Malta needs a name-and-shame system to filter out the cowboys of the islands’ dangrous construction industry. This is what David Xuereb, Chairman of the Occupational Health and Safety Organisation (OHSA), urged in today’s sitting of the public inquiry into Jean Paul Sofia’s death.

The construction industry was described by Xuereb as a “patient who is ill” and that a “name and shame” system will help determine the serious people in the industry from those who dismiss all the rules.

The latter, he stressed, “should be stripped of their license and told to go work elsewhere rather than cause a danger to others”.

Five months after the Kordin collapse that killed 20-year-old Jean Paul Sofia, a white paper was issued for reforms with the OHSA. Xuereb said that no was pushed the white paper onto him, but felt that the issues within the industry were grave enough to need a rehaul.

“We need to see a transformation. We need to go for the highest standards. Our industry does not only disrespect workers but also passersby and especially neighbours,” he explained, comparing the worrying situation on the islands to the efficiency of construction on Oxford Street in London.

“The best culture I know is the one I lived and worked at. Transposing that model to Malta is my aim.”

The CEO also admitted that while 4,000 inspections on sites took place last year, this was just a “drop in the ocean.”

Malta’s construction industry is by far the deadliest sector to work in the country, with 90% of work-related deaths happening within the sector.

To add insult to injury, a recent report by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and PILN confirmed that out of 49 cases of construction deaths between 2010 and 2022, just five saw court action taken.

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