National health and safety agreement followed up

In September 2001, seven months after the signing of a national tripartite agreement on working conditions, health and safety and prevention of accidents at work, a number of initiatives have been undertaken at various levels in Portugal. A short-term intervention plan has been completed and a new National Prevention Action Plan has resulted in the adoption of a number of measures for the coming three years. The social partners have been heavily involved in the implementation process.

In February 2001, the Portuguese social partners and government signed an agreement aimed at improving working conditions and health and safety at the workplace and combating accidents at work (Acordo sobre condições de Trabalho, Higiene e Segurança no Trabalho e Combate à Sinistralidade) (PT0102135F). The high fatal accident rate in Portuguese workplaces (PT0011118N) and heightened public awareness of the importance of quality of life in the workplace are factors that have contributed to pressure for measures to be taken after the signing of the February tripartite agreement. The consensus achieved in previous agreements between the social partners - for example in a previous 1991 agreement on safety, health and hygiene at work and in the 1996-9 Strategic Concertation Pact (PT9808190F) - and a 1999 white paper on company accident prevention services are also important sources of support for intervention.

The initiatives that have been taken so far since the February agreement represent an effort to introduce a partnership approach between trade unions and other partners. The agreement has been developed through two types of measures: risk prevention and the fight against accidents; and the implementation and modernisation of company safety, hygiene and occupational health departments.

Institutional developments

On the basis of the February agreement, two coordinating and controlling bodies have been set up:

• a task force, coordinated by the Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions (Instituto para o Desenvolvimento e Inspecção das Condições de Trabalho, IDICT) and involving a number of institutions in partnership, charged with drawing up a short-term intervention plan and a medium-term National Prevention Action Plan (Plano Nacional de Acção para a Prevenção, PNAP); and

• a new National Council for Hygiene and Safety at Work (Conselho Nacional de Higiene e Segurança no Trabalho, CNHST), created by Decree-Law No. 245/2001 of 8 September 2001.

Measures taken

According to IDICT, which is responsible for implementing them, the measures contained in the short-term intervention plan (lasting for three months) are now under way or have already been completed. These measures involve:

• creating awareness on health and safety issues and giving information and training to workers and employers in the civil construction, textiles, footwear, cork and ceramics industries (including brochures with basic advice, prevention manuals, posters and awareness campaigns and publication of a list of occupational diseases);

• establishing or improving specific standards and regulations for the sectors with the highest fatal accident rate, such as civil construction;

• reinforcing inspection resources and activities (including recruiting and training inspectors);

• defining and monitoring the implementation and assessment of occupational risk prevention policies and combating industrial accidents; and

• creating an accident prevention observatory at the new National Council for Hygiene and Safety at Work.

In the case of some measures that involve the continuation of existing ones, the aim is to reach a larger target audience for publicity, open new fields and ensure that the various measures are integrated.

An implementation strategy has been drawn up for the PNAP medium-term plan, which will last for three years. Its activities can be divided into four groups:

• legislation and inspection;

• statistics;

• health; and

• promoting a prevention culture

One of the most important initiatives in the last group is a National Plan for Occupational Health and Safety Education (Plano Nacional de Educação sobre Saúde e Segurança no Trabalho, PNESST) under which occupational health and safety will be included in school syllabuses. A pilot project is already under way in about 100 schools throughout the country, including Barcelos, Buarcos and Lisbon (Alcântara).

Involvement of the social partners

The social partners have participated in the development of the February agreement as follows:

• the tripartite nature of the new National Council for Hygiene and Safety at Work, which has 18 members, six each from the government and the trade unions and employers' bodies that sit on the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social, CES) - the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (Confederação da Industria Portuguesa, CIP), the Portuguese Trade and Services Confederation (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP) the Portuguese Farmers' Confederation (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP), the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP) and the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT); and

• the tripartite formation of the accident opevention observatory; and

• awareness campaigns for the civil construction sector in which five industrial associations and two trade unions have participated

Some measures are being implemented with the involvement of networks, as is the case with schools, or with the involvement of the Portuguese Medical Association (Ordem dos Médicos) in the case of an awareness campaign to bring occupational health issues to the attention of doctors.

Future developments in quality at work

According to both IDICT, which coordinates the PNAP medium-term plan, and the Council of Ministers decision that created it, the PNAP is intended to take an integrated approach to assessing and eliminating health and safety risks, with intervention aimed mainly at the source of the risk. In the future, the PNAP will work towards improving occupational health and safety structures inside companies and instilling the concept of companies' social responsibility.

Commentary

The PNAP has improved and included in a joint strategy some activities that were already under way, especially in terms of state intervention with the participation of the social partners. The path that is being followed is expected to lead to positive results in terms of:

• greater involvement in the workplace. The development of point II of the agreement, which facilitates the implementation of occupational health and safety departments in companies, will help to improve information at this level. Portugal already has legislation providing for workplace health and safety committees (PT9810100F), but the law has not yet been put into effect by regulations;

• intensification of collective bargaining in this area, which, at present, covers very few topics and will certainly develop further. (Maria Luisa Cristovam, UAL)