OHSA - Ten years of success in Malta
Dr Nicola Zammit wrote a series of essays entitled Pensieri d'un retrogrado in which he identified health and safety risks such as long working hours and lack of training, along with areas of dangerous work such as tunnelling and working at height. This was published in 1888, showing that Malta has had for a long time experts in safety and health at work. The Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OHSA) of Malta continues this trend of expertise as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Dr Christa Sedlatschek, visited Malta and attended a seminar entitled 10 years of service in Valletta.
Dr Sedlatschek with OHSA staff
Following the transposition of the Community acquis on health and safety, the Maltese government passed legislation creating OHSA under Act XXVII of 2000 - the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act, which forms Chapter 424 of the laws of Malta. With its creation, all sectors of work activity - both public and private sectors - were under clear health and safety regulation.
In the last ten years, OHSA has carried out about 15 000 workplace inspections. and trained over 7 000 people. It has also shown its teeth by taking 700 prosecutions in this time. This hard work has had a great impact, with a fall in both fatalities and the injury rate during this period.
OHSA is a tripartite organisation, reflecting the need for social partners to be on board so that there is a consensus approach to health and safety at work, an approach mirrored at the European level. The work of OHSA as the focal point of EU-OSHA is particularly welcomed and appreciated by the Agency, and ensures that Malta and its OSH institution have a high profile in Europe.
