Transcript HEALTH AND SAFETY ASPECTS OF VIOLENCE AT WORK

the safe and healthy workplace
–
a social responsibility and an
economic necessity
Sevilla
28 November 2006
Ir. Kris De Meester
Adviser health and safety affairs
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VI JORNADAS EUROPEAS
SOBRE SEGURIDAD Y SALUD
EN EL TRABAJO
Sevilla
martes, 28 noviembre 2006
Ir. Kris De Meester
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Megatrends in the world of work
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Restructuring of economy and politics: "Competitive
Europe"
 Competitive world economy and increased productivity with
restructuring of organizations and management
 Outsourcing, focus on core-business, downsizing, delocalisation
 Work intensity, stress,…
 The world becomes "smaller" (a global village in a "global" world)

New technology and new production: "Innovative Europe"
 Increasing global automation and change of manufacturing
industries towards a service production
 New production models and job contents
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Demographic shift: "Graying Europe"
 Rapid ageing of work force, changing age attitudes and
demands on work ability and competence
 Challenges facing young workers and immigrants
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Megatrends in the world of work

Geographic shift: “Migrating Europe”
 Workers from new EU member states,…
  Language barriers, training

Social change: “Conscient European Generation"
 From a work life-centred society toward a "multisociety"
– Periods of employment, unemployment, training, leisure,
family life and individual development vary throughout the
whole life course.

 Employee participation and a new citizenship is
growing
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 Balancing work and family life

Growing role of media "Attention Economy and
Citizens Europe"
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Working Conditions
in Europe:
What workers say
first findings (nov. 2006) of
the fourth
European Working Conditions Survey
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Components of work satisfaction
Job security*
Have very good friends at w ork
Feel 'at home' in organisation
Opportunities to learn and grow
Well paid for the w ork done
Good prospects for career advancement
0%
Strongly agree
Agree
20%
Neither agree nor disagree
40%
60%
Disagree
80%
100%
Strongly disagree
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Work intensity on the increase
40
30
20
10
0
high skilled
white collar
high skilled blue low skilled blue low skilled white
collar
collar
collar
total eu27
working at high speed
working at tight deadlines
work interruptions (very often)
almost never enough time to get the job done
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Health and work
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15% of workers are not well informed about
risks linked to their work
28% report that their health and safety is at
risk because of their work
Exposure to risks have remain stable at the
best
35% report that their work affects their health
MSDs, stress, fatigue are the most reported
health problems
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Exposure to physical risks

stable or on the increase
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Vibrat ions
Noise
Low t emps
Breat hing in
Handling
Radiat ion
Painf ul, t iring
smoke, f umes,
chemical
(welding light
posit ions
dust or powder
product s /
et c)
Repet it ive hand
or arm
movement s
subst ances
1990 EU12
1995 EU15
2000 EU15
2005 EU25
2005 OMS
2005 NMS
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Impact of work on health
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Work affects health
Reported symptoms:
Backache
Muscular pains
Stress
Fatigue
Headache
Irritability
Anxiety
Hearing
Respiratory
EU15
NMS
10
Doing the same job at 60

Yes I think so ...
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
DE NL SE DK FI UK IT AT EE EU27 CY LT LU CZ LV ES MT IE HU BE RO FR PT BG PL EL SK SI
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Political and social reaction

Political answers, solutions
 Legislation? (NOK)
 Negation: ostriches (NOK)
 Strategy: approach embedded in global socio-economic strategy
of employment, welfare and productivity (GDP factor) = priority
n° 1 (OK)

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Lisbon agenda = driver and target
Do not isolate one element
 For some politicians, NGO’s,… Deus ex machina = corporate
social responsibility
 What about:
–
–
–
–
–
Social market economy
Sustainable development
Business ethics
Corporate governance
Consultation and self regulation
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C.S.R.

