Assessment of working conditions at construction and building sites

In Slovakia, working conditions in the construction sector are associated with higher risk to the lives and health of employees. The most common hazard for workers in this sector is in the area of mechanical operations. However, workers are also at risk due to improper installation and handling of electrical equipment or the use of building chemicals.

In 2005, the National Labour Inspectorate (Národný inšpektorát práce, NIP) carried out several checks at construction and building sites in order to assess the current situation in relation to working conditions and to adopt relevant measures to improve the situation where necessary.

Characteristics of workplace checks

A number of different assessments were carried out by NIP.

• Nationally organised checks were completed on all aspects of occupational safety and health (OSH) and working conditions at construction and building sites. Assessments were conducted at 93 building sites and 1,098 deficiencies were detected, out of which 107 were regarded as serious risks to workers.

• Checks of labour inspection in the construction industry were administered within the framework of the European Senior Labour Inspectors Committee (SLIC) campaign. Inspections were directed at areas carrying the most health risks, according to statistical evaluations, such as the risk of people or objects falling from a height, transport at building sites and activities related to the use of materials and equipment. Assessments were carried out at 466 building sites and 1,638 deficiencies in working conditions were recorded. In all, 41% of all deficiencies were detected in relation to the workers and the company initiating the construction. In addition, 59% of all deficiencies were detected in the case of subcontractors providing building services.

• All checks involved an assessment of the observation of obligations set by Act No. 330/1996 Coll. (in Slovakian) on OSH, as well as the governmental Ordinance No. 510/2001 Coll. on minimum safety and health requirements at building sites and other related implementing regulations and technical standards.

Main problems identified

During the inspection procedure, common deficiencies were detected in the following areas under assessment.

Management of occupational safety and health and working conditions

• Basic documents for the planning and management of OSH are not defined; for example, objectives of the OSH policy and an agenda for its implementation. In storage areas, operators do not have ‘operating instructions for the storage house’.

• Persons responsible for OSH, or so-called safety coordinators, are not designated.

• Reports relating to the commencement of work at building sites are not forwarded to the relevant labour inspectorate.

• Managers responsible for OSH are not familiar with the basic rules to adhere to.

• Employees are not properly instructed on OSH issues before starting work.

• At building sites, where several suppliers operate simultaneously, mutual relationships and responsibilities for OSH are not agreed upon.

• Measures to deal with extraordinary events, such as workplace accidents, are not implemented properly, and registration of occupational accidents and diseases is not carried out in the required format.

Risks during performance of duties

• Materials and documents are stored in dangerous ways.

• Registration and marking of storage material is insufficiently completed.

• Work areas and walkways are unsatisfactory.

• Dangerous execution of ground works is an issue and violations of OSH requirements were found in terms of transport on building sites.

Working environment and working conditions

• Building sites have unmarked and unsecured entries.

• Employees working at heights are not secured properly – unsuitable or inadequate erection of scaffolding.

Outcome of assessment

During the various checks, NIP issued a total of 66 sanctions to companies for deficiencies in connection with the following: lack of professional qualifications and health certificates held by operators of machinery at construction sites; operation of other machines and equipment; areas used for production and operation; technologies used; works executed without permission or qualification; operation of electrical equipment; and use of scaffolding.

In 2005, as a consequence of infringements of occupational safety and health and working environment rules at construction sites, 816 occupational accidents took place representing an overall rate of 1.64 occupational accidents per 100 employees in the sector. The national average of occupational accidents per 100 employees amounted to 0.64 accidents. Moreover, 20 fatal occupational accidents occurred, counting eight per 100,000 employees, while the national average of all sectors represented 3.73 accidents per 100,000 workers.

Teodor Hatina, Institute for Labour and Family Research