Two construction workers fell from the third floor of a construction site in Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district on Saturday and were sent to Phnom Penh Referral Hospital with serious injuries, according to a hospital official.

Two other workers sustained minor injuries after they were able to grab onto something, preventing them from falling all the way to the ground.

The two with serious injuries, whose names and ages are unknown, were sent to the emergency room at the hospital for about an hour before being transferred to Calmette Hospital at the company’s request, said Sok Savoururn, deputy administrator at the hospital.

A Calmette administrator yesterday declined to comment on the status of the two workers.

Chourb Chan, 28, who works at the same construction site, said he became aware of the incident when he heard a loud sound. “I’m very shocked,” he said. “The two would have not fallen to the ground if they were wearing harnesses.”

Construction worker injuries are not uncommon in Cambodia, and the government as recently as last month acknowledged that it had not done enough to regulate the industry.

Sok Kin, leader of the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia, said 80 to 90 per cent of construction sites lack safety equipment, such as helmets, harnesses and even appropriate footwear.

“There is no specific law that requires that companies provide safety equipment at the construction sites,” he said. “That is the problem.”

Tivorn Oum of the Cambodia Constructors Association said the association is cooperating with national and international partners to organise workshops for construction companies to help prevent injuries by providing education.