Accepted measures help to maintain low level of occupational injuries in Bashkiria - Ministry of Labour RB

In Bashkortostan the regional conference "The Role of Occupational Safety and Health Administration" was held today in the "Yumatovo" sanatorium.

As it was marked at the conference annual employers’ costs on occupational safety grow in Bashkortostan.

So, in 2011, according to Bashkortostan Statistics Agency, they increased by one thousand rubles per employee, in 2012 - nearly by one thousand and a half rubles and reached 8,350 rubles.

In the opinion of the forum participants, the measures taken in the region maintain a relatively low level of industrial injuries. During the last years Bashkortostan is one of the subjects of the Russian Federation with the lowest rate of accidents. Only in the last 20 years the level of occupational accidents reduced by more than six times in the republic.

However, according to the Minister of Labour and Social Protection RB Lenara Ivanova it was not yet managed to achieve a minimum level of injuries.

The last three years analysis shows that the number of workers dying at the place of work amounted to 80- 90 people each year. Severe injuries were received from 185 to 220 employees. The highest number of deaths was accounted for agriculture, manufacturing, construction and transportation companies.

Lenara Ivanova marked that, since 2010, the Ministry of Labour of the Republic started to provide public sector employees with free of charge sanatorium vacations. It also contributes to the improvement of workers' health.

“We provide the least paid professionals with more than 800 free of charge sanatorium vacations a year,” the Minister said.

She mentioned that Bashkortostan was involved in a pilot project of Rostrud "Public Inspection".

The task of the project is to move from inspections and sanctions over violations of labour laws to prevention of such breaches. In other words, the competent behavior of employers and workers should be achieved.

One of the objectives of the new project, according to Lenara Ivanova is to review requirements of the labour laws and to amend them according to the dictates of the time.

According to the participants of the conference of occupational safety, the employees’ health should be a core value for employers. It is necessary to create a situation when it is easier and cheaper for the head of the company to direct funds on preventing accidents rather than allowing them to occur.