New safety regulations close to implementation

NEW regulations aimed at improving safety on building sites are now close to implementation, Parliament has been told — just days after four workers were injured in an accident.

The four men were partially buried under rubble and scaffolding when the concrete “skeleton” of a five-star hotel collapsed while under construction at Mackenzie’s Beach, İskele, last Saturday.

Firefighters were called to help rescue Medeni Akbal, 30, Dursun Bolat, 37, Cemal Kayaş, 36, and Cemal Ügey, 40. Mr Ügey, from Ordu, in Turey, suffered a broken hip and was the only one to be seriously injured, according to reports.

Labour and Social Security Minister Zeki Çeler, who went to the scene on hearing of the collapse, and said the four had managed to escape with their lives because shuttering supporting the concrete structure had “collapsed slowly”, enabling them to avoid much of the falling debris.

Mr Çeler said all construction work on the site had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.

Police said that the building collapse occurred as the men were laying concrete on the ground floor of the partially built structure at around 2.30pm.

On Tuesday, Mr Çeler and Interior Minister Ayşegül Baybars Kadri told MPs they were working on new regulations to provide increased safety on building sites.

“We set up a crisis desk on February 7 to react immediately to workplace accidents,” said Mr Çeler, adding that draft regulations, which had been revised, would soon be implemented.

Mr Çeler hit back at political opponents and some trades unions which accused him of merely “putting on a show”, insisting he was “on the side of” those injured in accidents like last Saturday’s.

In her parliamentary address, Mrs Kadri stressed the importance of regular and effective inspections of building sites to enforce the new regulations.