Press Statement dated 27 September 2018
The Public Servants Association (PSA) is dismayed at the level of unsafe working conditions employees are subjected to in government buildings. Delta House, the building housing Gauteng Department of Social Development employees caught fire this afternoon in Pretoria.
According to reports from employees who have alerted the PSA about this incident, an employee complained about the air-conditioner not working properly in their office and called maintenance who attended to the problem but only to return later to an office full of smoke. The Tshwane Municipality firefighters at the scene also confirmed that, the fire was caused by a faulty air-conditioner in one of the offices.
“The PSA demands that the employer deploys inspectors to the building and has immediately written to the Department of Labour to expedite the inspection of the building prior to employees returning to work. The PSA will address members outside the building on 28 September 2018 and expects the Department of Labour to be present to assure employees about the state of the building. The Tshwane emergency services could not assure that the incident will not occur again,” said PSA General Manager, Ivan Fredericks.
The PSA will also like to express its dismay at the management of Gauteng Social Development after they evacuated the building without alerting other employees or even making sure that workers are safe as there are no alarms in the building to warn employees of the danger. This just shows a lack of disregard to workers’ safety at all levels.
“Many departments are in contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and incidents such as this one and the deadly one that occurred at the Bank of Lisbon Building in Johannesburg will not be the last,” said Mr Fredericks.
Issued by Ivan Fredericks, General Manager, Public Servants Association (PSA)