Too many mistakes in one accident

According to the indictment of the People’s Procuracy of Nghe An province, the accident of the cage hoist falling freely from the 5th floor to the ground, causing 11 casualties, had many causes, but one of the important causes was the mistakes in the construction equipment. accreditation. Accordingly, before being put into use, the cage hoist was assigned to Nguyen Quynh Nam (42 years old) as a partner by the Southern Technical Safety Inspection One Member Co., Ltd., led by Nguyen Le Khanh (46 years old) as a director. inspection officer. Investigations by the authorities show that Nam has no technical training and is not an inspector. More seriously, the Southern Safety Technical Inspection One Member Co., Ltd. does not have the authority to inspect the type of construction hoist.

Construction work of Nghe An Department of Finance, where the hoist crash happened. Photo: Thanh Ngan

According to the analysis of the authorities on the cause of the accident, due to lack of expertise, Nam could not detect the anti-fall brake assembly of this hoist has expired according to the manufacturer’s regulations, so it has no effect. brake the cabin. Another cause of the accident was stated that when it was newly installed, according to the certificate of the hoist, the height of the test result was 15m, but 2 months later, the hoist was raised to the 9th floor of the building (equivalent to the height of the building). equivalent to 34.74m).

From the fact that the inspection unit does the work that is not authorized to inspect the cage hoist equipment, the inspection staff is not an inspector, has no technical expertise, and the inspection hire unit is irresponsible. responsibility, the unit using the hoist negligently in the appraisal of equipment records, inspection records… has led to very serious consequences.

The law is clear, why still violate?

According to regulations, hoists used in construction are on the list of machines, equipment and materials with strict requirements on occupational safety issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and under the management authority of the Ministry of Construction. build. The installation, testing and use of hoists are specifically regulated by many legal documents and by-laws. In the case of a hoist accident in Nghe An, the user unit and the inspection unit seriously violated regulations on occupational safety. The unit using the inspection service did not check the documents carefully, hired an incompetent unit to inspect the cage hoist equipment, did not check the inspector’s certificate of the inspection officer so that one person could not technically trained, not an accreditor.

Overview of the court on January 21, 2022 at the first instance trial of the helicopter crash in Nghe An. Photo: Hoang Lam

A state management officer in the field of occupational safety shared that the conditions for units operating in technical inspection of occupational safety, and the standards of inspectors are very clearly specified in Article 9 of Decree No. : 44/2016/ND-CP. For hoists, Circular No. 29/2016/TT-BXD dated December 29, 2016 promulgates the safety technical inspection process with a section for hoist machines. In order to choose the “standard” accrediting unit and accrediting officer, the unit using the inspection service can fully check the necessary documents for the accrediting unit and accrediting officer. At the same time, it is completely possible to supervise the inspection process according to state documents.

To prevent similar tragic accidents

The socialization of inspection, on the one hand, both meets the needs of the elevator market and helps people have many choices of service providers. But the downside is the unfair competition, the quality of the testing units is uneven, some units are established in a patchwork, asynchronous fashion. Also due to patchwork, hiring inspectors instead of having a team of organic experts, the quality of inspection at some units has decreased significantly. The use of inspection technicians who are not qualified for inspection also raises alarm bells about the training, supervision and quality inspection of inspectors and accrediting units.

The law stipulates that the employer has the obligation to ensure occupational safety and hygiene at the workplace, pay insurance for occupational accidents and diseases for employees, etc. If an occupational accident occurs due to If the employer violates the provisions of the law on occupational safety and health, depending on the seriousness of the case, the employer’s behavior may be administratively sanctioned or prosecuted. criminal liability.

Regarding sanctions for violating units and individuals, Clause 97, Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH1397, amending and supplementing Article 295, Anyone who violates regulations on occupational safety, occupational hygiene and safety in crowded places and causes damage to others, depending on the extent of the damage, shall be subject to a fine, reformation or imprisonment from 1 year. up to 12 years…” If only the provisions and sanctions of the law were respected and strictly followed, serious accidents would be greatly reduced, such as the hoist accident in Nghe An recently. via.

As a result of the above violations, the director of the inspection unit and the inspection staff were caught in a labor cycle, and the director of the unit using the equipment was also sentenced to first-instance sentences of 3 years of suspended prison. The first instance trial has ended, the court has sentenced the offenders. These people will have time to repent and correct their actions, but the pain of the families of the 3 workers who lost their lives, the other 8 who were seriously injured with a lifelong illness remains. there, just because of someone else’s negligence that could have been prevented! Many people believe that measures to strengthen supervision and inspection of the implementation of regulations on occupational safety, strictly control the records of the establishment of accrediting units and the records of accrediting officers, regularly disseminate knowledge on occupational safety… will help reduce similar accidents…

To contribute to sharing useful information and supporting users of elevators, escalators, hoists, etc., Vietnam Elevator Association and Elevator Magazine are ready to receive and listen to relevant comments. to the work of installation, maintenance, maintenance, repair, inspection, rescue, … as a bridge between people, businesses and management agencies, functional agencies. Individuals and organizations, please contact Vietnam Elevator Association Hotline and Elevator Magazine – Phone number: 02473099868; Email: contact@vnea.com.vn or contact@tapchithangmay.vn