The Occupational Health and Safety Authority intends to place a stronger focus on the identification of illnesses and conditions which stem from workers' jobs, Education and Employment Minister Louis Galea said yesterday.
He was speaking as he introduced the debate in Parliament on the financial estimates of the authority.
Dr Galea said the authority had a budget of Lm300,000, about the same as in previous years. The authority would also receive funds from the European Union, including Lm171,000 under a transitional facility given mostly by the EU with some funding also from the government, in order to improve its administrative capacity. The authority also had €17,000 provided by the EU for a campaign on safety in the construction industry apart from funds from the European Occupational Safety Agency for communications purposes.
Dr Galea said safety awareness and the promotion of preventive measures were the core activity of the authority.
It was employers who were principally responsible to ensure that no occupational accidents took place. The role of the authority was to act as regulator in order to make sure that regulations were observed. It carried out workplace inspections and certified equipment.
The minister said the OHSA had reached memoranda of understanding with various local organisations to regulate operations such as inspections, with the organisations informing each other of any irregularities found and avoiding overlapping. These organisations included the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Civil Protection Department and the Market Surveillance and Competition Division. Similar arrangements were planned with the Social Security Department, the police and the Transport Authority, among others.
Dr Galea congratulated the authority for the awareness campaigns it had conducted at places of work, as well as the media for concentrating on various aspects such as the use of safety gear, protection against noise and the use of chemicals.
He said the authority had focused in particular on the construction industry and places of work where radioactive material was used. It also worked on updating the Control of Major Accident Regulations.
Dr Galea said that while one often spoke of accidents in the context of occupational safety, an area where the authority felt much more was needed was that of illnesses which may stem from an occupational activity. It was encouraging, however, that the number of actual accidents and fatalities appeared to be declining and awareness campaigns seemed to be having an impact.
Turning to legislation, Dr Galea said the authority was working to update regulations on vibration, noise and workers' exposure to ultra-violet rays in line with EU directives.
Dr Galea said he acknowledged that the authority needed more human resources, and he hoped more personnel from the public service could be deployed to the authority this year.
He thanked the authority's staff and, particularly, outgoing chairman Joanna Drake, now the EU's representative in Malta. He also congratulated new chairman Roberta Messina.
Joe Falzon (PN) said he welcomed the fact that the OHSA was seeking to work closely with other organisations such as Mepa. Indeed, Mepa should ensure that development permits included conditions to protect workers' health and safety and that such conditions were respected.
He underlined the importance that workers were aware of safety precautions; that they were well trained in their tasks, and that they knew how to use the equipment provided to them.
He complained that many building sites posed a danger both to workers and to pedestrians. Pavements outside building sites were dug up by developers or blocked by equipment, posing a danger to pedestrians. The situation was in stark contrast to the practices followed abroad.
Practices also needed to be improved within the building sites. He agreed with the minister that it was the employers' primary responsibility to ensure that their employees observed safety regulations.
While much remained to be done, he was pleased to see that progress had been made. More workers were using scaffolding rather than hanging precariously from buildings under construction. How many lives would have been saved had this practice been adopted earlier?
Michael Asciak (PN) said the trade unions' positions vis-a-vis workers' health and safety should reflect their realisation of the importance of this subject.
Workers found not to have been using safety gear provided for them should not be protected. Unless there was a responsible attitude, there would not be a change of mentality in health and safety at work.
Dr Asciak said local wardens should be adequately instructed when supervising work in public roads in order to protect passersby.
He also underlined hazards which certain works, such as the levelling of walls, could pose to those who suffered asthma because of the clouds of fine dust resulting from the works.
Dr Asciak observed that since its establishment five years ago the OHSA had led to substantial drops in injuries at work, especially fatal ones. In 2003 there were 3,500 workplace injuries per 100,000 workers.
This declined to 2,975 last year and projections for this year were for a further decline of 106. Still, there was no place for complacency. Indeed, no country could ever get to the stage of having a clean sheet with no injuries at work, Dr Asciak concluded.