LookAtVietnam – Hanoi’s investigators have finalized their one-month safety inspection of Korean group Keangnam’s construction site.

Keangnam towers.

Hanoi’s investigators have finalized their one-month safety inspection of Korean group Keangnam’s construction site. The Landmark Tower, will be Vietnam’s highest building was cited and will have to pay a 235 million dong fine (US$12,300).

Two days, three die at Vietnam’s highest building

The sixth death reported at Vietnam’s highest building

Hanoi inspects tower construction site following six deaths

The investigation was carried out after several labour accidents occurred at the site from July 2009 to February 2010, killing six and injuring three workers.

According to investigators, 24 sub-contractors and 50 other contractors, worked at this site at the time of investigation, besides the major contractor Keangnam Enterprises and the Vietnamese supervisor – the Vietnam Institute for Construction Technology. At that time, around 3500 people, including 198 foreigners, mainly Korean engineers, worked at the site each day.

Chief inspector Nguyen Thi Phuc said that the major contractor – Keangnam, didn’t fully obey Vietnamese rules on labour safeness and didn’t have enough staff to supervise labour quality. The contractor didn’t send periodical reports on labour accidents to Vietnamese agencies. Many serious accidents happened at this site were either reported late or not at all.

The Vietnamese consulter and supervisor, the Vietnam Institute for Construction Technology, also committed some mistakes, for example their supervisors didn’t have professional certificates.

Inspectors also said that most of sub-contractors didn’t have enough personal labour protection equipment for workers and didn’t submit periodical reports on labour accidents to the Hanoi Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Inspectors decided to levy 235 million dong fine on 15 contractors at the Keangnam construction site.

Chief inspector Nguyen Thi Phuc, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs was most concerned by the low percentage of trained workers used by sub-contractors (less than 30 percent). He says that this is the most common cause of occupational accidents.

Source: Lao Dong