Corporate Social Responsibility
 Not a new concept
 Revival - response to scandals & NGO

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Presented as a Business ethical approach /
stakeholder management
CSR/business ethics includes
 Social: workers (employment)
 Safety & health: workers, neighbours
 Environmental: sustainability - community & future
generation
 Philanthropy - local community – corporate
citizenship
 Supply chain: suppliers, contractors
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CSR Business Case for Europe
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CSR mainly in big companies
Objective EU: to engage also CSR in SMEs
Part of Lisbon strategy : CSR means better
business
CSR business case :
 Not philanthropy but business ethics (workers, supply
chain,…)
 CSR is profitable
 Self-enlightened interest
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On voluntary basis
Regulation? - ISO? - Legislation?
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CSR from OSH point of view
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OSH management (systems)
Preventative safety and health culture
Increase general awareness, knowledge and
understanding of hazard, risk and prevention
Increase responsibility of employers, managers
and workers
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ILO 2003 conclusions

The fundamental pillars of a global OSH strategy include the building
and maintenance of a national preventative safety and health culture
and the introduction of a systems approach to OSH management.

A national preventative safety and health culture is one in which
the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all
levels, where governments, employers and workers actively
participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment
through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and
where the principle of prevention is accorded the highest priority.

Building and maintaining a preventative safety and health culture
requires making use of all available means to increase general
awareness, knowledge and understanding of the concepts of
hazards and risks and how they may be prevented or controlled.
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OSH management
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OSH policy and management

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No “corporate manslaughter”
Economic necessity
 Essential for producing/delivering high quality products and
services
 Human cost of accidents and diseases
 Economic cost (medical treatment, accidents/disease insurance,
absenteeism, loss of time/production, work-incapacity, loss of
expertise, replacement cost, etc.)
 Continuity of business
 Productivity
 Retain workers
 Company image
 Brand image

Iceberg model for accidents also applies to cost
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The business benefits of OSH
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Business to understand and accept the benefits
of OSH
OSH - an integral part of effective business
management
OSH - an enabler and not a hindrance
Building a culture of continuous improvement
Systematic approach to OSH management at
company level can help establishing a preventive
culture
Links with the EU promotion of corporate social
responsibility and the Lisbon agenda
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OSH policy and management

Different strategies possible
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OSH policy

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Employer is responsible for working out and
implementing the policy
Integrated policy!
 Strategy has to be implemented in every segment of
the company en has to be integrated in the
management
 Focus on risk prevention
 Includes technique, organisation, working-conditions,
social factors, environment
 Multidisciplinary approach
 Tailor made OSH management rather than standards
= Dynamic Risk Assessment
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Beyond health and safety
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+
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Safety at work
Health protection
Hygiene at work
Psychosocial aspects (stress, harassment, violence)
Ergonomics
Embellishment of the workplaces
= Well-being at work
= The healthy workplace
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Dynamic Risk Assessment
Dynamic system for the management of risks
= concept
 Risk analysis
 identification of dangers
 determination of risks
 evaluation of risks
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Preventive measures (prevention principles)
 Collective measures, individual measures or both
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Long term strategic prevention plan
Yearly action plan
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Framework directive
Technical
safety
Hygiene
Health
Other directives
Ergonomics
Psychosocial
aspects
Processes:
Risk assessment
Prevention
Health Surveillance
Prevention
services
Worker information and training
Training center
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Preventive measures
1. Avoid risks
2. Avoid damage
3. Limit damage
Preventive measures apply to:
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organisation methods of work and production
conception of the workplace
conception and adaption of the workpost;
choice and usage of work equipment and chemical substances
risks arising from chemical, biological and fysical agents
collective and individual protection, and working-clothes
health and safety signals
heath surveillance
psychosocial workload
competence, training and information of workers, including proper
instructions
 coordination on the workplace
 emergency procedures incl. first aid, fire protection, and evacuation
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Focus on prevention

3 levels
 Organization as a whole
 Team/division
 Individual

Primary prevention
 Human based measures (awareness raising , job-information
and job-training of management and workers, working
conditions, job content, teambuilding,...);
 Organizational measures (company culture, prevention services,
flexibility, control, communication, consultation,...);
 Technical measures (working environment, workplace
design,...).
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Secondary prevention (support structures,…)
Tertiary prevention (remediation, help,…)
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Prevention principles
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Avoid, eliminate risks;
Evaluate and limit those risks that cannot be
eliminated;
Attack risks at the source;
Replace dangerous products by other not
dangerous or less dangerous products;
Collective protection before individual protective
equipment;
Adapter the work to the person (= ergonomics);
Organisation of training;
Proper instructions.
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Prevention measures

