Developer may face police complaint over accident
Play
The Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) is planning to file a police complaint against Italian-Thai Development (ITD) for failing to submit a construction-site safety plan to the Samut Prakan DLPW Office, Panich Chitchang, head of the depar
ITD was in charge of the construction of a building that partially collapsed in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district last month, killing 10 workers and injuring 16 others. The building was part of a Bt10-billion project to construct Ramathibodi Hospital’s new medical institute.
The Labour Ministry requires that a construction project worth more than Bt300 million submit a safety plan along with employment contracts to the provincial office so an occupational-safety officer can be assigned to the project. Panich said the safety officer in this case would also be asked if he advised the employer to submit such a plan and if not, why not.
After the tragedy, the DLPW says it will improve standards for occupational safety officers nationwide. Ministerial regulation under the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Act 2011 will establish quality criteria and punishments for officers, including reducing the term of their licences to five years from life-long at present.
