The Sando Fundación’s III National Construction Health and Safety Congress has this morning presented four differing visions regarding prevention with view points from public institutions, private businesses, research centres and from trade unions.
The Sando Fundación’s III National Construction Health and Safety Congress has this morning presented four differing visions regarding prevention with view points from public institutions, private businesses, research centres and from trade unions.
The event had a great reception from the public who filled the assembly hall of the University Rectorate, with a high level of technical knowledge both amongst the speakers and the delegates.
The Sando Fundación’s III National Construction Health and Safety Congress has been sponsored by Metadata with additional participation from the University of Malaga Prevention and Social Responsibility Chair, EFE Foundation, El Mundo, Europa Press, La Opinión de Málaga, La Razón, Málaga Hoy, Onda Cero and the University of Malaga.
The institutional view point was presented during the opening ceremony which was presided over jointly by the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre and Esther Azorit Jiménez, the Andalucía Regional Government Director General for Occupational Health and Safety, alongside Luis Sánchez Manzano, Vice President and Managing Director of Sando.
The Mayor of Malaga praised the increase in the safety requirements in subcontracting: “Everything invested in prevention is good for something so sacred as life and the individual’s physical integrity”.
Esther Azorit highlighted the situation in Andalucía with respect to other regions: “We are below average in the Autonomous Community accident rates. This is thanks to the involvement of the institutions and of companies like Sando”.
Likewise, Luis Sánchez Manzano stressed the importance of keeping up investment in health and safety in times of crisis: “Occupational risk prevention is not something it is possible to cut back on because dependant on it is the health and safety of a company´s most important asset, its human capital”.
The first lecture of the day was given by José Joaquín Moreno Hurtado, Head of the Study and Research Service of the Occupational Health and Safety Directorate General. During his presentation, titled ‘Evaluation of the Andalucía Regional Government Health and Safety Strategy’, he discussed the evolution, positive and negative points of the various Regional Government programmes: “We have initiated 84 actions during this, the first year and have now concluded 17. Some will run throughout this year and others will even conclude in 2013”.
Round Table
The conference reached its most avidly anticipated point during the round table session, ‘The interaction of prevention policies in the international arena’, in which an extensive debate was sparked. The first of the speakers was Juan Carlos Rubio Romero, Professor of the University of Malaga and Director of the Prevention and Corporate Social Responsibility Chair, focusing on scaffolding in the European Union, specifically in Spain and Britain. During an enlightening lecture he presented the strengths and weaknesses of both models and provided some important warnings: “75% of victims who fall from scaffolding die in the first seconds after impact”.
Following this, Jesús Portillo Garcia-Pintos, PhD in Industrial Engineering and expert in international standardisation, recounted the new European Union approach towards product certification, whereby the manufacturers are responsible for compliance with the Essential Health and Safety Requirements and for exceeding some quality standards. He also highlighted the main problem for prevention: “We cannot make progress if we are not able to integrate the cultural values of prevention into Management”.
The Round Table concluded with a speech from Pere Boix i Ferrando, Director of Projects and Researcher for ISTAS (Trade Union Institute of Work, Environment and Health). In his presentation, he spoke about ‘Participative Ergonomics’ and expressed his support for the use of logic and the search for practical solutions to avoid injury: “It is better to solve problems with the resources we have than to wait for subsequent studies”.
During the extensive and free-flowing debate that followed, Frederico Artola Kustner, moderator and Sando Director of Prevention, created a very interactive atmosphere.
The final conference regarding the application of R&D in Health and Safety was given by Francisco Picón, Manager of the consultancy and computer technology development company, Metadata. This company has developed software, Metacontratas, which enables computerized control of all subcontracting works documentation, specifically within the field of prevention. During his presentation, it was possible to demonstrate how easily documentation could be uploaded to this on-line platform.
Closing Session
A range of institutions participated in the closing session. The table was made up of Antonio Herrera, Secretary General of the Workers’ Commission in Malaga, Susana Radío Postigo, Regional Employment Delegate of the Andalucía Regional Government in Malaga, Raquel Barco Moreno, Vice-rector of Campus and Sustainability for the University of Malaga, José Luis Sánchez Dominguez, President of Sando, and Esther Sánchez Manzano, General Director of the Sando Fundación.
From the trade union stand point, Antonio Herrera noted the high number of young people present and stressed the importance of new generations being interested in occupational risk prevention: “Investment in this area is not a trivial matter, as Sando has done; investing in prevention is investing in health, quality, productivity and competitiveness”.
In turn, the Employment Delegate in Malaga emphasised the need to organise events such as today’s at which the commitment of businesses to prevention is demonstrated. Similarly, Raquel Barco, in her first public appearance as Vice-rector of Campus and Sustainability, took a positive view of the involvement of the university in prevention research.
Finally, the Sando President wanted to point out the importance of uniting synergies so that businesses, institutions, universities and trade unions work together: “This conference gives us the opportunity to collaborate in the defence of occupational risk prevention”.
Prizes
To conclude, Esther Sánchez Manzano awarded the Sando Fundación prizes for Occupational Health and Safety, this being the tenth anniversary of the awards since their creation in 2001, established for Sando professionals and associate companies following recognition of Sando by the European Union with the SAFE prize.
List of prize-winners:
1.Prize for the Conacon project team who carried out the “New installations, Limasa Central Park (Malaga)”, for the best application of safety measures and the best implementation of collective protection. Project Manager, Javier García Rodríguez received the prize.
2.Prize for associate company: Thyssenkrupp Elevators. For its collaboration in the application of safety measures in the facilities of the Sando branch in the Canary Islands. The award was received by Pedro Romero, Thyssenkrupp Malaga representative.
3.Prize for institution: University of Malaga Prevention and Corporate Social Responsibility Chair. For driving and promoting health and safety in the workplace, support of research in Occupational Risk Prevention. The prize was received by Juan Carlos Rubio Romero, Director of the Prevention and Corporate Social Responsibility Chair, Rafael Arjona Jiménez, Limasa Manager, and José Joaquín Moreno Hurtado, Head of the Study and Research Service of the Occupational Health and Safety Directorate General.
4.Honourable Mention: La Cabaña Production Centre, Seville. For the best safety conditions within a materials production installation. Received by Manuel Boza González, Director of Organisation of the Materials and Supply Area.
5.Special Honourable Mention: Extension of the New Runway at Malaga Airport. For the exemplary application of safety measures while executing an extremely complex project. The prize was received by Jaime Rodríguez Donnelly, Project Manager.
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