One in two labour fatalities result of falling from height

One in two labour fatalities result from a fall from a height, the Cyprus News Agency reported on Friday, a day after a 66-year-old man was killed after falling while repairing a building in Strovolos.

Citing sources from the government’s labour inspection unit, the news agency said falls usually account for 30 per cent of all industrial accidents and 50 per cent of fatalities.

Two labour fatalities have already been recorded in Cyprus since the start of the year. The first occurred in the Famagusta district on January 5 and involved a 32-year-old Bulgarian painter who fell from the first-floor balcony of a building that is under construction and where there was no railing.

The source said that the accident is still under investigation.

The second accident involved a self-employed plumber who was repairing a solar heater and fell some three metres. The source said that there were exterior stairs on the 10 metre building from which the worker appeared to have fallen when descending.

The building was constructed in 1975 and in 2002 there is a provision in the law that in designing a building, there must be safe access to the roof, particularly if there is equipment there, the source added. If there is an external stair, then there should be a safety rail.