition while in use. This should be a legal obligation, where an accident automatically means that there had been negligence, making compensation to victims and fines a given, retribution must be immediate and more costly than maintenance.
That construction sites are disruptive is a given, and for the most part, Malaysians are a tolerant lot. However, when danger is extant, should not the authorities require companies to operate during quiet, off-peak hours, barring that roads are closed and the companies be made to pay for the detours that motorists have to take?
Instead, roads are often closed at random or in a haphazard manner by contractors, thus, inconveniencing motorists. Then, there is the spillover damage from construction sites, such as the destruction of road surfaces, resulting in an uneven surface and potholes, endangering the lives of motorists.
This happens all the time with impunity. Local authorities either do not have clauses in their contracts to prevent such damage from happening or turn a blind eye to the matter, ignoring their duty to the public they serve.
The blame for worksite accidents, fatal or otherwise, lies with the authorities. They make it possible for negligence to occur in the first place. They cannot pretend that a lack of monitoring on their part is not a dereliction of duty.
If the law is less than committed to ensuring public safety, then lawmakers must be taken to task. We cannot boast of becoming a high-income nation with a developed economy if the lives of citizens are treated as though they are not worth much.