Workshop on Improvement of Health and Safety at the workplace as target for social dialogues

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Workshop on Improvement of Health and Safety at
the workplace as target for social dialogues

• Oraldo De Toni - EMCEF

Brussels 17 September 2007. Avenue Emile de
Bèco, 109 B.-1050 Brussels
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Contents

• ForewordThe 10 most important things to know
  about and to be able to be done by the employee
  representative in charge of health, safety and
  environment
• Conclusions

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Foreword 1

• At this level of communication, we have to
  exchange reciprocal commitments enabling the
  support to the guidelines of actions in the field
  of HSE (Health, Safety and Environment)
• My presentation at the name of EMCEF goes in the
  direction of the best practices as indication
  for the participants in order to know about and
  to be able to act as a social partner.
  Actually, there are indications to the attention
  of the employee representative for the protection
  of health, safety and environment.
• Social dialogue is promoted and defined on
  well-structured issues, shared by the European
  Commission and the Parliament, on which we share
  common opinion, starting bilateral actions and
  implementation of agreements.

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Foreword 2

• Regarding HSE, we fully agree on the objectives
  to be achieved, already defined and negotiated.
• The qualitative effort that we have to do lies in
  the definition and the diffusion of objectives,
  in taking initiatives on communication and
  demonstration of best practices from the
  downstream users of chemical industry to the
  direct consumers
• It is not possible to have prejudices or
  preconceived ideas when we are facing data and
  practices on prevention and protection of
  employees at workplace leading to a zero rate of
  accidents, incidents and occupational diseases.
• We are facing the awareness of our role, as well
  as the responsibility of having subscribed very
  binding objectives and an immediate operational
  proposal.

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Contents

• ForewordThe 10 most important things to know
  about and to be able to be done by the employee
  representative in charge of health, safety and
  environment
• Conclusions

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The 10 most important things

• 1) Your safety, your health and the one of your
  colleagues of work and of the populations living
  around your company depend also on you.
• It is also our task to prevent and guarantee
  health and safety of all employees as well as
  environmental protection. We have to do it by
  following these principles
• the central character of the person for sharing
  knowledge, experiences and valorisation of
  professionalism
• our colleagues of work are an inexhaustible
  source of information, we need to use this
  patrimony
• made our knowledge available to all employees
  present at workplace and to give necessary
  information for their safe work
• attention towards sustainable development and
  continuous improvement regarding HSE in all the
  activity of the company
• your company is integrated in a territory, please
  do so that there is an information periodic,
  external on the achieved results.

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The 10 most important things

• 2) To know. What does my company produce, taking
  into account organisation of work, of production
  and environmental impact.
• Raw materials, production equipments, work
  organisation and working environment
• Production and intermediate in the production
  cycle, and working environment
• Logistics and services.

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The 10 most important things

• To know. Information and documentation
• To prepare an essential guide of knowledge and,
  in order of importance, the contractual rules
  regarding HSE
• The guidelines defined between the partners
• Reviews and websites
• Build your personal knowledge, a network of
  exchange of information.

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The 10 most important things

• To know. Information and training
• Information and training are fundamental
  activities for your safety as well for the one of
  the employees
• Please do so that it is provided to employees
  when they are hired, when new technologies,
  equipment, substances and preparation are
  introduced
• Moreover, to specific groups in charge of the
  fire prevention, first help, emergencies
• Complete your training of contractual origin

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The 10 most important things

• To know. And to be able to do. Risk assessment
• To arrive with a good preparation to the
  identification of risks, both the potential and
  the probable ones
• To agree the method of risk assessment
• On each workplace (activity), it is necessary to
  implement risk assessment
• The main model for your knowledge is the assembly
  of employees
• You need to cooperate with the company officer
  and the competent doctor in order to identify,
  remove and eventually be protected against risks.

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The 10 most important things

• Know-how. Management of the activity
• You need to know the implemented management
  system, the annual programme of expenses and the
  monitoring
• You need to implement PR activities with local
  bodies
• Ensure yourself that the procedure has to be
  implemented are drafted in your mother tongue and
  also understood by foreign employees
• You have to analyse, together with the company,
  the dynamics of accidents and the near incidents
• Ensure yourself that the ISD (individual safety
  device) has been tested, updated, can be
  exchanged and it at the charge of the company.

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The 10 most important things

• To know and to be able to do. Subcontracting
• Towards them, we have the same responsibility
  regarding health, safety and environmental
  protection
• You need to check if subcontracted activities
  hold HSE certificates
• You need to insist on the monitoring of the
  security plan adopted by the subcontracting
  companies
• You need to insist that employees of
  subcontracting companies really benefit from
  training
• You need to insist for the coordination between
  the responsible persons for employees regarding
  the implemented security plan
• You need to inform your company on abnormalities
  noticed by yourself and the employees
• You need to monitor the final cycle of waste
  disposal.

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The 10 most important things

• 8) To know and to be able to do. Environment
• Your company is integrated in a territory and
  influences the populations, earth, air and water
• Requires a transparent relation on programmes
  and achieved objectives in the continuous
  improvement
• You need to receive adequate training also
  regarding environment especially if the company
  is classified as with relevant risk
• You need to cooperate with institutions and
  authorities at local and national level.

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The 10 most important things

• 9) To know and to be able to do. Health
• You need to identify risks for health of
  chemical, physical and biological agents which
  can be of acute or chronic type, which can cause
  the event of diseases after a prolonged exposure
• You need to implement the prevention of risks for
  health
• You need to avoid exposure, to chemical
  carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic substances and
  check concrete possibilities of substitution
• You need to check if the use is at closed cycle
• You need to interact with the officer in charge
  of health monitoring
• You need to promote the dissemination of high
  standards in the register of bio statistic,
  environmental, risk and medical records.

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The 10 most important things

• 10) To be able to implement the continuous
  improvement
• The objective is to achieve zero rate of
  accidents, incidents and occupational diseases
  through a continuous process of knowledge,
  assessment, participation of positive and at risk
  behaviours
• To favour technological innovation in this field
  to reduce the potential effects of the risk
• To become agent of change inside and outside
  working places.

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Contents

• ForewordThe 10 most important things to know
  about and to be able to be done by the employee
  representative in charge of health, safety and
  environment
• Conclusions

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Conclusions

• The best practices rise from the knowledge,
  negotiated objectives and the role of interest
  representatives.
• Here the interests are common, and for this
  reason we have to make our action pervasive,
  going from downstream users with the best
  practices due to positive results which come from
  the implementation of an integrated management
  system and a model of industrial relations
  through social dialogue.

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Many thanksOraldo De Toni