We received the following report from a Reader:
On May 6, 2022, renovation work was being carried out at the MAIN POST OFFICE in BOLESŁAWIEC. The construction workers there were not following any safety rules.
And he listed several of them:
- There was no safety-zone barrier during work on the scaffolding or during work on the roof. [...] At one point, materials were thrown from the roof and landed on the sidewalk outside the construction site.
- I asked the workers why the area was not cordoned off and why they were throwing the materials down—there was no rubbish chute for vertically transporting construction waste. [...] Nor were lightweight objects secured.
- All the workers were working without helmets or high-visibility vests.
- The questionable placement of the scaffolding on the ground is also puzzling. I mean the foundation supports—I have the impression that calculations of the ground’s load-bearing capacity were made using these approximately 25–30 cm-long “slats” placed at isolated points.
- The number of anchors securing the scaffolding to the building, especially with protective netting in use, is also questionable.
- The workers were working on the roof without protection—without safety harnesses.
He also commented: “This is just my personal musing: do these people care only about profit and hold safety in contempt? When I asked them whether they had thought about what would have happened if a mother with a child had been walking by at that moment and the falling objects had happened to hit the child... The workers claimed that when they were throwing the materials down, the wind simply blew and carried them away.”
And he emphasized that such behavior was reprehensible.
We asked, among others, the District Building Supervision Inspectorate in Bolesławiec and Poczta Polska about the matter. Janusz Rejowski, Building Supervision Inspector:
The District Building Supervision Inspectorate received no report of irregularities. The work site has not been inspected. An inspection is planned.
He added: – The assessment of the consequences for those responsible for the renovation work will be determined after the inspection activities have been completed.
Press Office of Poczta Polska S.A.:
The construction work at the Bolesławiec post office, including corrections, has been completed, and the site has already been cleaned up.
The comments regarding how the work was carried out—reported to the Editorial Office and passed on to our company through you—were submitted to the owner of the external company with which Poczta Polska signed a contract.
The construction manager supervising the proper execution of the work was also informed of the objections received by the Poczta Polska inspector supervising the work, so that they could be verified.