LIVORNO. The detachment. And the collapse. With the flaking false ceiling falling onto the chair below and then crashing onto the kitchen floor, covered in pieces of plaster. And it’s just a coincidence that there’s no one there at that moment. The fact is that the “relaxation room” of the Orthopedics department it has been closed since Easter, the day the aforementioned collapse occurred. «Entry prohibited», is written on a sheet of paper affixed to the red door that gives access to the «Unusable premises» area. “What is unusable is the kitchen of the department,” he says Akram Abu Sneineh, provincial secretary of the Fsi-USAe union, who explains how «with the collapse of the other day, at the third second a tragedy was almost reached». For this reason, the trade unionist wrote a letter to the management of the ASL Tuscany North West, to the labor inspectorate and to the prevention, hygiene and safety at work office of Livorno in which he advises «the immediate evacuation of the entire hospital department ». This is a request that is unlikely to be taken into consideration by the company’s top management unless checks reveal the presence of some risk also in other areas of the department.
The breakdown
It is the afternoon of Easter Sunday when at Orthopaedics, in the room used as a kitchen and herbal tea room, part of the false ceiling comes down. It is a room where the operators stay when they have a break and which is used, among other things, to prepare tea. Miraculously, when the rubble from the false ceiling fell, the place was empty. «No one was hurt – says Sneineh – but all it took was a minute earlier and the collapsed material would have hit the personnel who were on duty at the time». However, it seems that the matter has not exactly gone unnoticed. «Since it was time to move on – continues the trade unionist – the relatives of the patients saw dust and rubble. And, since someone got scared, he even called the police.”
Unusable place
In the end, according to what we read on the sign hanging on the door and after the inspection by the technicians, the place was declared unusable and closed. Therefore it is believed that the security requirements to keep that room in use are lacking. Access prohibited for all. We remind you that in the Orthopedics department of the Livorno hospital, some work had already been carried out a few months ago to make some rooms safe. And now in all likelihood others will be needed also as, after the latest collapse, there is concern among some of the operators. Both because the kitchen, «also considered the only relaxation room for those who work here», is unusable and «the administration of meals to the patients – continues the Fsi-USAe trade unionist – takes place in very precarious and unhygienic conditions» and because the safety of the entire Orthopedics department.
«SOS security»
Because, concludes the union representative, “the collapse that occurred the other day in the kitchen could be a prelude to further events which could even prove catastrophic”. And the appeal is for rapid and possibly decisive intervention. «It seems, in fact, that there are infiltrations of rainwater from the roof. For this reason, I reiterate that our advice is to immediately evacuate the entire department to check the rooms and possibly secure all the rooms with problems, carefully checking the conditions of the roof and counter-roof”.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
