Prishtina, on 24 December 2018
The National Council for Safety and Health at Work, in cooperation with the Center for Policy and Advocacy and the Peer Education Network, held today a year-end meeting where the Report on ‘Challenges of Safety and Health at Work’ was debated.
Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Mr. Çerkin Dukolli, in the capacity of head of the ICRC, for this year’s work we are postponing has evidenced modest achievements in addressing the problems that the country is facing in the field of safety and health In work.
Mr. Dukolli said that in the framework of the work plan this year, in addition to regular scheduled visits to both public and private sectors, provided, in addition to the scanning of the situation, recommendations for the Government, in order to effectively address the issues related to safety and health at work. Deputy Minister Mr. Dukolli emphasized that within this year the activities of the Council were consolidated, enhancing cooperation with civil society.
He said that from work on the ground it is concluded that the job security situation turns out to be better in the public sector, with continuous improvement tendencies even in the private sector. Mr. Dukolli has underlined that Kosovo has a good legal basis that addresses very well the security issues at work, but in parallel it is necessary to work further in drafting a national strategy in addressing the issue more adequately. “The ICMP has closely monitored the work of the institutes in Gjakova and Obiliq and has ascertained that these institutes have the necessary professional capacities to carry out their professional work. “Seeing that our country still does not have a register of occupational diseases, we have recommended to the Ministry of Health to draft this document, which has already been finalized and will soon go to the government for approval.”
Mr. Dukolli underlined that the state of safety and health at work, cases of injuries and injuries at work were continuously analyzed, taking into consideration not only reports from the Labor Inspectorate, but also publications and reports that came from civil society, which handle this field, such as FES, IKS, QPA, PEN and so on.
“Within this activity we have licensed six legal entities and we have over 60 certified natural persons who provide services to companies in the field of safety and health at work. We have made awareness campaigns sponsored by MLSW and the Labor Inspectorate, in order to increase the safety and health at work. Despite the great work done, the IP capacities have been incomplete in order to carry out visits to almost all public and private enterprises. ” Mr. Dukolli announced that for the coming year there will be an increase of inspection capacities, strengthening the role of the inspectorate.
Mr. Dukolli emphasized that the contribution and role of the ICRP in this area is advisory and advisory on policies related to health and safety at work, where each activity and recommendation is reported to the Government.
Cooperation will be intensified further and remains open to cooperation with all parties that can contribute to improving the situation. “The Council once again appealed to all employers to provide safe and healthy work environments, appealing to all workers to contribute to security issues using protective equipment at work, at the same time encouraging the labor inspectorate to increase inspection capacities and to fully oversee the implementation of labor-related labor law and labor and occupational safety law, “said Deputy Minister Dukolli.
He added that within the scope of the activities it expects, it will also discuss the possibility to stimulate all those companies that contribute to improving the health and safety situation at work.
Despite the work and efforts being made on safety and health at work remains a challenge even further. The number of deaths at work has reached 22 people this year, while injuries are over 112.
Regarding the safety issues at work, Labor Inspectorate Inspector Basri Ibrahimi has emphasized that employer and employee awareness in case reporting is also increasing. He has called and encouraged all actors to help improve the situation.