ASSOCIATIONS
Alarmingly high accident
rate on site – MBAWC
With almost 8 000 accidents reported nationally on site in 2017,
MBAWC’s Deon Bester says these figures are unacceptably high.
By Ntsako Nkosa
Health and safety on construction sites should be a huge concern to all parties involved.
A
ccording to recent statistics from
the Federated Employer’s Mutual
Assurance Company (FEM), a
provider of workmen’s compensation
insurance to employers in the construction
industry, 7 560 accidents were recorded in
2017, of which 69 were fatal and 1 010
people were left disabled.
FEM also highlights that close to
R250-million went towards accidents on
site in the same year.
“We should strive for zero fatalities and
zero harm. Education can go a long way
towards eliminating accidents and
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OCTOBER 2018
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achieving this target,” says Deon Bester,
occupational health and safety manager at
the Master Builders Association of the
Western Cape (MBAWC).
Bester says that the high number of
accidents are caused by several factors, in
particular the lack of a safety cult