On 4 February 2014, Budimex took over the management of the Agreement for Safety in Construction from Skanska. The change is a consequence of previous arrangements of the signatories of the Agreement, according to which the leader in subsequent periods will be another company. The presidency of Budimex will last two years.
The Agreement for Safety in the Construction Industry is an initiative of seven construction companies, which signed a declaration in August 2010. These are Bilfinger Infrastructure, Budimex, Hochtief Polska, Mostostal Warszawa, Polimex Mostostal, Skanska and Warbud. In October 2013, Mota-Engil joined this group. The aim of the Agreement is to improve safety on Polish construction sites.
The signatories of the Agreement already have high health and safety standards, but they continue to raise the bar and transfer these standards to subcontractors, because it is in this group that accidents most often occur. The construction site is supposed to be a safe place to work for everyone.
Already during the presidency of Skanska, actions were taken, as a result of which the number of fatal accidents on the signatories’ construction sites decreased from 9 in 2011 to 3 in 2013.
All members of the Agreement set the same requirements for subcontractors regarding health and safety on the construction site. To this end, a joint annex to subcontracting agreements “Requirements for occupational health and safety” has been developed and implemented, which obliges subcontractors to organize and conduct works in a manner that guarantees safe and hygienic working conditions and imposes an obligation to cooperate with the signatories of the Agreement in the field of occupational health and safety.
The Agreement has developed and implemented the “Guidelines for the preparation of Instructions for the Safe Execution of Works”. Risk assessment refers to a specific task and is associated with each preparation of the IBWR and, consequently, taking actions to minimize the risk already at the stage of work planning.
Another step towards improving safety on construction sites is health and safety training conducted among both employees and subcontractors.
In January 2014, the process of implementing protective glasses began on all construction sites carried out by the signatories of the Agreement. The transition period will last until the end of June and from then on, glasses will also become a standard among subcontractors.
On 5 – 11 May this year. Security Week, a joint initiative of the Agreement, will take place. It will be a training and information campaign promoting health and safety standards among our own co-workers and subcontractors.
The effects of initiatives and activities undertaken by the members of the Agreement for Safety in Construction have been noticed by public institutions, such as: National Labour Inspectorate, which want to engage in dialogue in the field of implementation of high health and safety standards and treat the Agreement as a social partner.
