Jesus Gonzalez Marquez Director of Labour Relations and Security and Labour Health of the Regional Government of Andalucía –
The V National Security and Safety in Construction Meeting brings forward the importance of psychosocial factors
This morning experts in the Scope of Labour Risk Prevention have participated in the V National Safety and Health in Construction Meeting, organized by the Sando Fundación along with the Chair of Labour Risk Prevention at the Superior Technical College of Engineering of Sevilla’s University.
The meeting was focused in three issues: psychosocial factors in the construction sector, investigation after a work accident: penal, civil and administrative aspects, plus the risks derived from the use of nanomaterials in construction.
The opening act was attended by Pedro Garcia Vazquez, General Director of Infrastructures of the University of Sevilla, Jesus Gonzalez Marquez, General Director of Labour Relations and Occupational Health and Safety of the Regional Government of Andalucía; Juan Carlos Cabrera Valera; Security, Mobility of Mayor Holidays Councilor; Carmen Castilla Alvarez, General Secretary of Andalucia’s UGT; Francisco Carbonero Cantador, General Secretary of Andalucia CCOO, and Luis Sanchez Manzano, Vicepresident and Managing Director of Sando.
The Vicepresident and Managing Director of Sando has initiated an event highlighting l+D+i in prevention that the company has developed in the last years showing the accidents rate of the company: "in Sando we have below average levels, almost 30% as a construction company".
Following this, Pedro Garcia Vazquez in his welcome words has valued the Chair of Prevention of the University of Sevilla and has called the attention on the necessity to invest in security and health.
The General Secretary of CCOO Andalucia, Francisco Carbonero, has emphasized the role of major companies that, as Sando, invest in prevention: "why are there more accidents in the SMEs? Because they do not allocate funds and because with the crisis the awareness campaigns have disappeared”.
In this sense, Carmen Castilla Alvarez, Secretary General of UGT Andalucia, insists in the need of continuous training programs for the workers, because “preventive culture has to be part of corporate excellence, as well as prevention has to be part of the collective negotiation".
Also about training and awareness Jesus Gonzalez General Director of Labour Relations and Occupational Health and Safety, who has remarked that "more than 60% of the accidents are related to nontraumatic or road accidents".
To conclude the inauguration, Juan Carlos Cabrera Valera, Councilor of Security, Mobility of Mayor Holidays, talked about the significance that Sevilla promotes initiatives promoting risk prevention.
In the first of the round table sessions, about psychosocial factors in the construction field, Fernando Sanz Albert, responsible of the work group of the New Technologies Construction Centre Sector questioned himself why if these psychosocial effects are known they are not addressed in the risks evaluations and concluded that “often these factors are the disguised cause of severe or deadly accidents". Idea taken by Cristobal Molina Navarrete, Labour and Social Security Law professor at the University of Jaen, focusing in the lack of visibility of these risk factors.
In a more positive way, Pablo Miralles Garcera, specialist in applied Ergonomics and Psycho-sociology of Unipresalud has remarked on the progress already made in valuing the existence of the psychosocial factors.
The investigation after a labour accident in penal, civil and administrative aspects was the focus of the second round table sessions. The Attorney coordinator of Accidents at Work of Sevilla Federico Buero Pichardo has emphasized on the judicial delay when judging an accident. In this sense, Jesus Crespo Curado chief of service of the Technical and Coordination Services of the SSL of the Environment and Water Agency of Andalucia, has told of different severe accidents in which he has worked and the difficulties they have met: "it is vital to look into those accidents so they don´t happen again".
From another point of view, Salvador Ruiz Menacho, labour attorney from RML attorneys, has mentioned that awareness among businessmen to contract Employers Liability insurance has increased in the last years.
In the plenary session of the day, about the risks derived of the use of nanomaterials in construction, the Director of the Chair of Occupational Risk Prevention of the University of Sevilla, Fernando Vidal Barrero, made a detailed explanation on the use of nanomaterials, its legislative regulation in several countries and the links with the future of construction.
Finally, the award ceremony begins of the Sando Fundación Awards on Security and Health in Construction which awards acknowledge the effort for the defense in the prevention of labour risks at work.
The first award went to the Sando Construcciones team who has performed the urbanization of El Cañaveral in Coslada, Madrid. This award was presented by Javier Gonzalez de Lara y Sarria, President of the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalucia, and was received by Francisco Catalan Caballero manager of the Works.
The award for the collaborating company has been in this occasion for the company Yunquera Forestal, SL. The award was presented by the Director of the Chair of Occupational Risk Prevention of the University of Sevilla, Fernando Vidal Barrero and was received by the owner of the company, Antonio Martin Lopez.
To conclude, the President of the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalucia has enphasized that the corporate commitment is fundamental in prevention, an undertaking for everyone in which the key element is the labourer: “prevention is a budget item impossible to reduce since from it depends the most meaningful asset of a company, its human capital".
The V National Security and Health in Construction Meeting, has concluded with the expressed recognition of the awarded from the General Director of the Sando Fundación, Esther Sanchez Manzano.
This meeting has been organized in collaboration with Unipresalud, the Chair of Prevention and RSC of the University of Malaga, and communication media such as Agencia Efe, Europa Press, Cadena Ser, Diario de Sevilla, El Correo de Andalucía, El Mundo y La Razón.
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