Skopje, 25 October 2023 (MIA) - The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)-Skopje marked Wednesday the European week for safety and health at work, on the topic of safety and health at work in the digital era. EU member-states, candidate countries, and North Macedonia this week will be sending a message that safety and health at work concerns everyone equally.

Today's event was focused on presenting a national award for the company with the best-implemented system for health and safety at work.

Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska pointed out that the selection of companies is organized by the Council for Occupational Safety and Health, with support from the Ministry, occupational safety experts and occupational labor experts that also participated in the evaluation.

Minister Trenchevska announced the start of the new campaign.

"We are starting a new European campaign for healthy work that will be implemented within the following two years. This EU-OSHA campaign titled "Safe and healthy work in the digital age" is aimed at raising awareness for digital technologies, a prosperous digitalization at work and its influence on the safety and health of workers," Trenchevska said.

European Union Delegation representative Steffen Hudolin, emphasized the importance of health and safety at work and pointed to EU's commitment in ensuring the well-being of workers, promoting a healthy workplace, and its protection, that resulted in a legal framework, consistent with EU's economic and social goals.

Safety and health at work, according to him, are one of the areas that EU believes has made the biggest impact. The Union covers the largest number of risks with a solid legal framework.

"Occupational safety and health within the EU is an important area, which has experienced significant development and innovation most recently, and this is reflected in our commitment to ensure the well-being of workers, promote a healthy workplace, and ensure the protection of the workforce. This commitment has resulted in a comprehensive legal framework, consistent with the economic and social goals of the Union," Hudolin noted.

FES Programme Manager, Valon Sadiki, said that within the past three years, together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and Council for Occupational Safety and Health, they implemented a series of activities for improving work conditions, prepared a draft-law on safety and health at work, a new strategy and action plan, and marked the European week for safety and health at work for the second time this year.

"As a foundation that promotes social-democratic values, such as justice, freedom and solidarity, the well-being of workers is of great importance to us," Sadiki said.

While, Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM) president Slobodan Trendafilov informed that optimal conditions for complete safety and security, and continuous improvement of healthy and safe working conditions in companies, has not yet been provided.

"While today we are discussing healthy and safe conditions in the digital space, the issue with night shifts, payment of contributions, I have to say that our criticism and the criticism from workers is directed at the prioritization of strategic interest and the interest of certain foreign consortia over the safety, health and life of workers," Trendafilov stressed.

Macedonia is the only country in Europe, he added, that allows foreign companies to disregard safety and health rules with 12-hour shifts.

"Unfortunately, we will have to discuss this issue in the future, considering that the construction of Corridors 8 and 10 has already been announced, where workers will have to work while bypassing the law on safety and health at work, and the abuse of the European flag and labor law will open the door to inhumane work-conditions that workers will have to endure in the construction of the corridors that are of strategic interest," Trendafilov highlighted.

A report published by the Macedonian Association for Protection at Work in 2022, registered 169 accidents at work, however this number is reported to be incomplete and does not reflect the true number of accidents that occurred, which according to 2020 data published by the Institute for Public Health, 1500 serious injuries occur annually.

They say that those numbers keep reducing, but this must not affect all stakeholders. If according to the International Labor Organization, 4 percent of the GDP in poor countries goes towards compensating injuries, then the direct losses such a country suffers are over EUR 400 million, a number that our economy must not and cannot afford. ssh/sk/

Фото: МИА