1. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES OF THE NEW MEMBER STATES OF EUROPE AND TURKEY
Richard Neale
 Visiting Professor of International Development, University of Winchester, UK
Emeritus Professor of Construction Management, University of South Wales, UK
Evelin Toth
Desk Officer Europe, Programme for Workers' Activities, International Training Centre of the International Labour Office, Turin, Italy

4. PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY
“The survey will provide an analysis of the experiences of EFBWW affiliates in New Member States of the EU and Candidate Countries with occupational safety and health standards in construction and related sectors.”
Essentially, the survey provided a summary of the views of the participants on a comprehensive range of issues, so providing a foundation for discussions during the Workshop

5. RESPONDENTS

6. BASIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Experience as a project manager
Practical research with construction firms
Worldwide information gathering
Seminar discussions with international delegates at Reading University

7. TOPICS A national culture of safety and health
A national regulatory framework
Clients of the construction industry must take an active role
A business case for OS&H
Method statements and risk assessment
Worker participation
Older and younger construction workers
Social and physical welfare of women
Training: Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge (ASK)
10 Applications of modern technologies

8. DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Safety Coordinators were seen to play an important role, so questions were asked about their appointment at national and company level.
Factor 3 was extended to distinguish between public and private clients.
Factor 4 was extended to ask about the commitment of large and SME employers.
The value of the support available from international agencies was queried.
Explanations were sought of ways in which each TU promoted good OSH.
A general question about the likely development of OSH in their industries was added.

9. Validity of the responses
Validity of the responses? All the respondents knew that their responses would be made available to all at the workshop.

10. Q15 OSH & large employers
Large employers generally take OSH seriously
Q16 OSH & SMEs
SMEs generally do not take OSH seriously

12. Summary of positives 1 Most have full time OSH TU officials
Increase in national perceptions that it is important
Increasingly important to National governments
Good progress towards implementation of EU Directive
Large employers generally take OSH seriously
General agreement that there are many good reasons for investing in good OSH
Method statements and risk assessment used in some cases
Some companies provide PPE
There is general agreement that worker participation is very important and can improve workplace OSH

13. Summary of positives 2
In some countries, older workers are allowed to retire or given lighter and easier work. There is some draft legislation.
In most countries, some women are employed in professional and managerial grades (in one country 10%) and harassment is rare
Useful guidance for future ILO and EU support
Generally, modern technology is viewed to be safer or makes no difference. Can make work easier, reduce risk, better environmentally, safer by design
TUs seen as important agents of change

14. Summary of negatives 1
Some Governments say wrong time, too many other problems
“Some only support employers, do not care about workers”
Limited enforcement of legislation due to attitudes, lack of resources and corruption
Clients do not see OSH as their concern
SMEs generally do not take OSH seriously
“There is a reluctance to invest, they tend just to try to minimise cost”
If only ‘some’ construction companies provide PPE there are many who do not
The responses show that worker participation is varies considerably

15. Summary of negatives 2
In some countries older workers are not given any preferential treatment
In most countries, very few women are employed in manual trades
It is unusual for employers to provide effective or any training
Although generally very positive, it was also acknowledged that modern machinery and tools can be very dangerous without proper training and skills. There is some concern about employers’ attitudes, people less important than machines
General improvement seen to be difficult

16. Overall, as Table 3 shows, the positives outweighed the negatives
Overall, as Table 3 shows, the positives outweighed the negatives. “If we didn’t think we could really improve workers’ conditions, we wouldn’t be here today”.

17. Near Belfast 1970

18. Cardiff 2010