The Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee approved on Wednesday, June 10, an ordinance that will allow fining contractors for safety failures found at their construction sites. The maximum sum of such fines would be NIS 35,280 (approximately $10,000). CEOs of construction companies that fail to correct safety deficiencies will be personally fined up to NIS 9,000.

According to the Group against Construction Accidents, 12 construction workers have died since the beginning of 2017, while a total of 48 died during 2016. The head of the group, Attorney Hadas Tagari, told The Jerusalem Post that approving this measure is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go. “This ordinance will give the inspectors an additional tool to combat this phenomenon,” she said. “But there is a major lack of manpower; only 19 inspectors are overseeing some 12,000 construction work sites.”

Four workers were injured in a construction site accident on June 1 in Ganei Tikva. (Photo: Group against Construction Accidents)

Tagari added that moving the responsibility for construction inspectors from the Economics Ministry to the Labor and Social Services Ministry, a change which took place last year, impaired the efficacy of such supervision. “We expect Minster Haim Katz [who heads up the Social Services Ministry] to use his power, like he does with other issues, and to remedy the problems that arose following this move,” she said.

Hadash MK Dov Khenin (Joint List) said the ordinance is welcome, but it comes after a long period in which the neo-liberal far-right government neglected construction workers. “This has led to dozens of deaths every year,” said Khenin, who added that many more steps should be taken to make the “supervision effective including receiving more funding.”