Occupational and environmental health and safety campaigner and journalist Mick Holder says long delays in investigating a local workplace death are unacceptable
December marked two years since roofer Ekarmanjeet Singh’s death in Leytonstone and yet police are still investigating it along with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
This means a coroner’s inquest will not be held anytime soon. No-one is served well by what is going on. The family and friends of those killed at work should not have to wait years for resolution of their loved one’s case in the courts. I know it will be torture for many of them. And it does not serve society well.
Whilst the authorities have finally been forced to recognise the preventable nature of most “accidents” at work that kill, it is absolutely unacceptable for these cases to take so long to conclude.
If it is a resource problem, then it must be addressed. If it is a political problem, then it must be sorted out. If it is a laissez faire attitude towards cases such as these, management must prioritise this work and make sure cases are thoroughly investigated and decisions made promptly. And this must be done now.
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