Work Safety: A Culture of Prevention

EU-OSHA - that‘s not an old Japanese Samurai war cry but stands instead for the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. It was set up to promote safe healthier and more productive places of work in Europe - through campaigns, preventive measures, partnerships and research projects. In particular it promotes a culture of risk prevention. Matthias Erler of GIT-SECURITY.com spoke with Christa Sedlatschek, Director of the agency.

GIT-SECURITY.com: Mrs. Sedlatschek, according to your agency‘s own profile, safety and health protection are the basis for stability and growth in Europe. The number of safety standards and regulations for companies is already immense. Isn‘t this often simply too much?

Christa Sedlatschek: That is a subject that is often raised in conjunction with regulations and laws. We see it from a different perspective of course. The European legislation is very important for our 27 Member States - particularly so for the most recent to join. Without laws and European standards, probably nothing would happen at all in some areas. What is however correct for all countries is that especially the small and micro firms must organize themselves well so that they are not unable to cope with the implementation. We take this very seriously - for this reason these small and micro companies are also our main target audience. We want to give them the tools to make implementation easier. These include, for example, our online tool for ‚interactive risk assessment‘ (OiRA), especially for small companies.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work would like generally to promote a culture of prevention. There are certainly other different cultures in the various European countries.

Christa Sedlatschek: Naturally. We see differences with regard to implementation of regulations as well as in the handling of the subject. This is also reflected in our surveys. Northern and central European countries traditionally have a heightened understanding of safety - the particularly innovative approaches come from here. Risks are fundamentally treated differently in Spain to Finland, for example, where children are already introduced to preventive thinking and doing in the kindergarten and in their primary school. Ear protection is worn even at relatively low sound levels although in some other countries it is rarely seen on building sites. On the other hand, as well as the cultural differences, we see an even stronger factor in the fact that many countries are under pressure from the crisis.

What assignments has the agency taken on so far?

Christa Sedlatschek: In the last few years the agency has developed a new strategy for the improvement of working conditions in Europe that will start to be implemented in 2014. First of all the preparation of a good basis of facts and figures was necessary because we are still in the situation that we have to prove that investment in health and safety measures actually brings a return. There are studies available that show how important healthy and motivated employees are for a company. In addition we want to generally raise awareness. Our Healthy Workplaces Campaign is the largest campaign for safety and health at work in Europe.

Are such campaigns the usual way of working of the agency?

Christa Sedlatschek: Yes, such campaigns always lasts two years. The current campaign is called ‘Working together for risk prevention' and is based on the social dialog between management, employees and trade unions - that‘s the only way it can work.

What is the theme of the next campaign and what measures are involved?

Christa Sedlatschek: As from 2014 it will be about stress at work and other psycho-social risks. Here we provide a practical approach by asking how one can manage stress and reduce it. As the figures show, this is a very important and therefore welcomed subject in many countries. For this we develop corresponding tools for companies - for example, the industry-specific online tool called OiRA. It is the first time that a European institution has presented a concept or module for risk assessment. It will be adapted to the local conditions at a national level by our partners - 16 Member States have joined so far.

What other projects are there?

Christa Sedlatschek: Our Risk Observatory was set up in 2005. The current prime project of the agency called Foresight aims to look beyond new and emerging risks at work and to foresee long-term changes. The first area that we have in focus are the so-called ‚green‘ jobs - workplaces where the technology or processes being used are intended to reduce the environmental impact. New workplaces are created here with the old risks but in a new context. Here in particular a great deal is missed because it is often assumed that ‚green‘ also means ‚healthy‘. If a risk assessment is to be realistic then a more critical view is called for.

.. are you thinking, for example, about ­collapsing wind turbines?

Christa Sedlatschek: That is one example - and another would be recycling stations. There are dangers here that we don‘t yet understand in detail. Organic solvents, for example, can have hidden risks, and these are sometimes not even seen. Another area of activity for EU-OSHA is the preparation of research results from individual Member States for the other countries. For this we are currently building an OSHWiki that provides information about the latest findings and practical implementation results - the online encyclopedia will be launched at the end of this year. This is interesting against a background of budget cuts: existing knowledge will be made available.

... a sort of Europe-wide knowledge management. Do you have other examples of new dangers for us?

Christa Sedlatschek: Very topical is the handling of nano-materials that are already in widespread use. Fine particles are currently being researched all over Europe and there are not enough results by far. The same goes for many chemicals that have recently come onto the market.

An important and, by itself, very complex subject with which you are also involved is accident prevention. Could you give us an insight into your work in this area?

Christa Sedlatschek: First of all we provide figures and information about measures and solutions - it is important that we make business sector-specific information available. For example, we can provide the legal basis as well as the risk assessment for the building industry, for agriculture, for fishing, the healthcare or energy sectors. Our Internet pages deliver specific and detailed information for the relevant industry.

Together with the risk assessment you have developed an interactive online tool. How does it work and how has it been received?

Christa Sedlatschek: This is an Internet-based workplace risk assessment that is adapted to the respective national situation and that can be also carried out with a mobile device. It includes sector and country-specific multiple choice questions. The result is a printable risk assessment that the appropriate responsible person can evaluate. It is not complicated and is very helpful particularly for small businesses - and it‘s free. The tool doesn‘t only provide concrete action guidelines but also shows the consequences that will occur if nothing is done. We have very accurate knowledge about the connection between safety at work and illness days - this makes the commercial importance of the subject very obvious. For years now we have noticed a drastic increase in psychological stress. This instrument is also intended to promote social dialog within a company to find good solutions together.

What do you think is the cause?

Christa Sedlatschek: One of the causes is the enlargement of the service sector and the resulting increased direct contact with customers, clients or patients. This increases the pressure. Also globalization and ever more frequently required flexibility are on the increase - there are hardly any classic contracts of employment anymore. That also adds to stress and pressure.

Safety costs something - but there are also economic incentives, such as in the form of reduced insurance premiums and reduced social security payments. What can you provide here?

Christa Sedlatschek: This subject is constantly on our agenda. The most recent contribution to it is our publication on the subject of ‚economic incentives‘. Here we demonstrate with examples from various countries how incentives such as, for example, bonuses from health insurance companies have been proven to help with implementing health and safety measures.

Mrs. Sedlatschek, many thanks for the ­conversation.