Leading construction bodies sign landmark declaration to improve the industry’s health and safety standards.

Signed version of the Bilbao Declaration available in PDF format. 

 

The Dutch Presidency of the European Union together with six of the top representative bodies in Europe’s €900 billion construction industry today signed a landmark declaration committing them to specific measures to improve the sector’s safety and health standards.  

 

Despite recent progress, the construction industry, which employs over 12 million people, has one of the poorest safety and health records in Europe. According to the latest available statistics for the pre-enlargement EU, each year nearly 1,200 construction workers are killed and more than 800,000 involved in accidents requiring over 3 days off work. The financial cost to the EU, in terms of lost productivity, health costs and other expenses, is estimated to exceed €75 billion a year – equivalent to €200 per person in the EU.  

 

The Bilbao Declaration, which was signed at the European Construction Safety Summit on 22 November 2004 (jointly organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and the Dutch Presidency of the EU) sets out five key actions that need to be taken to lift health and safety standards in Europe’s construction industry. These include: 

 

Integrate health and safety standards into procurement policies, supported by guidelines for purchasing goods and services;  

Ensure safety and health is taken into account at the design and planning stages of construction projects; 

Use site inspections and other techniques to encourage more businesses to comply with safety and health legislation; 

Develop guidelines to help businesses comply with this legislation, especially small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); 

Stimulate higher standards of safety and health via social dialogue and agreements on training, accident reduction targets and other issues.  

The organisations that signed the Bilbao Declaration include: European Construction Industry Federation; European Federation of Building and Wood Workers; European Builders’ Confederation; European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations; Architects’ Council of Europe and; European Council of Civil Engineers.  

 

Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, commented: “The European Construction Safety Summit clarified the strategy and actions needed to improve safety and health standards within the construction industry; the Bilbao Declaration provides the commitment required to make this strategy a reality. As a result of this Declaration, we expect to see significant improvements in safety and health standards throughout Europe’s construction industry and commensurately lower costs, both human and financial. This will be in everyone’s interests – businesses, workers and clients.” 

 

 

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Further information on the closing event and the European Week 2004 can be found at http://osha.europa.eu/ew2004/closingevent/index_en.htm.  

 

A comprehensive press pack about the Agency’s campaign, Building in Safety, is available at http://ew2004.osha.europa.eu/news/press_releases/index_en.htm 

 

European Week reports and fact sheets are available in the ‘information resources’ section of the European Week website at http://osha.europa.eu/ew2004 

 

Other enquiries: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain, email: information@osha.europa.eu, fax: +34 94 479 4383.