Labour Inspectorate targets health and safety at work
Published: 1 October 2006
The Office of the Labour Inspectorate (Inspectia Muncii, IM [1]) is a specialised institution within the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family (Ministerul Muncii, Solidaritatii Sociale si Familiei, MMSSF [2]) that monitors compliance with legal provisions on employment relations and the well-being of employees and other participants in the work process. Precautionary monitoring is one of the main responsibilities of this institution.[1] http://www.inspectmun.ro/[2] http://www.mmssf.ro
During the first half of 2006, the Office of the Labour Inspectorate carried out a risk prevention monitoring programme to check compliance with workplace health and safety regulations. The resulting report indicates that the office is carrying out more control actions, reflecting a 30% increase in such measures compared with the previous year. In addition, the inspectorate imposed fines totalling a value 3.6 times greater than previously. The report also details the organisational, technical, and health and hygiene deficiencies frequently found in companies.
The Office of the Labour Inspectorate (Inspectia Muncii, IM) is a specialised institution within the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family (Ministerul Muncii, Solidaritatii Sociale si Familiei, MMSSF) that monitors compliance with legal provisions on employment relations and the well-being of employees and other participants in the work process. Precautionary monitoring is one of the main responsibilities of this institution.
Frequency of inspections
According to IM’s recent survey report, some 46,600 inspections took place in the first half of 2006 on the premises of 45,000 companies or approximately 6% of the total number of registered companies in Romania. This number represents 30% more controls compared with 2005 and 17% more than in 2004.
Approximately 70% of the time allotted for inspections was spent on prevention measures, while investigations into occupational accidents took approximately 6% of the time. A further 3.5% of the time was spent on licensing evaluations and advising on work protection regulations, 1% went on tests to identify dangerous substances and 0.2% was allocated to checking technical malfunctions. The rest of the time was spent on training company health and safety personnel, solving complaints and petitions, and other necessary matters.
The following Table shows the activity of IM in the first half of 2006, in comparison with 2004 and 2005.
| Numbers in 000s | 2004 | 2005 | First half of 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of company premises covered by control actions | 68.8 | 68.7 | 45.0 |
| Number of control actions | 69.6 | 70.2 | 46.6 |
| Number of days allotted for control actions, | 110.4 | 112.8 | 59.0 |
| of which spent on: | |||
| - risk prevention control | 64.4 | 72.4 | 42.8 |
| - investigating occupational accidents | 7.0 | 7.5 | 3.4 |
| - work safety counselling and evaluation | 12.1 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
Source: Labour Inspection Office, Bucharest, 2006
The data reveal that more time is being spent on risk prevention control actions – 55% of the allotted time in 2004, 60% in 2005 and 70% in the first half of 2006 – while less time is being assigned to work safety counselling and evaluation for granting health and safety licences to companies.
Main deficiencies
The risk prevention control measures revealed deficiencies in three key areas: organisational, technical, and hygiene and safety.
Organisational deficiencies
IM found the following oversights in this regard:
work safety briefings providing scant information, performed simply for the sake of appearance or not carried out at all;
no in-house regulations on the provision of individual protective equipment or inadequate provision of same;
failure to comply with regulations on the organisation and operation of Workplace Health and Safety Boards;
absence of in-house rules for the implementation of work safety procedures;
failure to comply with legal provisions on working time, shift work or work intensity;
lack of supervision in workplaces prone to occupational accidents;
trades and professions not authorised according to specific legislation;
lack of risk assessment.
Technical deficiencies
In this area, IM identified the following problems:
faulty ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems;
uncertified technical equipment;
inadequate safety clothing;
no concern for workplace ergonomics;
inappropriate storage for hazardous materials;
absence of safety devices on equipment in use.
Deficient hygiene and safety conditions
IM noted the following omissions in this area:
employees not provided with hygiene and safety supplies;
no medical check-up prior to employment with the company or regular health monitoring of employees;
no access to first aid kits;
insufficient hygiene and safety appliances.
In order to address these deficiencies, the government has initiated programmes to standardise working conditions in all companies. In 2005, these initiatives benefited over 2,000 occupations and more than 42,000 employees; ongoing programmes for standardising working conditions cover 195,000 employees working in 7,500 workplaces with occupational risks and hazards.
Following these inspections, the number of employees with jobs involving occupational risks and hazards declined by 63% in 2005 and 2006.
Penalties for non-compliance
In the first half of 2006, approximately 9,900 financial penalties were applied, representing 16% more than in the course of 2005; the fines totalled RON 18.9 million (€531,000), that is 3.6 times more than the total fines collected in the first half of 2005.
Also in the first half of 2006, IM closed down 74 units following failed inspections, compared with 85 similar cases in 2005 and 111 cases in 2004; it also shut down 1,100 installations, compared with 1,440 in 2005 and 1,514 in 2004.
Finally, in the first half of 2006, IM opened criminal proceedings for 76 cases of failure to comply with current workplace health and safety regulations, compared to 177 such actions in 2005 and 124 cases in 2004.
Promoting health and safety at work
In addition to applying these sanctions, IM has focused on activating company health and safety commissions, campaigning in sectors with special health and safety issues, promoting actions aimed at keeping employers and employees, trade union and employer organisations informed, and raising their awareness of the need to observe occupational health and safety standards.
New health and safety regulations aimed at further clarifying the responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to occupational health and safety are expected to become effective on 1 October 2006 (RO0603039I).
Reference
Labour Inspection Office, Activitatea Inspectiei Muncii în domeniul securitatii si sanatatii în munca [Survey report on Labour Inspection Office activity in the field of health and safety at work], Bucharest, August 2006.
Luminita Chivu, Institute of National Economy, Romanian Academy
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2006), Labour Inspectorate targets health and safety at work, article.
