Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Mr. Çerkin Dukolli attended the round table organized by the Peer Education Network and the Centre for Policy Advocacy ‘Health and Safety at Work’.
On this occasion Deputy Minister Dukolli, who is also chairman of the National Council for Safety and Health at Work, said health and safety at work is an institutional priority, which before being a legal obligation in terms of employment and issues social, above all, is a human issue because we are dealing with the preservation of human health and life.
He underlined that accidents at work, which are evidenced and are happening at the premises of the Republic of Kosova, whether they are injured or fatal, are of concern to us as a society and in this sense we are committed to have concrete addresses from all the relevant mechanisms to prevent this situation.
Deputy Minister Dukolli added that Republic of Kosova institutions are undertaking ambitious steps in this area not only by harmonizing legislation with the EU but also by building inspection bodies. “Beyond it every year we are undertaking awareness campaigns in order to inform the parties about the obligations they have in relation to the legal acts of Occupational Safety and Health. In this sense, the Government of the Republic of Kosova has also established a National Council for Safety and Health at Work, which has within its competencies the proposals, recommendations and drafting of policies to improve the level of safety and health at work and follow up continuously occupational safety and health status “.
To contribute to and further enhance safety and health at work, the Council has taken serious commitments by drafting and adopting the Council’s 2018 – 2019 two-year action plan, foreseeing certain objectives and activities in order to increase the level of safety and health at work. “During the on-site visits, whether in public or private companies, the Council has given its remarks and has called on employers to provide safe working conditions and has encouraged the Labour Inspectorate to fully oversee the implementation of applicable laws “.
In the framework of preventive measures, the CHROMP is examining the issue of occupational diseases that can be earned as a result of the workplace, and in this regard has recommended to the Ministry of Health to compile the register of these diseases, “We also encouraged two institutes working medicine in Gjakova and Obiliq, to realize professionally all the systematic visits of the workers and necessary examinations required “, emphasized Deputy Minister Dukolli.
At this roundtable it was reported that for these nine months of this year we have 18 cases of fatality. Of these two natural deaths and 78 injuries. “This situation is not good at all and requires concrete addressing. the data we possess, the visits we have made in the field and the reviews made on this topic, we are moving towards the identification of sectors that represent the highest risk, in this case construction as the largest employer in the country remains the most vulnerable sector certainly for the specifics of this sector, followed by energy, service sector, production, “emphasized Deputy Minister Dukolli.
As the head of the National Council for Safety and Health at Work, Mr. Dukolli has appealed to all employers to create safe working environments as well as workers to take care of their safety and others and use the right security equipment and protection in their specific jobs.
In terms of safety and health at work, Mr. Dukolli said that the Council is open and cooperating well beyond institutional mechanisms and with civil society. “We already have NGOs (such as IKS and QPA) who are observing our work in the capacity of observers, both in meetings and in field activities and in this regard, we ensure sincere cooperation with all those actors that with their experiences we can contribute to making our jobs more secure. In addition to these activities he informed the participants in this roundtable that MLSW will soon begin to draft a strategy for safety and health at work.
This session was attended by local trade union organizations, TUK, TUEK, KCC, and members of civil society dealing with safety and health issues at work from Republic of Kosova, Albania and Serbia.