Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-20-Speech-3-078"
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"en.20000920.7.3-078"2
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"Mr President, I feel obliged, and I would like to do so courteously, to begin by congratulating the rapporteur, Mr Skinner, on his sensitivity, his excellent report and his willingness to accept the proposals – which I believe are well put together – of the Group on whose behalf I have the honour of speaking. All of this means that we have a text which enjoys broad consensus, and not only amongst the two main Groups, since this consensus has been forged through constant communication with social operators, entrepreneurs and workers, via the trade unions. I believe that consensus is necessary in a field in which the safety, health, integrity and the very lives of workers are at stake.
Very recently I was going for a walk around my town, Vigo, in Galicia, in the north west of Spain, when I happened to see a large works sign. The works involved the renovation of an old square in the town’s historic quarter, and the sign said: “This company respects the law. It uses safety equipment and devices. If you are not familiar with them, do not enter the site. Inform us of any situation of risk. Please help us to fulfil the legal obligations for protecting the safety and health of workers”.
I mention the contents of this works sign and the advice, legal requirements for third parties and those with an interest in the works, because I believe that it represents a summary of the requirements of a good policy on health at work. A good policy on health at work must begin by being preventive and the idea of prevention must to a large extent include awareness, not only on the part of workers and employers, but also on the part of society as a whole.
Unfortunately, every day we hear news of accidents at work. We know very well there is no such thing as zero risk, but we are also aware that society must not cease in its efforts to prevent risk being turned into accidents. When an accident happens, the responsibility may perhaps fall to the employer, because they have still not been convinced that money spent on safety is an investment. Or perhaps it may fall to the worker, because they ignore the risks, or because of a lack of caution, or because adequate measures or precautions have not been taken, mainly in activities such as construction, in which the temporary nature of works and of the sector itself – a bridging sector, between primary activity, mainly agricultural, and the industrial and service sectors – require even more precautionary measures. Or it may perhaps fall to the administration itself through the insufficiency, and therefore ineffectiveness, of the inspection, advisory and control services responsible for informing, advising and, where necessary, penalising non-compliance with the employment legislation.
Health and safety at work, especially where the risk is very high, is the responsibility of society and of all the sectors concerned, and the whole of society must assume its fair share of responsibility and commitment. The employer should consider money spent on safety at work as an investment. The worker should take full precautions, demanding and arguing for the use of preventive and protective mechanisms, as well as the good practices of companies.
States and governments should amend the measures for the promotion of preventive actions, for the inspection of the measures to prevent accidents, and also for the replacement of the administrative and political methods for combating accidents at work. The old model of penalties, which has shown itself to be insufficient and ineffective, should be replaced with a method providing stimulus and incentive, by intensifying action in all companies or activities with the highest number of accidents, and also by offering benefits and advantages to companies with the lowest number of accidents and the highest spending on prevention and awareness.
Furthermore, the Commission and the Council should set minimum conditions which may seem strict to some, but which will allow working conditions to be improved and the health and safety of workers to be protected, harmonising legislation in a market operating with the free movement of workers.
In this way, European citizens will see Europe as being closer to them, a Europe that addresses their problems, concerns and interests."@en1
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