Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Labor has imposed fines of only 1.5 million NIS on contractors.
The enforcement of penalties for safety risks on construction sites has been one of the Ministry of Labor’s great hopes to reduce worker mortality, but on the contrary, in the meantime, the incidence of accidents has increased at an alarming rate.
Since the beginning of the year, the law has allowed for such fines, resulting in the deaths of 28 workers and two passersby, compared to 22 workers during the same period last year.
This will certainly not contribute to reducing this phenomenon; the policy that the Ministry of Labor applies to construction companies proves to be too lenient…
The Ministry of Labor has imposed fines of only 1.5 million NIS on contractors whose construction sites present safety flaws, according to figures published by the ministry in January and August. This contrasts with the statement made by the Minister of Labor, Haim Katz, in March, that the amount of sanctions would reach 44 million NIS.
Furthermore, at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Labor indicated that a quarter of the companies had received a fine of 100,000 NIS or more, but the report published today shows that only two companies were fined 100,000 NIS.
Mahamid Tawfiq, fined 125,000 NIS, and Gazit Engineering, which received a fine of 105,000 NIS.
It has also been found that various construction companies have been fined much lower amounts than those reported by the Ministry of Labor before the publication of the report or that they had not been fined at all. For example, in the name of Victor Greiev, the Ministry of Labor stated that he had been fined 160,000 NIS, but he is not even among the companies that were fined. The same goes for Shaul Ezra and Ortam Sahar.
Regarding the Estra group, the Ministry of Labor stated that it had been fined 141,000 shekels, but in practice, it only paid 35,000 shekels. According to YH Holdings, the ministry stated that it had been fined 126,000 shekels, but in practice, only 55,000 shekels were reported.
How are the discrepancies accounted for, reflecting a 96% reduction in fines? Contractors have had the opportunity to appeal the fine if they corrected the safety defects, and according to estimates, the vast majority of companies have appealed, thus canceling the debts. The procedure allows the contractor to file an appeal within 30 days from the date of receipt of the fine and, after clarification, to decide whether they should bear a fine.
Sources in organizations working to reduce accidents in the construction industry claim that the Ministry of Labor is dragging its feet and promoting a hesitant policy, which encourages contractors to continue their safety failures.
[fusion_button link=”https://fr.isra.land/get-quote/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_self” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”default” button_gradient_top_color=”” button_gradient_bottom_color=”” button_gradient_top_color_hover=”” button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”” accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_width=”” size=”” stretch=”default” shape=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]subscribe to the newsletter[/fusion_button]
