Brussels23 February 2009

Michaela Seifert EU-OSHAWorking Environment Information Unit

EBC - “Under Construction II” - Improving health and safety in construction SMEs

Construction in figures

Figures - EU 27Construction Sector

More than 13 million persons employed in construction (10,5% of EU-27)

Construction output: decrease due to economic crisis

Decreases in construction output in 2008 were recorded in

• Spain (-23.7%) • Sweden (-19.6%)• Portugal (-6.2%)• Bulgaria and France (both -5,2%)• Slovenia (- 4,1%)• Germany (-3,4 %)

Figures - EU 27Construction Sector

Increases of output: • Romania (+16.1%),• Slovakia (+10.3%) • Poland (+5.0%)• UK (+4.9 %)

434 billion Euro value added in construction sector in EU27 in 2004 (8,5% of non-financial business economy’s value added)

Characteristics of the sector (% share of the total number of persons employed, EU-27, 2006)o Gender: mainly male workers: 92%o Full-time work: 94 %o Age profile: 15-29: 24.6%; 30-49: 53.8%;

50+: 21.6%

Construction - SMEs

2.4 Mio construction companies in 2004

97% SMEs with fewer than 20 employees

93% have fewer than 10 employees

Micro and small enterprises (with less than 50 persons employed) generated 65.7 % of EU’s value added in 2002

Characteristics -Construction Sector

High proportion of self-employed: about 14%, (highest rate in agriculture – 48 %)

High turnover: 12 % work only one year or less – (HORECA the highest)

Migrant workers: most non-national workers in construction (17%)

Long working hours (over 20%) in construction agriculture and HORECA

MSDs remain a concern in Europe and in constructiono Exposure of workers to vibrations in combination with

working in awkard postures and carrying out muscular work

4th European Working Conditions Survey

Monotonous tasks more frequent in construction, agriculture, manufacturing and HORECA

Training: very low levels in construction, HORECA, agriculture, retail trade and manufacturing

Automatic speed of a machine determines pace of work (24%) – manufacturing the highest (41%)

Levels of working impacting on health higher than average (agriculture is the highest)

Highest level of exposure to physical risk factors: chemical/biological, ergonomic, noise/temperature

4th European Working Conditions Survey

Characteristics -Construction Sector

Accidents EU27, 2005 Construction

Fatal accidents in Construction

1466

4254

ConstructionRest of sectors

Accidents EU27, 2005 – Construction and other sectors

Fatal accidents

1466

65072

896

5720

Construction Agriculture HORECA Transport Total

Fatal accidents 1995-2005

Incidence rates per 100 000 workers EU15

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Construction Agriculture HORECA Transport

1995

2000

2005

Fatal accidents in construction 2005 - MS

EU Member States with highest numbers

1466

248 239132 123 114 111 106 60 40

0200

400600

8001000

12001400

1600

Total ES IT DE RO FR PT PL UK AT

Construction – fatalities – comparative rates by 100 000 workers

Country Fatality rate

Sweden 1.1

United Kingdom 1.7

France 3.4

Spain 4.7

Portugal 8.0

Source: EU Technology Platform

Accidents in Construction EU15, 2005

Accidents - NON-fatal (more than 3 days lost)

727820

232224 197174 316866

3983881

Construction Agriculture HORECA Transport Total

Agency’s publications for the sector

Workplace exposure to vibration in Europe: an expert review

Skin diseases and dermal exposure: policy and practice overview

Emerging chemical risks to be published next month E-fact 19 - Prevention of vibration risks in the construction

sector E-fact 17 - The prevention of work-related neck and upper

limb disorders (WRULDs) in construction E-fact 2 - Preventing vehicle accidents in construction E-fact 1 - Musculoskeletal disorders in construction All 2004 campaign related publications on good

practice

Healthy WorkplacesGood for you. Good for business.

A European campaign

on Risk Assessment

What is Risk Assessment?

• RA is the first step to safer and healthier workplaces and the key to reducing work-related accidents and diseases.

• RA is the process of evaluating the risks to workers´ safety and health from workplace hazards. It is a systematic examination of all aspects of work that considers:►What could cause injury or harm,►Whether hazards can be eliminated and, if not,►What preventive or protective measures need to be in place to

control the risks.

How to do Risk Assessment?

• There are two principles which should always be born in mind when carrying out an RA: ►Structure the assessment to ensure all relevant hazards and

risks are addressed ►First, try to eliminate them. If not possible, reduce them.

• Five-step approach to RA:1. Identifying hazards and people at risk2. Evaluating and prioritising risks3. Deciding on preventive action4. Taking action5. Monitoring and reviewing

Remember: RA should be done with the employees’ active involvement

Campaign objectives

• Raise awareness and encourage to do RA

• Demystify the process►Not necessarily complicated or bureaucratic►Not only for specialists

• Underline that quality counts► Involvement of everyone in the workplace►On-going process (not a one-off)

• Identify and promote good practices

Partnership approach

• You help us…

Get involved in the campaign

• We give you…

Getting recognition for your efforts

Official Campaign Partners (1)

• 1st group (announcement on 13 October 2008)

►BusinessEurope ►ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) ►CEOC – Confederation of Inspection and Certification

Organisations ►ESF (European Safety Federation) ►EMF (European Men’s Health Forum – NGO) ►ETPIS (European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety)►EuroCOP► Ideal Standard International ►Johnson & Johnson

