Labour inspector attacked for halting building works

A LIMASSOL Labour Inspector was yesterday attacked by a construction site’s owners for telling them they’d have to suspend operations as they’d failed safety standards.

“Today, he had visited the specific site to investigate whether the measures he had pointed out during his first visit had been taken,” a spokesman for the Limassol Labour Inspection Department told the CyBC last night. “He noticed that the measures had not been taken and so he decided to issue a banning order, meaning to stop works.”

After examining the site, the inspector told the owners that he had spotted in many cases very serious violations of health and safety regulations.

This he said was something he could not overlook and had no choice but to issue a second referral, which would oblige them to suspend works.

Furious, the site owners attacked him, putting him in hospital with slight injuries to the face.

“While he was filling in the banning order, he felt a strike on the face and stopped,” said the spokesman. “He then called the Department’s District Officer who took him to A and E.”

The Labour Ministry, trade unions and police were all informed on the incident, while the latter are still investigating the case.

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