Another accident, once again a Messina Servizi vehicle involved while engaged in the door-to-door collection service. This morning, in the Rodia area, a vehicle with two operators on board overturned while traveling down a slope. An episode which, beyond the immediate consequences, forcefully raises an issue that as a trade union organization we have been denouncing for some time: the safety of workers cannot be entrusted to luck. The two operators involved in the accident suffered minor injuries.
The words of the trade unionists
“We cannot continue to wait for something irreparable to happen before intervening – declare Antonino Di Mento, general secretary of UILTrasporti Messina, and Nunzio Arena, RSU -. For some time we have been reporting the critical issues linked to the vehicles, some of which are old and dated, and to the door-to-door routes. Today we have had yet another demonstration that the problem is real and can no longer be underestimated”.
UILTrasporti and the RSU ask for the immediate suspension and verification of all routes deemed unsuitable or dangerous for company vehicles, with particular reference to village roads, descents and sections characterized by steep slopes or conditions that may compromise the safety of the vehicle.
“It is not acceptable that an operator should find himself driving a company vehicle on a road which, due to its characteristics and conditions, is not suitable for the vehicle he is driving – continue Di Mento and Arena -. Safety comes first, then everything else. If a route is not safe, that route must be modified”.
At the same time, the union asks the company to carry out an extraordinary and comprehensive check of the fleet, ensuring the actual efficiency and safety of the vehicles used daily by the operators.
“Workers are not numbers. Every day they get on those vehicles and travel the streets of our city to guarantee an essential service. We cannot only remember about safety after an accident.” UILTrasporti therefore requests an urgent meeting with Messina Servizi and demands concrete answers on the checks carried out on the vehicles, the maintenance planning and the criteria used to identify the door-to-door service routes. “We don’t want to have to talk about an even more serious accident tomorrow. We don’t want to wait for someone to die to realize that something isn’t working. We ask for immediate and concrete interventions. Safety at work cannot be discussed and cannot be postponed.”
UILTrasporti Messina and the RSU will continue to monitor the situation and reserve the right to implement all trade union initiatives necessary to protect the health and safety of operators.
The representatives of the FP CGIL of Messina, Antonio Trino, Carmelo Pino and Saro Scudellà, spoke with a joint note.
«Yet another accident involving environmental hygiene workers during the completion of their duty shift once again puts the spotlight on the essential issues of protecting health and safety in the workplace», declare Trino, Pino and Scudellà. «First of all, we express our total closeness and solidarity to the two operators involved, wishing them a speedy and complete recovery».
«What happened along the roads of Rodia – continue the managers of FP CGIL – demonstrates once again how the critical road conditions of the villages and the hilly and coastal areas of the city represent a constant risk factor for those who work daily in the area. It is essential to immediately and fully shed light on the causes that led to the loss of control of the vehicle.”
The FP CGIL therefore urges the governance of Messina Servizi Bene Comune and the competent institutions to initiate timely and in-depth checks that go in two priority directions:
1. *The state of efficiency, maintenance and suitability of the fleet of vehicles* used on the most demanding or steeply sloping routes;
2. *Mapping of risks linked to city and peripheral roads*, to ensure that collection routes are always carried out in conditions of maximum safety for staff and citizens.
«We cannot and must not intervene only after the fact. Safety in the workplace must be a preventative and non-negotiable priority. We are awaiting urgent feedback from the competent parties and are ready to adopt all the necessary initiatives to protect the safety of workers”, conclude Antonio Trino, Carmelo Pino and Saro Scudellà.
The words of Fit Cisl and Rsu.
For Fit Cisl and the RSU of Messina Servizi it is no longer possible to talk about simple isolated episodes. Already last August 7, the trade union organizations had formally asked the company to open a discussion on safety.
«That request was not followed up – underlines the provincial secretary Letterio D’Amico -. For this reason we involved the supervisory bodies and sent a dossier on safety, putting in black and white the critical issues reported by the workers”.
«Safety comes before service»
«Today we are forced to reiterate what has already been reported – declare the general secretary of the CISL Messina Antonino Alibrandi, the provincial secretary of the Fit CISL Letterio D’Amico and the representatives of the RSU –. We will not wait for the next incident to lead to the opening of a confrontation. Safety comes before service and cannot be addressed only after a worker gets hurt. Security is not proclaimed, it is guaranteed.”
Cisl Messina, Fit Cisl and Rsu therefore ask for the immediate convening of the table on safety and concrete interventions on the conditions of the vehicles and the organization of work.
Investigations have started
The vehicle involved is regularly subjected to the periodic maintenance activities required by the company. The ongoing investigations will clarify which factors led to the overturning and, based on the findings, what possible further measures must be adopted to continue to guarantee the safety of workers while carrying out the service. The protection of operators remains the company’s top priority. Precisely for this reason, attributing causes before the conclusion of the investigations would mean anticipating assessments which must necessarily be based on technical and objective elements.
«The first thing that interests us is that our operators are well – declares the general director of Messinaservizi Bene Comune, Salvo Puccio –. The safety of those who work for the company every day comes before any other consideration. We understand that the vehicle is regularly subjected to maintenance, considering that these are rental vehicles, and we are collaborating with the Municipal Police, who detected the accident, to reconstruct what happened. The investigations will tell us what the causes were and, if necessary, what further measures to adopt to continue to guarantee the safety of our workers.”
Messinaservizi will follow the developments of the investigations with the utmost attention and will take any decisions based on the technical findings that emerge. In this regard, the Sole Director Giuseppe Laface concludes: «launching very serious accusations regarding the issue of vehicle safety and worker safety in general, without having real knowledge of the cause that caused the accident, appears extremely imprudent. The well-being, protection and safety of workers is an indispensable aspect on which the Company has never taken a step backwards.”