6 October, 2008Kick off of the IMF health and safety project in the steel and non-ferrous sectors in the Balkans.
SARAJEVO, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: The IMF started implementation of a two-year occupational health and safety project for its affiliates in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. A planning meeting had been held earlier this year in Belgrade, Serbia to identify the problems and work out a programme that would meet affiliates' needs and help them develop their own capacities.
This project targets the steel and non-ferrous sectors and aims at training health and safety shop-stewards and promoting health and safety at the workplace. Generally in this region awareness about health and safety risks is low, accidents are frequent and labour inspection is weak or non-existent. Non-compliance with legal provisions is another major problem that workers and trade unions are confronting continuously.
The first phase of the project was carried out in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina at the end of September. It focussed on the legislative framework and the relevant European and international instruments concerning occupational health and safety, including international framework agreements (IFAs) which contain provisions in that field. Experts from the International Labour Organisation, the European Trade Union Institute for Research, Education, and Health and Safety, as well as from Spain participated. The next step will deal with risk analysis and prevention techniques. Health and safety material in the local language will also be produced.
This project is carried out in cooperation with the IMF Spanish affiliate MCA-UGT and the Trade Union Institute of Cooperation for Development, and with the support of the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation.