"Construction workers call for safety measures from ministry", 29 April 2019

An estimated 200 members of construction sector unions gathered in front of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training on the World Day for Safety and Health at Work … to deliver petitions asking for issues facing construction workers to be addressed.

Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia (BWTUC) president Sok Kin, while delivering petitions to the ministry …, said Cambodian construction workers were facing many health and safety issues at work, with some losing their lives and others being disabled.

Kin said a lack of legal protection in the workplace was a principal factor in such incidents…

Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union president Ath Thorn said at the gathering … that protection for the Kingdom’s construction workers was still poor. Construction workers faced greater risks than employees in other sectors, including factories.

“Construction workers are vulnerable – some employers do not employ enough safety standards… I’ve have asked workers . . . and a great deal of them do not have legal protection. There are a lot of potential hazards for construction workers,” Thorn said…

Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training spokesman Heng Sour told … that the ministry had received the unions’ petitions and was currently in discussions with involved parties to address the issues raised.

“The ministry held a forum with the unions …, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), to study [and] find solutions to challenges in the construction sector,” he said.

According to union leaders, there are more than 200,000 construction workers in the Kingdom, with only 10 per cent receiving state protection…