Be creative!
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Employer: not alone
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Designated worker(s) (prevention officers)
OSH-services
Management + chefs
Workers: workers representatives and individual
workers
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Preventative culture
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In general

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Development and strengthening of a preventive culture
must be a central element of any strategy aiming at
improving occupational safety and health
Development and strengthening of a preventive culture =
achieving better OSH performance by fostering changes
in behavioural patterns
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Governments
Employers
Workers
OSH-Experts
Financial world
Students, young people
ALL PEOPLE
Cannot be achieved through legislation !
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Strategy

Strategy to promote a preventive culture must
 address all parts of society
 go beyond the workplace and the working population
 should help create a general culture that values
health and risk prevention
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Worker as individual
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Pay attention to the workers as individual in his
work environment
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Psychosocial workload
Stress
Harassment, violence
Home – Work trajectory
Health
–
–
–
–
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Alcohol and drugs
Exercise
Nutrition
Quality of sleep
Socio-economic status of worker is determining factor
 For health
 Also for work attitude
 Focus on social inclusion through education, assistance,…)
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Quality

Global, integrated HR approach (4 fields to take
into account)
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Job content
Job environment (OSH)
Job conditions (working hours, wages,…)
Job relations (colleagues, supervisors, management,
clients,…)
Job satisfaction
 Set expectations form employers and workers side
 Overall situation is good (large majority of workers
are happy with an in their job)
 Company culture
 Encourage job mobility (internal or external)
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Increase OSH knowledge and
awareness
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Education and training
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Many accidents and incidents can be blamed on a lack of
knowledge or inadequate awareness of the risks among
people performing work or people directly involved, such
as supervisors
Major improvements in safety performance can therefore
be achieved by more and better staff training which
focuses on safety, with the aim of raising levels of
knowledge and skills and generating safety awareness.
Good training and sound instructions, especially for
dangerous work, are therefore of major importance in
terms of preventing accidents and incidents
That is why particular attention needs to be given to
training and instruction and to proofs of the required
safety qualifications for operational staff, their supervisors
and the appointed safety officers
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Education and training
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Education and training policies (Member-State
responsibility) play an important (even crucial)
role in strengthening the prevention culture
Start early: it is beneficial to start education
valuing a general culture of health and risk
prevention at an early age
All education an training!
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all future workers
all future managers
all future policy makers
etc.
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Education and training
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Learning programmes should
 adequately integrate aspects relating to safety and
health and
 be up-to-date and correspond to workplace realities
and challenges.
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Further progress at Member State level is needed
Council (+ AC) might act as a catalyst by means
of a resolution/recommendation
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Conclusions
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Mainstreaming
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Health into OSH
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Workplace health promotion
Smoking ban
Soft-drinks ban
Fat ban in company restaurants (balanced, healthy food)
Attentions hypertension
World sleep day (21 Mars)
OSH into Health (less developed)
 General medical check-up by OSH-services
 Occupational diseases
 Revalidation/reintegration after accident/disease
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Education into OSH
OSH into education
 Integration of health (+ safety) aspects in education systems
(curricula,…)
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Partnership with industry !!!
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To do at industry level
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Federations
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Take control over the agenda
Assume leadership (captains of industry)
Offensive or opportunistic strategy
(voluntary) Agreements at national, regional and
branche level
 Exchange of good practice
 Collaboration: with education, health,…

Companies
 Workers involvement (partnership – set expectations)
 Further explore “the healthy workplace”
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A new industry vision

To gain recognition of health and safety as
a cornerstone of civilized and responsible
companies and, with that, to achieve a
record of workplace health and safety that
leads the world!
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Levers for change
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Management systems/tools
Activities to usefully support focus on prevention
 Awareness-raising actions targeting a large public
 Dissemination of good practices
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Use/search “market driven” instruments
 Contractor safety management systems and training
 Safety logbook
 Temporary workers management systems (risk
activities)
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Be creative
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Practice what you preach!

What has been build up over months and years
can be destroyed in minutes!
 Practice what you preach
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Authorities
Social partners
Top management
Operational supervisors
Experts
Stimulate safe behavior
Discourage unsafe behavior
Stress the success of safe behavior
Reduce disadvantages of safe behavior
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THANK YOU !
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