José Luis Sánchez Domínguez, Chairman of Sando
The 4th National Health and Safety in the Construction industry Gathering, organized by Sando Fundación, in conjunction with the Department for Risk Prevention and the RSC at Malaga University’s Technical Engineering College, has dealt with three extremely important matters relating to Occupational Risk Prevention:
International rules relating to safety aspects of portable machinery and equipment, the current post-crisis situation with regard to prevention, and Spanish Health and Safety Strategies from 2014 to 2020.
Present at the inauguration of the day-long discussions were: the principal of Malaga University, Adelaida de la Calle; Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Junta de Andalusia’s Director General for Occupational Health and Safety, Francisco Javier Zambrana, and the Chairman of Sando, José Luis Sánchez Domínguez.
The talks began with a few words from the Chairman of Sando, José Luis Sánchez Domínguez, who recalled that this year is the 40th Anniversary of the company’s foundation and emphasized the importance of prevention issues at Sando. “Prevention is one of those issues where you just cannot make cuts, because the company’s most important asset, human resources, depends on health and safety.
Francisco Javier Zambrana stressed the need for companies and institutions to join forces in issues of health and safety and to change the way in which health and safety functions in the construction sector:
“It is vital for construction to grow once more for the country’s economic recovery and we must be prepared to take new risks which will inevitably come with change".
After that, the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, revealed how much effort has been put into providing services via the Town Council and how much progress they have made with regard to the safety of their workers: “everything we do with regard to prevention issues is just a small amount and we have to keep working at it constantly".
The Principal of Malaga University, Adelaida de la Calle, pointed out that society must get together to help in prevention issues: “we have reached a crucial moment in time, both in the public as well as the private sector, and it is vital to bring together institutions and businesses, such as we have seen today at these talks focusing on prevention issues. And, we are delighted that some of the students have come along to listen to the talks, as they are our future”.
The first round table discussions focussing on international rules relating to the safety of portable equipment in the construction industry saw Ricardo Zubiría de Castro, Head of Operations and Technology for Health and Safety at Work at AENOR Andalusia, express his point of view about quality in the field of prevention.
Francisco Godoy Sánchez, Technical Co-ordinator for Health and Safety Management of the Urban Planning Department in Malaga, then explained the difficulties involved in health and safety issues with regard to project management and co-ordination.
At the round-table, Jesús Crespo Curado, Head of Technical Services and Coordination at SSL from the Agency for the Environment and Water in Andalusia, highlighted the huge variety and complexity of work carried out for the authorities in order for all companies to comply with legislation relating to prevention. To conclude, José Vicente Máñez, director of Technical Activities at Unipresalud, put forward the views of other prevention services with regard to this matter.
The crisis and the role of prevention in light of this situation was the focus of the second of the round-table talks in which Francisco Carbonero, Secretary General of CCOO Andalucía, began by commenting on the relationship between companies and trade unions, which even though they appear to be at opposite ends, actually do possess the same objective, which is to look out for workers´ safety. “Occupational risk prevention can never be considered an expense, but rather an investment”. Also, José Manuel Rodríguez Saucedo, Assistant Secretary General of MCA Andalucía at UGT, emphasized the loss of quality in prevention issues due to the crisis.
Emilio Corbacho Domínguez, Secretary General of Fadeco Contratistas, talked about the efforts made to provide Andalusia with 47 centres for the Construction Workers Foundation in which he gave “special mention to health and safety training”. The last speaker at the table, Fernando Bentabol Manzanares, the Tax Delegate from the District Attorney´s Office for Occupational Accidents in Malaga, was self-critical about the judicial role: “in the past, the problem of accidents at work has been pushed to one side due to the technical difficulty of this subject matter”.
Spanish Strategies for Health and Safety at Work from 2014 to 2020 was explained by the speaker Rafael Martínez Mesas, Vice-director General for Coordination in matters involving Work relations, Occupational Risk Prevention and Equality Measures from the Ministry of Employment and Social Security.
The day of talks ended with a closing speech and Sando Fundación prize awards for Health and Safety at Work, now in its tenth year. The presidential table was presided over by Javier González de Lara y Sarria, president of the Federation of Businessmen and women in Andalusia; Juan Carlos Rubio Romero, director of the Department of Prevention and RSC at UMA; Jesús Fernández Lozano, director of E.T.S. Industrial Engineering at Malaga University, and José Luis Sánchez Domínguez, the Chairman of Sando.
González de Lara stressed the role played by human resources in the company, which goes to make up the most important area of talent, essential for a company to work well, and recognized the great work Sando has carried out with regard to prevention issues and emphasized the need for large companies to get involved: “Andalusia needs companies large enough to supply essential resources for prevention issues”.
Likewise, the Director of E.T.S. Industrial Engineering at Malaga University offered for his college to be an exchange centre for knowledge between companies and institutions. This idea was reinforced by Juan Carlos Rubio Romero who put across his point of view as director of the Prevention Department and RSC at UMA.
Lastly, the day’s discussions were bought to an end by the Chairman of Sando, José Luis Sánchez Domínguez, who praised the progress which has been made in this matter during the last 40 years and the means currently available to fight against accidents occurring at the workplace.
To end, Sando Fundación awarded prizes for Health and Safety at Work. The first of these was for the team of workers from Sando Construccións which built the River Pathway across the Odiel Estuary (Huelva), while recognition for the collaborating company went to the “compañía Ibérica de Grúas y Transportes”.
The 4th Health and Safety in the Construction industry Gathering took place thanks to the collaboration of various companies and the Media, such as Unipresalud, Onda Cero, La Opinión de Málaga, El Mundo Málaga, EFE Escuela de Formación, La Razón Andalucía, El Economista and Europa Press.
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