06.11.2020
The report of the Agreement for Safety in the Construction Industry shows that during the 10 years of the organization’s activity, the number of victims of accidents on construction sites in Poland has decreased almost twice, from 8684 to 4743. In the construction industry, there are four times fewer fatal accidents per 100,000 today. than a decade ago. Much of the credit for this goes to the association of the largest construction companies in Poland, which works to improve work safety.
In the years 2009-2019 in Poland by 45 percent. The number of people who were injured in accidents on construction sites has decreased. During this time, the number of accidents in the entire economy decreased by only 4 percent. The largest decrease was recorded among serious accidents (by 75%) and in the number of fatal accidents (by 63%). According to Eurostat, in the years 2009-2018, among all European Union countries, Poland improved safety on construction sites the most. From the country with the highest number of fatal accidents per 100,000. (21.49) was among the countries with the lowest rate of the most serious incidents (5.18).
– The most important achievement is the decrease in the number of accidents on Polish construction sites, despite the doubling of the number of construction companies on the market and a huge increase in the number of employees on construction sites. We have managed to achieve this effect thanks to consistency and the introduction of the same requirements for all entities. We have developed and implemented uniform standards, we have raised the level of supervision culture, and health and safety training is at an increasingly higher level. Our subcontractors do not argue with health and safety requirements, because they know that they will be the same for each signatory. Safety is no longer a taboo subject in business talks with our subcontractors and service providers – says Jacek Leczkowski, Vice President of the Management Board of Erbud S.A., who has been the President of the Agreement for Safety in Construction since this year.
Safety improved the most in the largest companies – the number of injured people in them decreased from 2490 in 2009. to 1311 in 2018. For years, the highest percentage of accident victims (about 60 percent) have been employees with at most one year of work experience and those who have worked for 2-3 years. At the same time, in the years 2009-2018, these two groups recorded the largest decrease in the number of victims. Accidents on construction sites are most often suffered by the least qualified auxiliary workers, some of whom are foreigners. According to the National Labour Inspectorate, foreign workers on construction sites often do not have experience and construction qualifications as well as knowledge of the Polish language, which has a negative impact on work safety.
The Agreement for Safety in Construction has a key impact on the functioning of the construction industry in Poland. According to revenues for 2019. there are nine members of the Agreement in the top ten largest construction companies. The revenues of the companies belonging to the organization account for 56% of all revenues of the 50 largest companies in Poland. The mission of the largest general contractors associated in the Agreement is to reduce the number of accidents on construction sites by promoting a culture of safety, raising awareness of the dangers associated with work on the construction site and preventing risks and accidents.
A business partner cooperating with the signatories of the Agreement faces the same health and safety requirements in the contract. The Agreement has one system of mandatory OHS training . An effective tool for popularizing the OHS culture in the industry is the Safety Week organized by the Agreement. It is held under the honorary patronage of the Chief Labour Inspector. It is the largest initiative in Poland to promote the culture of health and safety, which gathers thousands of participants every year. The report “Polish construction in the years 2009-2019. The state of safety and the activities of the Agreement for Safety in the Construction Industry” is a summary of the activities of the general contractors’ organizations, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
– The initiative of the Agreement would not have come to fruition without the involvement of visionaries such as Mr. Wiktor Piwkowski, chairman of the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians. He was the originator of the whole project. In turn, Mr. Tadeusz Zając, the Chief Labour Inspector, actively sought ways to solve the problem of accidents in the construction industry. He personally paid a visit to the presidents of the largest construction companies and offered cooperation. A great contribution to the creation of the Agreement was also made by Mr. Zbigniew Janowski, the chairman of the Construction Trade Union, who is known for his activities to improve safety in the construction industry in the Labour Protection Council at the Polish Parliament – sums up Jacek Leczkowski.