progress to improve work site safety is only moving forward slowly -- despite deaths and major injuries to workers at construction sites.

Coroner Edward King has twice in the last year called for improvements to workplace safety, most recently on Friday at his inquest into the November, 1995 death of Sea-land Construction Ltd. crane operator Teddy Sewell.

Seven months ago, the coroner made a similar comment last July after his inquest the death of John Caesar.

Mr. Sewell was crushed to death while operating a crane at Bull's Head car park. Mr. King recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

Mr. Caesar died after being struck by an elevator's counterweight and falling down an elevator shaft at the Southampton Princess in April, 1996. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death and called for standardised safety for elevators.

On Friday, Mr. King said several factors led to the death of Mr. Sewell but he added that more must be done to prevent workplace accidents.

"We'd like to see requirements for cranes to undergo safety tests yearly to ensure cranes are functioning properly,'' Mr. Powell said.

Ideally, there would be some type of certification or testing of crane operators, he said.

Mr. Powell became the Island's health and safety watchdog in July, 1996 and is charged with the task of enforcing Health and Safety at Work Act legislation.

Some crane operators in Bermuda do not even know how to read the levelling charts which are key to ensuring that the machine remains stable, he said.

Crane expert Robert Manalio said at the inquest that the operator was attempting to lift too much weight based on the length of the crane's boom and the radius in which the machine was operating and that the crane was not level.

Mr. Powell said there are no specific regulations for cranes in Bermuda to be equipped with a levelling device.

"Ontario regulations have specific requirement that the stabilisers be fully extended and deployed and the machine must be level,'' he said. "If the owner's operating manual says the machine must be level, then the operator must operate the machine within the parameters specific to that machine.

"But getting that to the operator and testing them to make sure they are aware is a complicated matter. Three different cranes may have three different procedures for the same task. And what about the crane Mr. Sewell was operating? That company (Cruise Crane) no longer exists,'' he said.

"There's a cost. Who is going to test these cranes? If you train an operator, to what level do you certify them?'' Mr. Powell said some specialty workers at construction sites will not even wear hard hats.

But, said Mr. Powell, since Mr. Sewell's death some companies have become more willing to take a more active approach to health and safety.

One company, which Mr. Powell preferred not name, has, since the Bull's Head accident, provided him with a list of which workers can and cannot operate which equipment.

Prior to the accident, "they were reluctant'', but now they have done an "in-house certification'' which is a step in the right direction, Mr. Powell said.

And crane operators are -- after the death of Mr. Sewell -- not resisting a move to get cranes tested, he said.

Bermuda Construction Association president Alton Wharton, also general manager of Saber Electric, said it was imperative that firms have their own health and safety officers.

"Health and Safety is looking for voluntary support but it may have to come down to laws,'' he said.

Under the current legislation, the employer is required to provide a safe work site. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Attorney General's chambers is prosecuting Sea-land's site manager Peter Vosvenieks and Sea-land owner Andrew Cooper for not complying with that requirement, Mr. Powell said.

SATETY OFFICER -- Harry Powell