|
From MaltaMedia.com Local With the theme ‘Healthy Workplaces - Good for You. Good for Business’, the European Safety and Health at Work campaign was launched on Friday in Malta as part of a pan-European campaign to raise awareness about the importance of risk assessments at the place of work. The campaign will run over a period of two years, culminating in the organisation of two European Weeks in October of each year, this year being held between 20 and 26 October. The Minister for Social Policy, John Dalli, said that the theme of this initiative ‘Healthy Workplaces - Good for You. Good for Business’, must not only be a campaign slogan but the common mentality of the employer and the employee. Dr Mark Gauci, the Chief Executive Officer of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority said that risk assessment was one of the pillars of systematic occupational health and safety (OHS) management. ‘Occupational accidents can be reduced significantly by carrying out a risk assessment and adopting safe systems of work that in the majority of cases are inexpensive to implement. When a risk assessment is not undertaken or is not carried out properly, the appropriate preventive measures are unlikely to be in place’, Dr Gauci said.
Amongst the events being organised locally as part of this campaign, the Malta Focal Point of the European Agency within the Occupational Health and Safety Authority will be organising three seminars in the first part of this campaign. The first seminar will target stakeholders to better explain the campaign and form campaign partnerships. One of the other two seminars will target employers and focus on OHS and competitiveness, while the second one will be aimed at unions and at health and safety representatives and focus on consultation and participation of workers in OHS matters. The OHSA in Malta also launched the annual OHS Good Practice Awards scheme and Dr Gauci invited all interested parties to submit their nominations. In line with the European theme, the Awards this year will focus on risk assessments. The closing date is 1 September 2008. Application forms are available from OHSA. The awards aim to demonstrate, by example, to all employers and workers the benefits of conducting risk assessments and promoting healthy workplaces to safeguard the occupational health and safety of workers. The nominations will be adjudicated by a panel of independent judges and the winners will be announced in a ceremony held by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority. The awards will provide those selected with national recognition for their role in improving working conditions in Malta. In addition the winner will then participate at a European level together with the winners from the other EU member states. The award ceremony will be held in Bilbao (Spain). Further information about the campaign and application forms for the Good Practice Awards can be obtained by phoning 21 247677/8 or sending an email to ohsa.communications@gov.mt © Copyright 2008 by MaltaMedia.com |
One simple way to curb accidents is to
carry out a risk assessment. A risk assessment is a careful analysis of what
could injure or harm people in a way that the employer can determine whether
enough precautions have been taken and what else should be done to improve the
situation. Employers are duty-bound by law to carry out such risk assessments,
to update them on a regular basis and to present them to occupational health
and safety officers during an inspection.