A Labor and Social Security inspector made a visit last April to the Arrecife construction site where two people died this Monday. In that inspection, no breaches were observed in terms of security, despite the fact that former workers claim they were continuous.
The eight workers of the company Marlape, the main construction company of the project, went on strike on April 6 of this year. In the letter sent to the General Directorate of Labor of the province of Las Palmas, they argued as one of the reasons for the strike the "breach of security and health at work."
Subsequently, on April 20, seven days after the strike began, a complaint is sent to the Labor Inspection in which it is revealed that the construction companies Marlape and Piunca (belonging to the same people) hired self-employed workers to replace the strikers, which is not allowed.
The visit of the inspector and the sub-inspector takes place on April 24. According to a report from May 13, the Inspection does not confirm what was stated in the complaint, that is, the hiring of self-employed workers by those companies. However, no mention is made of safety on the construction site. According to the complainant, Carlos Alberto Aguilar, who was later fired, "the breaches of security were constant."
Aguilar points out that the inspector passed under a scaffolding where there was a worker without a helmet and did not even record it in his report. The former worker also states that the inspector was on the construction site for one hour and another hour in the construction company's office.
The former workers claim that new helmets were not purchased on the construction site and that the ones that existed were barely used. They point out that harnesses were also not used and that no one demanded compliance with security measures. In addition, they state that many of the workers were performing jobs for which they were not qualified and that the lower area occupied by the crane had not been fenced off either (not the elevator in which the accident occurred), with the risk that this entails.
ACN Press
