Investigative Committee completes probe into worker’s death at Brest construction site

According to investigators, a 44-year-old worker died last November in Brest while a facade of a five-storey building was being finished. Plasterers were working in a construction cradle, and the hoist tilted because of overloading. The brackets with counterweights installed on the roof broke loose and fell onto the man, who was on the ground. He died at the scene.

Injuries on construction sites are not a new topic for the Belarusian industry. According to 2023 data, overall injuries in construction rose by 8%, and fatal injuries by 20%. In January 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Ministry of Architecture and Construction carried out an analysis. The occupational safety rules for construction work were approved by a joint resolution of the two ministries in May 2019.

According to investigators, the person in charge of organising construction activity at the site was a 50-year-old site foreman. Investigators say he committed a number of critical violations that led to the tragedy.

In the investigators' wording, this amounts to negligent and improper performance of official duties: the foreman ensured neither the safety of the construction work nor safe working conditions. The hoist collapsed together with two workers, the brackets, the counterweights and construction materials. The counterweights fell on the plasterer, who was in the platform's hazardous operating zone.

The Brest Interdistrict Department of the Investigative Committee has completed its investigation and established the circumstances of the worker's death. The crew was finishing the facade of a five-storey building. Two men were in the cradle at fourth-floor level, while their 44-year-old colleague was working below, by the wall.

It is not yet known which specific violations the expert examinations recorded or when the case will reach court.