Occupational Safety and Health
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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH INCREASING CAPACITIES AND STRENGTHENING OF THE ROLE OF THE REGIONAL CSOS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE LABOR CONDITIONS AND DIALOGUE WITH PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS Study of Serbia This project is funded by The European Union OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROJECT – “INCREASING CAPACITIES AND STRENGTHENING OF THE ROLE OF THE REGIONAL CSOS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE LABOR CONDITIONS AND DIALOGUE WITH PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS” Study of Serbia Belgrade, 2018 Publisher: Makedonsko udruženje za zaštitu pri radu Skopje, 2018 Author: PhD. Petar Bulat - Full Professor at the Medical Faculty at Belgrade Coauthor: MSc. Milan Petkovski, Grad. OSh. ENg. Project: “Increasing capacities and strengthening of the role of the regional CSOs for improvement of the labor conditions and dialogue with Public Institutions” This project is funded by The European Union This publication has been prepared with support from the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and in no way can be considered to represent the views of the European Union. 4 Abstract Occupational Safety and Health is a fundamental employee right verified by the International Labor Organization Conventions, the EU Lisbon Agreement and the EU Directives. Occupational Safety and Health is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia according to which everyone has the right to respect the dignity of one’s own personality, to Labor, to Occupational Safety and no one can forfeit these rights. Since the field of occupational safety and health is of multidisciplinary character, the legal basis is contained in several laws: Labor Law, Health Care Law, Health Insurance Law, Pension and Disability Insurance Law and many other laws and by-laws. Implementation of regulations is also multidisciplinary and requires intensive communication of many state authorities. All this makes the field of occupational safety and health a very complex area, both for the adoption of regulations in this field and for their implementation. Nevertheless, although it is a complex area, the results of the survey of 53 stakeholders from the sphere of occupational safety and health indicate that the respondents assess the state of occupational safety and health in the Republic of Serbia as satisfactory. Also, the largest number of participants in the survey assessed the legislation as satisfactory. Almost all participants in the survey believe that it is necessary to develop specific regulations and measures in the field of occupational health and safety. The largest number of respondents are satisfied with compliance of Serbian of occupational safety and health regulations with EU regulations. It has already been pointed out that the field of occupational safety and health is multidisciplinary and that only the coordinated activity of all actors in this field leads to progress. Analysing the results of the survey, it is noted that the majority of actors in this field are positively assessed and that significantly higher contributions of employees, judicial authorities, and non-governmental organizations to the development of occupational health and safety system are expected. Based on the conducted analysis of the occupational safety and health system in the Republic of Serbia, it was concluded that the occupational safety and health system is based on international standards (EU and ILO) and that the legislation is approaching European standards, but that implementation of regulations is still not satisfactory, especially in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. There is plenty of room to improve the participation of civil society, social partners and employees in improving occupational safety and health. It was also concluded that there is room for improvement of regulations in the field of occupational health, occupational injuries and occupational diseases. It should be noted that proficient personnel for occupational safety and health as well as external services that perform occupational safety and health are well grounded in the occupational safety and health system of Serbia, but that there are challenges in their status and competences. The issue of improving the contribution of judicial authorities to the occupational safety and health system, especially in the field of criminal policy, has already been highlighted. It has been noted that there is plenty of room for improvement of education in this area, starting from elementary and secondary education through higher education, but also lack of a structured system of continuous education and relicensing. Also, there is a lack of scientific and research and promotional activities in the field of occupational safety and health at all levels. Based on the conducted analysis of the system of safety and health at work in the Republic of Serbia, there is a need for cooperation with civil society organizations to continue work on transposing the EU legislation in this area, to proceed with the ratification and confirmation of ILO conventions, but also to improve the implementation already adopted regulations, especially in micro, small and medium enterprises, by introducing new tools, guides and guidelines. It is advised to reform the role and position of occupational health, reform the registration system and introduce insurance against occupational injuries and diseases. In order to improve the functioning of the occupational safety and health system, it is recommended to improve the administrative and technical capacities and resources of the labor inspection as well as the training of misdemeanours judges and prosecutors in order to improve the quality of the implementation of regulations in this field through improved cooperation with the labor inspection. Education in the field of occupational safety and health is of utmost importance. In order to improve education in occupational safety and health it is advised, that through the education of elementary and secondary school teachers to improve the implementation of practical instructions in occupational safety and health. Also, it is necessary to define precisely the profile and competencies of the proficient personnel for occupational safety and health, to introduce a register of these persons as well as to establish an accreditation body that will evaluate the quality and accredit the education programs in this field, which will be the basis for the introduction of programs for relicensing of proficient personnel for occupational safety and health. Since without scientific and research work in the field of occupational safety and health there is no progress this field nor progress in quality of education, it is recommended to stimulate scientific research in this area through special funds, as well as continuously supporting the cooperation of the University with employers in order to transfer new technologies from the field of occupational safety and health to production processes. In order to better integrate the field of occupational safety and health into all spheres of social activities, it is necessary to systematically regulate the role of civil society organizations and social partners in the occupational safety and health system. Also, special incentives for employers are advised for the increased participation of employees' representatives in addressing issues related to occupational safety and health. In order to improve the promotion of occupational safety and health, media representatives need to be specifically educated to increase their interest in this area. It is also advised to organize special promotional activities in the field of occupational safety and health through the cooperation of the Directorate for Safety and Health at Work, Labor Inspectorate with employers, social partners, including civil society organizations. Foreword The text "Increasing the capacities and strengthening the role of regional civil society organizations for improvement the labor conditions and social dialogue with public institutions" has been developed within the European Union grant "EuropeAid / 150147 / DH / ACT / PRAREG". The project is being implemented in five countries through partners: Occupational Safety and Health Associations of Macedonia, the Occupational Safety and Health Association of Serbia, the Occupational Safety and Health Association of Kosovo, the Albanian Center for Occupational Safety and Health and the Association for Safety at Work of Montenegro. The overall objective of the project is to create conditions for dialogue between regional civil society organizations and public institutions to improve labor conditions. The publication "Increasing the capacities and strengthening the role of regional civil society organizations for improvement the labor conditions and social dialogue with public institutions" was created as a result of longstanding, extremely successful cooperation, with the Association for Safety and Health at Work of Serbia and the experiences from the preparation of the "Serbian Occupational Safety and Health Profile" within International Labor Organization project in 2006, as well as the work on the "National Asbestos Exposure Profile of the Republic of Serbia" in 2017. Friendly advices and suggestions as well as, the exceptional support of many colleagues in the field of occupational safety and health have made the publication much better, and the work on its development has turned into a pleasure. I would like to thank all those who have led me, with their advices, through