Aconstruction worker died yesterday after falling from the sixth floor of Yellow Tower building in Chroy Changvar commune in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district.

Commune police chief Veng Chok said yesterday that 18-year-old Mon Phally, from Kampong Cham province, was not wearing his safety belt properly when he fell after receiving an electric shock while installing windows with his father.

“When he had completed the job with his father, he received an electric shock and fell down from the building,” he said, adding that Mon Phally’s family had taken his body to Kampong Cham for a funeral.

Veng Chok said that Mon Phally died on impact of head and leg injuries and that the construction company would pay an unspecified amount in compensation to his family.

Van Thol, a deputy director at the Cambodian Construction Workers Trade Union Federation, said yesterday that the Labour Ministry and some construction companies did not care about worker safety.

“[Workers] are at higher risk as the construction rate is getting higher and higher,” he said. “Construction companies and the Labour Ministry should be promoting workers’ safety widely.”

Van Thol said that sometimes companies did not want to reveal information about deaths and injuries at construction sites.

Hou Vuthy, deputy director general at the Labour Ministry, said yesterday that the ministry monitored worker safety.

“The company should take care of worker safety first because the company is responsible,” he said.