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Floating Danger | Israel today

2020-07-23T18:56:08.221Z


Chaos in the leveraged industry: fake licenses, impromptu training, fictitious companies. Ministry of Labor: "We will not hesitate to disqualify companies" Real Estate Magazine


Chaos in the leveraged industry: fake licenses, impromptu training, fictitious companies. Ministry of Labor: "We will not hesitate to disqualify companies"

  • Crane at construction site. "Make order in the industry"

    Photo: 

    Envato Elements

Produced by the Department of Special Supplements

Forgery of licenses, insufficient training, exceeding the allowable working hours - these are some of the offenses caught in manpower companies that employ cranes at construction sites around the country. "This is a real life-threatening situation for passers-by and for the evacuees themselves," said an industry source.

Last week, a complaint was filed with the police against 26 manpower companies, which employ illegitimate cranes, among them companies that were previously involved in dangerous work accidents.

The Blade 433 investigation raised suspicion that about 100 crane operators were operating with forged licenses. 7 suspects in the supply of licenses from counterfeit cranes have been arrested. It turns out that the move to a plastic card license instead of paper notes did not deter counterfeiters.

Last year alone there were 11 deaths as a result of work on a crane. The number of accidents in recent years has led to legislation aimed at regulating work in the industry, while ensuring the safety of workers and the environment. The Cranes Act, which was approved by the Knesset about a year ago, stipulates that the employment of cranes and cranes at construction sites will be carried out only through dedicated manpower companies, which have received a permit from the Ministry of Labor.

There are now allegations of lack of enforcement and continued operation of the problematic companies even after learning of their operation. Some of the licensed manpower companies suspected of violating the law have even recently received a permit from the Ministry of Labor to extend their activities for another two years, before the allegations against them were examined.

"The scandal in the industry continues under the auspices of the government and the Ministry of Labor," says Yitzhak Moyal, chairman of the Construction Workers' Federation and the construction industries. "Companies that violate the law, infringe on safety, authorize crane operators without proper training and employ workers for more than the permitted hours must be stopped. This situation endangers human lives, and will cause further fatal accidents."

The police have set up a unit to deal with accidents in the construction industry, but they also seem to have a hard time dealing with the chaos in the industry. About a week ago, the Association of Menopause Employers sent the police and the Ministry of Labor a blacklist of dozens of companies that allegedly acted in violation of the law, including documenting the offenses in videos, photographs and recordings. Here are some examples of the dozens of dangerous cases, as reported by the association.

"Companies do what they want"

A company caught hiring employees with fake licenses at a number of sites continues to work normally. An indictment has been filed against one of the companies for forging licenses, and it continues to operate under the company owner's son, after the father himself was arrested.

Another company is accused of collaborating with unauthorized manpower companies, which provided it with illegals from the law. Another company was caught providing fake licenses, and is also still active. The same goes for a company that employed unlicensed nurses in several centers in the country.

Towards one of the companies it was alleged that it brought tourists from Russia and provided them with licenses from medical staff. A video was passed to the police showing the owner of the company a tourist device for working on a crane. A foreign resident with a Russian passport without a work permit in Israel was arrested by the police when she operated a high-altitude crane. She presented police with a fake ID, in an attempt to impersonate a woman licensed to operate a crane. In the crane of another company was caught drunk drunk.

Companies that are accused of paying employees in cash and not paying attention to working hours and rest continue to work as usual, and some of them have even received permits for two more years. Maneuvers testified that they receive a salary in cash, to avoid turret hour reports and tax payments.

Eddie Ben-Lish, CEO of the Crane Employers' Association, warns: "There is not enough supervision, enforcement or punishment and the companies do what they want. It is easier to get a permit for a crane manpower company than for a regular manpower company. Violations will be able to transfer employees from company to company.

"Even when enforcement is carried out by the police and a company whose employees operate with fake licenses is not seized, the permit is not taken from it. Employers who operate in violation of the permit conditions and in violation of the law continue to operate as legitimate employers.

"Protecting citizens and workers"

From the Department of Labor reported:  "Administration regulation and enforcement maintains continuous contact with the Association Hmnofaim. The information obtained periodically examined, and if necessary, professional bodies perform investigations and hearings refusal to renew the permit or its cancellation in some cases. These days the administration is working with several companies engaged in the field.

"Since the amendment came into force, the administration has refused a number of requests from companies that did not meet the requested conditions. The Series and Enforcement Administration is conducting an additional examination procedure for permits, and will not hesitate to disqualify companies that do not comply with the law.

The police said:  "The Israel Police will continue to work with the other law enforcement agencies to expose criminal offenses and to detect offenses that directly affect the safety and security of citizens and workers."

Produced by the Department of Special Supplements

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2020-07-23

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