Fatal accidents at work under debate

Download article in original language : PT0209101NPT.DOC

In August 2002, a succession of fatal accidents at work in the construction industry led to considerable debate in Portugal, which has the EU's highest rate of such accidents. The government is preparing legislation to bring safety regulations for the building industry up to date, while trade unions are calling for more inspection of compliance with the current legislation and for implementation of the tripartite agreement on working conditions and health and safety signed in 2001.

Portugal is the European Union Member State with the highest rate of fatal accidents at work. According to Eurostat, in 1998 Portugal had a standardised incidence rate of 7.7 fatal accidents (excluding road and traffic transport accidents) per 100,000 workers, while the EU average was 3.4. In the first half of 2002, 119 fatal accidents at work were recorded in Portugal. Of these, 44% were in construction, of which 33% were in public works (an areas which has seen high levels of activity in recent years), with falls accounting for 73% of the accidents. The trade unions claim that the real accident figure is much higher, as the statistics include only deaths occurring at the site of the accident. They further state that manufacturing industry and the transport sector also have high accident rates.

In August 2002, the publication of the data on fatal accidents at work in the first half of the year, along with recent accidents at the Serdão bridge and in the construction of the Algarve motorway, led the unions to take a strong public position, by way of statements and press conferences, calling for immediate measures to be taken.

The government has set up a commission composed of the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, LNEC), the Inspectorate-General of Public Works (Inspecção Geral de Obras Públicas) and the Inspectorate-General of Labour (Inspecção Geral do Trabalho, IGT) to study the cause of the Serdão accident. At the same time, a project to revise the present civil construction safety regulations, which date from 1958, should be completed by the end of October 2002. The Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Ministério da Segurança Social e do Trabalho) and Ministry of Public Works (Ministério das Obras Públicas) working group that is drawing up the new regulations will hear submissions from the Order of Engineers (Ordem dos Engenheiros), the Order of Architects (Ordem dos Arquitectos), the Portuguese Federation of the Construction Industry and Public Works (Federação Portuguesa da Indústria de Construção e Obras Públicas) and the trade unions representing the sector. The objective is to redefine the legal framework covering safety at building sites and the penalties to be applied in the case of non-compliance.

The general position on fatal accidents at work taken by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portuguese, CGTP) and the General Workers Union (União Geral dos Trabalhadores, UGT) is as follows:

• lack of compliance with the legislation in force is at the root of most accidents;

• the absence of inspection is the main problem, which means that the solution to the problem does not lie in the existing legislation but in its practical application;

• it is necessary to put the national tripartite agreement on working conditions, health and safety at the workplace and combating accidents at work (PT0102135F and PT0109102F) into operation. This agreement was signed by the government and all the social partners in 2001 and provides for a National Accident Prevention Plan;

• there should be a meeting of the National Council for Hygiene and Safety at Work (Conselho Nacional de Higiene e Segurança no Trabalho), which includes representatives of the social partners. This body, having existed for many years, was reactivated by the 2001 agreement; and

• training and information should be provided for workers, at the same time as measures are taken to fight precarious working practices and excessive working time.

CGTP notes that no collective agreements signed in 2002 have included clauses in on accidents at work, although they are responsible for a large number of lost working hours, thus increasing absence from work and reducing productivity. CGTP stresses the need to apply the Penal Code, which lays down that those responsible for accidents at the workplace are committing a criminal offence. UGT states that safety, hygiene and health standards and guidelines in firms should have a 'structuring' effect and take a collective approach, not just taking the form of individual measures. However, the process of organising activities related to safety, hygiene and health at work would appear to stalled in most companies.

The IGT reports, however, that the overall number of accidents has gone down and that the situation will improve with new legislation laying down: obligatory content for company health and safety plans; an obligation to suspend building works after an accident; and the obligatory registration of contractors, subcontractors and self-employed workers.