In Austria occupational accidents happen often, yet Austria is still considered one of the safest countries in the European Union when it comes to occupational safety and health.
Despite extremely strict, comprehensive and systematically regulated occupational safety measures, an average of 64 workers lose their lives every year in that country.
In the construction sector, where risks are the highest but safety measures are particularly stringent due to constantly changing construction sites and the high level of responsibility towards different groups of participants, 18 workers die annually.
These statistics were presented by representatives of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), who, within the framework of the European project “Just Work”, organized a branch workshop at their headquarters in Vienna for the construction and wood-processing industries of Serbia and Austria. The workshop was attended by representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and the Trade Union Confederation “NEZAVISNOST”.
The system in Austria is designed in such a way that occupational health and safety are a priority, while violations of these regulations entail strict sanctions for employers. Workers are protected by the Law on Occupational Health and Safety, the main law defining employers’ obligations and employees’ rights, numerous regulations and guidelines that comprehensively govern specific areas (e.g. work at heights, machine handling, hazardous substances), as well as ISO certificates, which many companies possess as proof of high safety standards.
Employers are obliged to report every occupational accident, resulting in an average of around 79,000 recorded workplace injuries per year.
Out of 3.4 million employees, around 140,000 workers are working on construction sites, including 25,000 migrants, among whom there are currently 1,825 Serbian workers.
Their safety, as well as the work of all other employees in 740,000 business entities, is supervised by 500 labour inspectors.
Representatives of the two representative trade union confederations from Serbia also had the opportunity to witness a good example of the approach to occupational safety and health measures, as well as cooperation between employer and employees, during a visit to “Strabag”, a leading European construction company with headquarters in Vienna.
During the visit, representatives of Serbian and Austrian trade unions also marked the International Workers’ Memorial Day by visiting the memorial at Kepler Square in Vienna, where they laid a wreath.
The “Just Work” project, implemented by trade union federations from Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary and Moldova, aims to strengthen employees’ participation in decision-making, focusing on the concept of workplace democracy and promoting constructive dialogue between employers and trade unions.
