New health and safety regulations approved

In Romania, the government has approved new regulations aimed at further clarifying the responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to occupational health and safety. The proposals were approved by the government in March 2006 and are currently being debated in parliament.

Reasons for new legislation

New legislation has been drawn up to transpose the provisions of Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work, replacing existing provisions in this field. The draft law was approved by the government on 8 March 2006 and submitted to parliament for immediate debate, so that the legislation may become effective from 1 October 2006.

A new law on occupational health and safety was deemed necessary, as certain provisions in the previous legislation ran counter to both European directives and to the revised Labour Code (RO0507102F).

Provisions of new law

The most substantial part of the legislation focuses on employers’ responsibilities, based on a number of key areas including: general responsibilities; prevention and protection services; first-aid and employee evacuation procedures in case of imminent danger; responsibilities for the earliest stage of land survey, design and construction of company buildings to ensure that the specifications meet occupational health and safety requirements; and information, consultation and training of workers and/or their representatives in matters related to occupational health and safety.

Workers’ responsibilities are stipulated in two articles of the legislation, as is the regulation on workers’ health monitoring. In accordance with the proposed legislation, workers are no longer required to cover 50% of safety equipment costs (also forbidden by the European directive) or to pay fines for non-compliance of occupational safety rules.

The notification, investigation, recording and reporting of events pertains to three main areas:

• events (covering description, employers’ responsibilities, investigation and recording of events);

• occupational accidents (description and classification in terms of consequences and number of workers affected);

• occupational diseases (description, investigation, notification).

A special section is dedicated to workers who are at risk or particularly vulnerable, for example, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, young people, disabled people or elderly people.

Another section of the legislation specifically addresses law infringement and criminal offence liabilities (including one to three years’ imprisonment) for non-observance of occupational health and safety rules and regulations.

Authorities responsible

The relevant authorities in charge of occupational health and safety are:

• the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family (Ministerul Muncii Solidaritatii Sociale si Familiei, MMSSF), which draws up the methodological rules for implementation of the law;

• the Ministry of Health (Ministerul Sanatatii, MS), which provides public healthcare services;

• the Ministry of Education and Research (Ministerul Educatiei si Cercetarii, MEC), which carries out national occupational health and safety research programmes and trains specialised personnel;

• the Labour Inspectorate (Inspectia Muncii, IM), which monitors the application of the law.

Amendments proposed by social partners

Employer organisations and trade unions reviewed the draft law in the Economic and Social Council (Consiliul Economic si Social, CES) and proposed 24 amendments.

The social partners proposed that the law should promote the general principles of occupational health and safety management. More specifically, they suggested:

• replacing the term sector with economic activity;

• including technical incidents and failures in event reporting;

• that the medical check-up prior to employment should be carried out by the industrial medical authority and not by other healthcare units;

• a clearer definition of employers’ responsibilities in providing extra food and carbonated soft drinks so as not to hide the harmful effects of occupational diseases.

They also requested: ‘an express provision in the law stipulating that workers or their representatives with specific occupational health and safety responsibilities cannot be submitted to pressure or be discriminated against as a result of these responsibilities’. Moreover, ‘employers must be obliged to provide each worker with specific and adequate information and training on occupational health and safety procedures; and there should be a clearer stipulation of the fact that preventive medical check-ups are compulsory, not just desirable, so that workers cannot refuse medical examinations.’ In addition, the social partners called for the ‘establishment of a relevant authority specialised in occupational health and safety, distinct from public healthcare institutions.’

They further sought that: ‘penalties should be imposed on the employer’s legal representative, and patrimonial liability for prejudices to the victims in accordance with the civil code should be eliminated since insurance is paid.’

Finally, the social partners requested that competences should be more clearly delineated, and that those of national and local MMSSF specialised structures should be included.

Dr Constantin Ciutacu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy