Japan: Reconstruction site dangerous

Officials said 438 workers were hurt or killed in the last year while rebuilding infrastructure destroyed in Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The numbers, released Monday, show the most incidents took place in the three prefectures hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami, with the highest number of incidents occurring in Miyagi Prefecture, which saw eight deaths and 249 injuries. Due to unsafe work site conditions and an industry-wide shortage of skilled workers and managers, many workers were killed by heavy machinery or steep falls. JiJi Press reported some of the incidents were clear violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act. A senior official at Miyagi General Construction Association told JiJi Press the reconstruction takes place "almost around the clock," with a dwindling number of on-site managers available. The shortage has resulted in managers supervising several sites at once, which "tends to cause human errors," said a construction firm chief in Ishinomaki. Local labor officials and industry safety associations have stepped up unannounced work site inspections in an effort to curb more incidents. The labor ministry along with the Fukushima prefectural government and the land and infrastructure ministry are planning to assemble a committee to address safety concerns on state-ordered reconstruction projects.