laurent vogel etui february 2013
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The role of the social partners in developing and implementing Occupational Health and Safety policies and strategies. Laurent Vogel ETUI February 2013. Health and Safety is never a purely technical question. Huge gap between existing knowledge and practical prevention - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The role of the social partners in developing and implementing Occupational Health and Safety policies and strategies
Laurent Vogel
ETUI
February 2013
Health and Safety is never a purely technical question
● Huge gap between existing knowledge and practical prevention
● Being affected by bad working conditions: a question of social inequality
● Collective action of workers: a key element for any OSH strategy
Workers exposed to carcinogens and prevention measures carried out at the workplace (SUMER 2003, France)
ExposedAmong the exposed workers: without collective prevention
ALL THE WORKERS 13.5 42.3
CONSTRUCTIONCONSTRUCTIONINDUSTRYAGRICULTURESERVICES
34.921.221.9 8.7
51.833.977.840.9
Higher/Managerial occupationsIntermediate occupationsQualified blue collar workersNot qualified blue collar workers
3,3
11,1
30.9
22.5
24,0
35,0
43.6
47.1
Sustainable work? Do you think you will be able to do your current job when you are 60 years old? YES (EWCS)
2000 2005 2010
High skilled White collar
67.6 70.1 71.7 +4,1
Low skilled White collar
59.3 62.2 61.3 +2
High skilled Blue collar 52.0 48.4 49.3 -2,7
Low skilled Blue collar 46.2 45.7 44.1 -2,1
Total 57.1 58.3 58.7 +1,6
Evidence on « what works »
● Links between Safety reps and an effective OSH policy in companies
● Results tend to be mediated by unionization ● “Direct consultation is likely to have disappointing
results for the individual non-unionized worker” (David Walters)
Data from ESENER suggest
● Risk assessment is more likely if there are safety reps, especially in small firms
● Combination of high management commitment with worker representation is strongly associated with better management of psychosocial issues
● Huge differences between countries, especially in companies from 10 to 249 (companies with less than 10 workers were not covered by the survey
Why safety reps are so important
● Autonomy : opposition of social interests mainly when there are long term effects. Creating a counter-power at company level
● Promotion of workers self-activities (against imposing prevention from outside)
● Importance of workers collective knowledge
Workplace democracy ? Employee representation by country, EWCS 2010, Index
51,7 % EU 27
More than 85% Finland (86,5), Sweden
From 70 to 80% Denmark, Luxembourg
From 60 to 70% Belgium, Netherlands
From 50 to 60% RO, UK, SK, Ireland, FR, SL, CY
From 45 to 50% Poland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Czech R
From 40 to 45% Italy, Lithuania
From 35 to 40% Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece
From 30 to 35% Estonia
Less than 25% Portugal (24,7)
What could be done in the next Strategy
● All the workers should have access to safety reps independently from the size of companies or the employment contracts (combine company level safety reps with territorial or site reps)
● The percentage of workers covered by safety reps should be considered as an indicator of the OSH structures
● Consolidate the links between safety reps, labour inspection and preventive services
A precondition
● Avoid the Better Regulation demagogy on SME’s
● When it is about OSH issues, SME’s workers should have the same rights, the same level of protection and the same possibilities to intervene
Social dialogue and OSH strategy in the EU
● Intersectoral social dialogue● Agreement on stress (2004)● Agreement on violence at work (2007)
● Sectoral social dialogue● Rich experience in different sectors
○ The agreement on needlestick injuries (became a Directive in 2010)
○ The agreement for hairdressers was signed in 2012 (should become a Directive according to the social partners … but opposition from different member states)