Construction workers stopped work
Carslberg Byen:
Danish and foreign workers would no longer perform work that they considered dangerous.
A group of about 40 Danish and foreign construction workers from various trades have had a conflict with their employer on a construction project in Carlsberg City in Copenhagen.
The construction workers accuse the employers Hillock (Construcciones Otero), Nobleza and CARLOS MALLOR of exposing them to serious health risks and not informing them of a dangerous product (with epoxy isocyanates) they have been working with.
- We've been lied to. They have withheld crucial information for us. Things they have known for six months are only now coming to light, says Christian Sørensen, of the masonry work crew.
Colleagues stopped working
A colleague has been affected by skin rashes and this has created further nervousness. Finally the group of employees from several different companies at the construction site stopped working on tuesday 29. oktober:
- We received an email on Monday stating that there is being worked with toxic products. People have been working in the fumes and grinding dust for six months without knowing it was dangerous, says Claus Christophersen, health and safety representative for the masonry workers at the site.
The 40 employees, which comprise several national groups, refuse to work indoors before the area has been cleaned of isocyanates. Isocyanates can, among other things, cause eczema and allergic asthma, and several isocyanates are suspected of causing cancer and are on the Labor Inspectorate's cancer list.
Read about when you have to stop work
Security Coordinator rejects all accusations
The developer of the project in Carlsberg City is the company Aire Ancient Baths Copenhagen.
The firm hired the consulting firm R + Consulting to provide security for the construction site, but the safety coordinator at the construction site, Ricardo Labarca, does not believe he could have acted differently:
- It was me who took the initiative to stop the use of a product that was not used in accordance with Danish rules. I had been told by a subcontractor that there was no prohibited substance in the product, which is why the miser arises, he says.
Ricardo Labarca acknowledges that he has known about the substances for 4-6 months, but not that it posed a safety problem:
- We have said that you must comply with Danish law, and this means that you must follow certain procedures. When I discover that the rules are not being complied with, I stop work. But I have no other authority over the subcontractor than to stop illegal work, and I have done that, explains Ricardo Labarca.
He rejects all accusations of not sticking to the truth:
- It is the Spanish subcontractor who has lied. He also lied to me, he says.
(It was CARLOS MALLOR that was in charge of the work with toxic substances, and it was the company Nobleza that supplied the workers doing the work.)
Based on https://www.a4arbejdsmiljoe.dk Oct 30.