Official Campaign Partners (2)

• 2nd group (announcement on 4 December 2008)

►Air Liquide►Baxter►Eli Lilly►Confédération Européenne des Syndicats Indépendants

(CESI)►European Federation of National Maintenance Societies

(EFNMS)►European Process Safety Centre (EPSC)►General Electrics (GE)►European Association of Industrial Minerals Producers

(IMA-Europe)

Official Campaign Partners (3)

• 3rd group (announcement end February 2009)

► CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council)► EBC (European Builders Federation)► ECTA (European Chemical Transport Association)► EFBWW (European Federation of Building and Woodworkers)► ENSHPO (European Network of Safety and Health Professional

Organisations)► ETF (European Transport Workers’ Federation)► ETSA (European textile Service Association)► EWEA-AEE (European Wind Energy Association & Asociación

Empresarial Eólica)► FIEC (European Construction Industry Federation)► FOHNEU (Federation of Occupational Health Nurses)► HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION► ISHCCO (International Safety and Health Construction

Coordinators Organization)► KRKA

The Agency is now working on…

• Sectoral video production

• Interactive risk assessment tool (IRAT)

Video production 1• Objective:

► To produce more audiovisual material on our subjects --- for our website, for use in our events, conferences and presentations and for promotion to the audiovisual press.

• Sectors to be filmed:

►Construction► HORECA► Cleaning

• Content► Typical situations were accidents/ill health are caused ► The contractor to identify (with help from the social partners):

an accident / ill health victim a suitable filming location and an expert for interview

• Next steps:► By end April the first drafts should be ready

Video production 2• Current status:

►The film for the construction sector should focus on construction falls (falling materials, falling from height) and safe roof works.

►Noise and vibration should also be illustrated in the film, while asbestos should be treated in the full length interview with the expert.

►ESN in contact with companies in Germany and in the UK, the British one being probably the best option.

Interactive Risk Assessment tool (IRAT) - Goal

• To contribute to the “development of simple tools to facilitate RA” (Community Strategy 2007-2012)

• To develop and promote with social partners a practical RA tool in order to help companies in general and SMEs in particular to put in place the RA process;

• To contribute to demystify the RA process;

• To provide a tool which illustrates, through a stepwise approach, the RA process

IRAT - Target Audience

• SME(s). This tool could be used mainly for those SMEs wanting to carry out a RA or complete/review their RA;

• Our intermediaries (social partners, OSH practitioners, ….)

• Anyone who would like to have a more practical overview on how to carry out a RA (“pedagogic/training” dimension of the tool).

Checklist, overview of topics and progress

A certain question can filter out (hide) subsequent questions ...

... or activate subsequent questions;this view shows all questions within the topic

This view shows one question at a time, plus explanation, image, hyperlinks, progress bar

Room for legal references and a box for additional comments in case of special risks

Questions and answers are shown in a report, which also indicates problem areas

Automatic Action plan, includes hazards, actions, sorting on priority, updateable status

Next steps for 2009

• “Internationalize” the tool (adapt the TNO tool to support multilingualism)

• Translate (into English) and adapt the IRAT intended to SMEs

• Translate the SMEs IRAT into other EU languages (depending on the expression of interest from FOPs or other national organisations)

• Develop the sectoral IRATs (in close partnership with the social partners from the sector)

Campaign: Next steps for 2009

►17 March EU Partnership meeting + Official campaign partners “Get together”

►27 April CZ EU Presidency conference + GPA ceremony

►26/27 Oct. SE EU Presidency conference►16/17 Nov. Closing event + Exhibition

- Day 1: Networking- Day 2: Conference

►5 big PR projects Journalist excursions (GPA winners) Photo competition EU OSH survey OSH film award 3 OSH TV reports (construction, HORECA, cleaning)

And finally to remind ourselves…

• 205 million employees in Europe

• 167,000 fatalities attributed to work-related accidents and diseases in EU-27, and within that:

►159,000 fatalities attributed to work-related diseases 74,000 fatalities attributed to hazardous substances at work

(asbestos included)

►7,460 fatalities caused by accidents at work

The figures in this presentation are taken from our campaign summary:

http://osha.europa.eu/campaigns/hw2008/campaign/campaignsummary

…why are we doing this?

• Every 3.5 minutes, somebody in the EU-27 dies from work-related causes.

• Every 4.5 seconds, a worker in the EU-27 is involved in an accident that forces him/her to stay at home for at least three working days.

• The number of accidents at work causing three or more days of absence is huge: over 7 million every year.

This all comes at a huge cost…

• Human cost for workers and their families (real people behind each statistic)

• Business costs for organisations/companies (sick leave, insurance costs, productivity, turnover, motivation, competitiveness etc.)

• Cost for society (increasing burden on healthcare systems)

To all campaign partners…

Thank you for helping us spread the Risk Assessment message

Without you, we cannot do it!

Contact us if you need more info

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

• Corporate Promotions ManagerMarta UrrutiaE-mail: urrutia@osha.europa.eu

• Project manager, Risk AssessmentLorenzo MunarE-mail: munar@osha.europa.eu

• Manager, Brussels Liaison Office Brenda O‘BrienE-mail: obrien@osha.europa.eu

European Agency for Safety and Health at WorkGran Vía, 33 - 48009 Bilbao - Spain

Tel. +34 94 479 43 60Fax. +34 94 479 43 83http://osha.europa.eu