Four workers had lost their lives just a few days earlier, on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, as they slipped and fell several floors without wearing safety harnesses.

The harnesses are required by law for workers working at heights two meters and above.

The three injured on Monday, technicians Le Thanh Tung and Nguyen Duc Liem and worker Nguyen Van Mo, were rushed to the Viet Duc and E hospitals, where they were found to have sustained slight injuries. The workers returned to work Tuesday morning, said the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Officials from the Hanoi Construction Department later visited the site and said work must be stopped again, at least until the reasons for the accidents are clearly established, the Vietnam News Agency reported Tuesday.

Inspectors from the two departments have been checking the operation of machines at the tower in Tu Liem District, and had asked the investor and contractors to guarantee safety at the site.

“When workers and site managers are not well-trained, the more modern tools are used, the higher the risk of labor accidents,” Bui Van Chieu, deputy director of the Construction Department, told Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Inspector Nguyen Xuan Ky of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said it was not just that workers at the site lacked safety harnesses but the site itself lacked nets surrounding the high rise.

Ky described the series of accidents as “alarming” and requested construction workers and managers across the city to initiate safety measures to prevent similar cases from recurring.

As of Tuesday, South Korean Keangnam Corporation, the main investor in the project, refused to comment on the accidents.

Work on the 70-floor tower, slated to be the highest building in Vietnam upon completion in Tu Liem District, started in 2007.

The tower, planned to house hotels, offices and high-end apartments, includes a 48-floor tower, 15 of which have been built, and a 70-floor high-rise of which the sixth floor is being built.

Earlier on July 14, a construction worker fell to his death from the 22nd floor of a high rise in Hoan Kiem District. On March 25, Tran Van Kien fell from the fourth floor of a building in Cau Giay District, and succumbed to injuries later, the newswire VnExpress reported.

Construction investors these days tend to save costs by limiting as many safety measures as they can, said inspector Ky, adding that Vietnamese laws do not state how much should be invested in safety, which in other countries is between 1 to 3 percent of the building cost.

Accidents at construction sites over the first half of this year accounted for nearly 60 percent of labor accidents in Hanoi, said the city Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Construction site accidents have killed seven in the city this month, while 13 were reported killed in other labor accidents.

According to the Construction Ministry, the number of investors with construction licenses has jumped by 6.2 percent year-on-year to 92 percent of the total. Meanwhile, 2.3 percent of the buildings have been reported to violate parameters stated in their licenses, down from 3.9 percent year-on-year.

Source: TN, Agencies