Companies receive health and safety awards

In 2006, a total of 14 enterprises met the requirements of the ‘Safe enterprise programme’, achieving recognition for being a ‘safe enterprise’. The programme, which was launched by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in 1996, aims to promote cooperation between employees and company management in improving safety at work.

Some 14 companies in the Czech Republic werre recognised as being ‘safe enterprises’ in 2006, under the government-led ‘Safe enterprise programme’. The company representatives received the appropriate certificates from the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the Inspector General of the State Labour Inspection Office (Státní úřad inspekce práce, SÚIP).

Safe enterprise programme

The safe enterprise programme was launched by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí ČR, MPSV ČR) at the end of 1996 and is organised by SÚIP. In 2003, a government resolution declared the programme to be part of the implementation of tasks designed for the improvement of safety at work under the National Safety at Work and Health Protection Policy. The requirements for the occupational health and safety management systems, as specified in the safe enterprise programme, are based on the principles and rules applied by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), namely the system standards of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. Moreover, they conform to the requirements stipulated for occupational health and safety management systems in the document known as OHSAS 18001 and the guidelines ILO-OSH 2001. This allows for harmonisation of the occupational health and safety management system and the quality management system, as well as the environmental management system, which may have been introduced in the enterprise, and for their implementation as part of the overall management system applied in the particular enterprise.

Scope and objectives

The safe enterprise programme is designed for large and medium-sized companies employing at least 100 employees, whose business activities bring about an increased risk for employees or the general public in the vicinity of the company, and/or any threat to the environment. However, the programme is not designed for non-manufacturing companies, advisory and design firms, or the commercial sphere. The project aims to promote cooperation between employees and the company management in improving safety at work. After meeting the stipulated criteria, the enterprise is entitled to use the title of a ‘safe enterprise’ for a period of three years, which can be renewed on the basis of audited positive results in the given area.

The objective of the programme, which has been continuously updated since 1996, is to improve safety at work in enterprises. The programme aims to introduce an efficient corporate occupational health and safety management system, covering health, environment and property protection. At the same time, it aims to assist the enterprises in the implementation of the requirements contained in EU directives and Czech legislation in the field, and thus improve the image of the enterprise in respect of its employees as well as its customers. The ‘Safe enterprise’ certificate is held by companies active in various industries, particularly the chemical, automobile, paper and engineering industries. In 2006, certificates were awarded to companies such as Česká rafinérská, the crude oil processing company, and Pražská teplárenská, the energy company.

Required documentation

In order to attain the safe enterprise certificate, an enterprise has to submit a number of documents relating to occupational health and safety: namely, information relating to job-related injuries, well-known hazardous workplaces, employee training in the field of safety at work and health protection, in-house healthcare facilities, technical aspects of the machinery and equipment operated, waste disposal and the handling of hazardous chemicals, as well as certificates of professional brush-up training and checking of employees in certain blue-collar professions such as scaffolders, boilermen or welders. The entire corporate documentation submitted is then reviewed by auditors, while the opinion is also sought of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (Česká inspekce životního prostředí, ČIŽP), the Fire Brigades (Hasičské záchranné sbory) and the Czech Mining Authority (Český báňský úřad, ČBÚ).

Good practice in health promotion

Besides the safe enterprise project, the National Institute of Public Health (Státní zdravotní ústav, SZÚ), under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo zdravotnictví ČR, MZ ČR), organises a competition to identify the most ‘health promoting enterprise’; the second annual round of this contest took place in 2006. The competition looks for examples of good practice in the provision of statutory occupational healthcare and other health promotion activities among Czech companies. Unlike the safe enterprise programme, the competition is also open to non-manufacturing enterprises. In 2006, the companies awarded with certificates as part of this initiative included the petrochemical enterprise Chemopetrol, the food manufacturer Nestlé Česko and the porcelain manufacturer Český porcelán.

Jaroslav Hála and Soňa Veverková, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs