A CIRCUS

There is plenty of material for this article - workers without insurance jump from one level of metal scaffolding, installed for restoration work on ornamental buildings, to another without even watching their step. You sit in your flat or office and suddenly see through the fifth-storey window a man sitting on a bar, eating a bun and drinking juice. Then, after a short cigarette break, you see workers "climbing" and lifting weights which, according to the laws of physics, overload the human body and this takes your breath away. The situation is no better on the construction sites of high-rise buildings. It is well-known that during restoration and construction work, companies engaged in this business do not provide their workers with even basic equipment - hard hats and safety belts, not to mention other safety devices. Of course, construction work entails great risk. We regularly hear of tragedies at numerous construction sites in Baku, there are no official statistics and it is no secret that most industrial injuries and tragedies are passed over in silence by the construction companies themselves, which is possible due to the lack of official contracts for staff.

Employers in violation

One of the main causes of the rise in the number of accidents on construction sites is a situation in which builders have no rights. For fear of losing their jobs, workers are forced to reconcile themselves to risks to life and health. Moreover, the number of unprofessional amateurs in this sector has increased recently and they are totally unfamiliar with rules of safety. We can see with the naked eye that safety measures are not enforced at most construction sites. Buildings are built incredibly quickly and, in their haste, construction companies often ignore all norms and rules. Deadly stunts by people bustling about on the edge of a high-rise building are not easy to watch. Unfortunately, workers file complaints about violations of their labour rights only after they leave their job. They are too afraid of losing their jobs, says the State Labour Inspectorate (SLI) of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The SLI is now doing everything possible to reduce the number of violations of workers' rights. What is more, after changes to the Azerbaijani Code of Administrative Offences, a decision has been made to increase the penalties for various violations of the Labour Code.

Specifically, officials will be fined from 3,000 to 5,000 manats and legal entities - from 20,000 to 25,000 manats - for failure to provide an employment agreement (contract) between an employer and a private individual. For violating the rules of appraisal procedures, enterprises, departments and organizations (depending on their civil and organizational/legal form) will be fined between 700 and 1,200 manats. If the wages of employees are below the level of the minimum salary, officials will be fined from 1,000 to 1,500 manats. For violating the rules concerning the registration of an employee's service record, officials will be fined from 500 to 1,000 manats. The penalty might be from 30,000 to 35,000 manats if a company employs foreign citizens or stateless persons without an individual permit.

The SLI said that the changes to the code were made according to the 7 December 2007 decree issued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "On amendments and addenda to the Code of Administrative Offences". The proposal to toughen penalties imposed on employers came from the president following the collapse of a new building in Baku. However, workers are still dying at construction sites, however sad this is. According to the SLI, since the beginning of this year, there have been 126 accidents at work and, as a result, 21 people were killed. Eight workers died at construction sites due to failure to observe safety rules. Many of them fell from height.

Not really amusing statistics

"As we can see, an employer bears the responsibility to observe labour legislation and workers' rights. Checks are carried out on a regular basis and, in this way, we manage to reduce the number of accidents at industrial and construction facilities. Since the beginning of this year, the SLI has checked 638 enterprises, of which 255 belong to the state and 383 are private. During this time, compensation to a total of 17,309 manats has been paid for violations of labour rights." An inspector from the Labour Ministry, Safar Muradov, said that in the first six months of 2008 alone, employers were given more than 450 warnings. "Most of our remarks were accepted and now they are enforcing the norms of labour protection," he said. For the time being, thorough checks at construction facilities are carried out only in the capital. But Labour Ministry inspectors promise that, in the near future, the geographical scope of their activities will expand considerably. Their plan is to check about 1,000 construction sites in the regions.

A spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry, Orucali Haciyev, said that due to frequent deaths of workers and gross violations in Baku, control over the work of construction companies has long been tightened. "Elementary safety norms are not observed at more than 70 per cent of construction sites. According to statistics, during last year and the beginning of this year alone, about 70 workers died as a result of accidents on construction sites. Workers do not wear hard hats, they work at heights without safety belts and most of them have no medical certificates or special training. In order to make some money, students and even old people come here. Businessmen get a cheap work force and they endanger the lives of citizens in their pursuit of money," he said.

However, some accidents can be blamed on workers themselves, as they do not realize that safety is the most important factor at a construction site. Builders should understand clearly that, without a hard hat and safety belt, it is better to keep off a construction site. "It is not possible to look after each worker separately. We must understand that our safety is in our own hands," a worker told R+ in an interview. However, another worker, carrying out restoration work outside the Icari Sahar metro station, observed that his employer refused to give him special overalls, saying that he did not have the money for them.

Construction experts believe that penalties for employers' failure to observe safety norms should be even more imposing. It is necessary to adopt a law that would make it economically beneficial to an employer to deal with labour protection issues rather than pay out large amounts of money for his mistakes.