Some Aspects of Occupational Safety and Health in Construction in Latvia

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Some Aspects of Occupational Safety and Health in
Construction in Latvia

• Gita Dambe
• Latvijas celtnieku arodbiedriba (LCA)
• Trade Union of Building Workers of Latvia
• Coordinator for Safety and Health Matters for
• Construction Site
• Latvijas nacionala biblioteka
• (National Library of Latvia)

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Araišu Lake Fortress

• 9th Century What about Work Safety?

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Turaidas Castle 13th Century
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Work Safety in Bible
"When you build a new house, you shall make a
parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring
bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from
it."
Deuteronomy 228
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Work Safety in Construction
So, some kind of work safety regulations are
given in Bible and at least since Baltic Crusades
from 13th century in force in area what
nowadays is Latvia
Then why we have to read newspaper titles
like Latvia is the Country of Falling
Construction workers?
Rigas Balss 22 February 2007
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Work Safety in Construction
From the newspaper article During construction
of almost all biggest new buildings there have
been lethal accidents at work (supermarkets
"Galery Centrs", "Alfa", office building
(Swedbank) "Saules akmens). As only one
exemption was multifunctional "Arena Riga"
What are the reasons?
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Some Numbers from Statistics

• In Construction Merchant Register were 5918
  construction merchants having rights to provide
  commercial services in construction field (data
  from 31.03.2009)
• There were 129.5 thousands employed in
  construction sector 11.4 from the total number
  of employees
• 26 thousands (20) are members of LCA

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Accidents in construction
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Accidents in construction

• Accidents at work with young people aged 18-23
  years happens two times more frequently as
  with older groups
• LCA plans this year (2009) to develop more
  closer co-operation with vocational builder
  schools.
• At the moment LBAS is already realising
  program of education about labour legislation
  accenting labour protection for general education
  school pupils and students

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Statistics

• 42,8 from all discovered illegal workers have
  been employed in construction (2008)
• SLI has put in 2009 as main priority the goal to
  decrease the illegal employement

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health in
Construction

• Labour Protection Law - transforms more or less
  acceptable the requirements of the EU framework
  directive 89/391/EEC
• Section 9. Organisational Structure of Labour
  Protection
• ... (5) The Cabinet shall determine those types
  of commercial activities in which an employer
  shall engage a competent authority, the
  procedures for the engagement of such
  authorities, as well as cases where the employer
  in performing the commercial activities referred
  to may not engage a competent authority. This
  shall apply also to those employers who for
  non-commercial purposes or the needs of their own
  undertaking perform activities, which conform to
  the types of commercial activities referred to.

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health in
Construction

• Labour Protection Law
• Section 25. Authorisation for the Cabinet to
  Issue Regulations regarding Labour Protection
• The Cabinet shall issue regulations regarding
  labour protection requirements 1) for
  workplaces 2) when using work equipment 3) when
  using personal protection equipment ... 5) when
  moving heavy loads
• 6) in performing construction 7) in use of
  safety signs.. 11) in contact with chemical
  substances 12) in contact with biological
  substances 13) in relation to the level of noise
  at work 14) in work with asbestos 16) in
  contact with carcinogenic substances 17) when
  working on heights ...

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health in
Construction

• Labour Protection Law
• Regulations of Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 No.
  92 (MK92) Labour Protection Requirements in
  Performing Construction Work transforms the
  requirements of EU directive 92/57/EEC
• Other regulations of Cabinet of Ministers mostly
  corresponding to other individual directives
  within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive
  89/391/EEC, and standards directly mentioned in
  text of regulations, including annexies

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MK92 defines additional requirements for the
workers at construction site

• There must be list of employees at the site
• List shall be verified by signature and seal
• The following information shall be given for each
  employee full name,personal identity number or
  the number of work permit for foreigners, date of
  entering into and number of employement contract
  or work-performance contract, name of the
  contractor

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MK92 defines additional requirements for the
workers at construction site

• Employee at the site must have employees
  identity card issued by the main contractor or
  respective subcontractor with
• a photograh of the employee
• full name of the employee
• personal identity number
• date of entering into and number of employement
  contract
• name and seal of the contractor

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Planned changes in the legislation

• In the Labour Law the requirement that Employer
  ensures the availability of the copy of work
  employement contract at that structural unit
  where an employee has to work
• In the Law on Public Procurement the clause
  should be included that undertaking that employs
  persons without written work employement contract
  have to been withdrawn from the tender (the
  information will be published on website of the
  Construction Merchant Register)

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health in
Construction

• Labour Protection Law
• Regulations of Cabinet from 2005 (8.February)
• No. 99 (MK99) Regulations Regarding the Types
  of Commercial Activities in which an Employer
  shall Involve a Competent Authority
• Construction is given as one of the types of
  commercial activities, where involving competent
  authority (CA) is mandatory...
• MK99 is not a requirement from EU...

