The Ministry of Labor and the FPB expanded the agreement in the field of labor protection

May 18, MINSK . The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus have expanded the agreement in the field of labor protection. The signing of the document took place ahead of the Republican practical conference "30 Years of Labor Protection. Prevention of Violations of Labor Legislation and Labor Protection", timed to coincide with the anniversary of the State Labor Inspectorate and the magazine "Labor Protection and Social Protection", BelTA has learned.

The two departments are always in control of the observance of labor protection legislation, the prevention of industrial injuries and the implementation of the concept of "zero injuries". In 2019, for more effective cooperation, the Ministry of Labor and the FPB signed an agreement in the field of labor protection. "Four years of work have shown that we are moving in the right direction. The main result of our joint work is, of course, a general reduction in occupational injuries. Nevertheless, the issue of compliance with the necessary labor protection requirements at many enterprises is still quite acute. Only in this 30 people were killed at work, about 200 were seriously injured.Yes, these figures are lower than last year.The number of deaths has been reduced by almost half.But behind every figure is a human life.In our opinion, There are certain gaps in legislation and practice that need to be addressed. In order to make the work on injury prevention more effective, we signed today a document aimed at solving these problems," said Mikhail Orda, chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus.

One of the main points of the document was the need to strengthen the responsibility of employers for non-compliance with the requirements and norms of labor protection legislation. In the first quarter of 2023, trade unions identified more than 10,000 violations of labor protection standards. The operation of more than 260 pieces of faulty equipment was suspended, thanks to which it was possible to avoid injury to workers at the enterprises. "Trade unions and state labor inspectors will pay special attention to those organizations where in previous years there were accidents with workers who were in a state ofALCOHOL intoxication . The work of mobile groups for labor protection will also be improved , the purpose of which is to identify potential threats in the field of labor protection on the ground and build effective work to prevent occupational injuries," the chairman informed.

Minister of Labor and Social Protection Irina Kostevich confirmed the trend. "After analyzing 2022, we see that the trend of drunken injuries has begun to worsen. In this regard, the FPB and I agreed to make a landing in organizations where these cases were recorded last year in order to look at and determine the directions and activities that are necessary be carried out at specific enterprises," she stressed.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Federation of Trade Unions are also working on other issues aimed at preventing industrial injuries. In particular, we are talking about improving approaches to labor protection when working in special conditions, organizing this work in budgetary organizations, changing instructions in a number of industries, providing personal protective equipment, and additional support for those who were injured at work.