Kosinetz instructed to develop a system of preventive labor protection measures

The Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, demanded that the heads of local authorities, departments, and enterprises in the region fundamentally change the situation with workplace fatalities and injuries. He stated this today at a meeting of the regional executive committee.

The Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, demanded that the heads of local authorities, departments, and enterprises in the region fundamentally change the situation with workplace fatalities and injuries. He stated this today at a meeting of the regional executive committee while considering the issue of the state of industrial injuries and the implementation of the Program for improving labor protection conditions in the Vitebsk region for 2011-2015 based on the results of 2012, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Alexander Kosinets noted that certain work is being carried out in the region at industrial enterprises, agro-industrial complex facilities, social sphere, and construction industry aimed at preventing fatalities and serious injuries to workers. "If you look at the numbers, there is a downward trend in workplace fatalities compared to the 2011 level. However, consider this: 18 workers died in the region last year. Each such case is an invaluable loss for the family, society, and the state, regardless of the monetary value," emphasized the governor, focusing on the fact that all these incidents could have been avoided with competent work organization, ensuring control, and conducting preventive measures.

"I demand a radical improvement of the current situation," said the chairman of the regional executive committee. In this regard, he instructed to develop a comprehensive system of preventive measures for labor protection. At each enterprise where there are cases of fatal or severe injuries, it is necessary to hold working meetings with labor collectives and discuss these facts. "This information must be accessible and open to employees, and covered by the media," emphasized the head of the region, expressing confidence that this approach will become one of the effective levers for influencing the state of affairs in this area. Enterprises must provide patronage assistance to the families of the injured and deceased, with the exception of employees who were intoxicated at the time of the emergency.

In addition, according to the chairman of the regional executive committee, attention should be paid to the staffing of labor protection specialists and the improvement of their qualifications. Currently, only 67% of them meet all requirements, 21% have secondary vocational education, and 12% have other qualifications. The issue of updating labor protection corners, implementing labor protection management systems in enterprises in accordance with the requirements of the national standard STB 18001-2005 (2009), and reducing the number of workplaces with harmful or hazardous working conditions is also relevant.

Alexander Kosinets demanded stricter responsibility for managers for cases of industrial injuries. He emphasized that henceforth, each such case and the response measures taken will be considered with the utmost scrutiny at the level of regional authorities. "We will be able to say that everything is going well with industrial injuries only when the statistics show zero cases of death and severe injury of employees," concluded the chairman of the regional executive committee.