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health in
Construction

• Cabinet Regulations No.99 postulates that it is
  allowed not to involve CA only in such cases, if
  
• 1) Number of employees 5 or if the number gt 5
• 2) There is established OSH system in undertaking
  and Internal Supervision of the Work Environment
  and Evaluation of Work Environment Risks in the
  company is performed by a labour protection
  specialist with higher vocational education in
  labour protection (OHS). Company must to submit
  to the State Labour Inspectorate (SLI) the
  following documents
• a) notification on established OSH system
  according Annex 2
• b) Labour Protection Specialist (LPS)
  education certificate and a copy of employement
  contract
• c) results of the Evaluation of the Work
  Environment Risks and the plan of Labour
  Protection Measures

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health

• On the 01.03.2009. there were in Latvia
• 38 Competent Authorities (CA)
• 502 Competent specialists (CS)
• Requirements to the CA and CS are given in
  Cabinet Regulation from year 2008 No. 723
• Regulations on requirements to competent
  authorities and competent specialists in labour
  protection and on procedure of evaluation of
  their competency

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Legislation in Occupational Safety Health

• Main Requirements to CA
• 1) There should be at least 1 LPS and 1 physician
  specialised in occupational health or illnesses
  (if one person has both qualifications then CA
  might consist from one person)
• 2) Insured civil liability (20000 LVL)
• 3) Certificated according ISO 90012001
• 4) Approved by Commission at the Ministry of
  Welfare and
• 5) annouced in official newspaper Latvijas
  Vestnesis

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Regulations of OSH in Construction
Why the accidents happen some times more
frequently as in UK, or Sweden?
Is there problems with the law and regulations?
Latvia has transposed all EU OSH field
directives in national legislation, but...
There are some at first look minor
discrepancies and a little bit different
provisions, but the consequencies.. are not minor
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Regulations of Work Safety in Construction
Discutable Provisions Framework Directive
89/391/EEC
Article 7th of the directive external services
should have subsidiary role Latvian Labour
Protection Law Section 9 - for certain types of
commercial (even for non- commercial purposes)
activities the use of external services is
preferred
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Problems with MK 99

• In construction regulations makes for the
  employer more easily to involve CA in comparisson
  with using their own OSH specialist and risk
  assesment in notification form employer must
  declare that all risks have been evaluated..
• Such situation at least for me looks contrary to
  the spirit of framework directives article 7

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Problems with MK 99

• CA have been interested to serve as much
  companies as possibly
• Therefore by limited number of LPS there is no
  enough time to investigate situation in details
• Evaluation of Work Environment Risks have been
  performed on papers

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Problems with MK 99

• Evaluation of Work Environment Risks have been
  performed using general checklists without
  necessary detalisation, that could be needed
• Sometimes it is made per telephone
• Cheklists are rather long so Cabinet regulations
  No 660 (2007) have listed hazardous working
  environment factors on 18 pages. So assesments
  are thick files and SLI has no capacity and will
  not have the possibility to evaluate them...

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Problems with MK 99

• CA visits the site rarely might be once or twice
  the month,
• but the situation at the site changes very
  rapidly, the hazards appears and disapears with
  each new work, with each new subcontractor, by
  starting to use new equipment, new substancies
  etc. Static assesments can not be suitable for
  construction site, the extensive MK660 based
  checklist can not be suitable for large and
  specific site.
• The approach shoud be changed...

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View on Construction Site of National Library
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Problems with MK 99 Example

• At the construction site of National Library more
  the 20 subcontractors are involved
• 3 subcontractors have concluded agreements with
  CA (each with different), that makes Evaluation
  of Work Environment Risks for one and the same
  site, sometimes just making phone calls without
  visiting site...
• Some from the subcontractors has to do some work
  at another sites as well

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Occupational HealthSafety
Legislation not completely adequate to EU
requirements Implementation of legislation could
be much better, capacity and attitude of SLI
should be changed Legislation has requirements
that most of the workers could not understand
so requirements for scaffolds is given in
mandatory standarts EN 12810-1, EN 12810-2 EN
12811-1, EN 12811-3, but these standards you can
get only in English there is not translation
for mandatory occupational safety requirements!
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Occupational HealthSafety
Responsibility of client is not stressed clearly,
if in the theory might be there is just small
problems, in real praxis it transforms to a big
problem Education and training of workers is not
sufficient Situation with the vocational
education of coordinators in health and safety
matters is absolute problem the regulation
requires only 50 hours together with trusted
persons in officies and thats enough for the
whole life! Some employers are unaware of OHS
requirements but others are making savings not
spending money for OHS
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Occupational HealthSafety
OHS is not relevant factor in tenders for state
and municipaly orders Certification according
OHSAS 18001 is simply catastrophic - if the
certifiers speaks not local language they are not
able to check the documents and speak to
workers! The learning from the mistakes of others
is almost not possible, because SLI keeps the
accident investigation results not freely
available to others... Attitude of the workers
and the whole society...
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Thank you for the attention