EU-OSHA announces 10th European Good Practice Awards on World Day for Safety and Health at Work

Entries were received from organisations of all sizes, and from a wide variety of industrial sectors, keen to demonstrate and share their good practice examples. A new booklet published today showcases the good practices implemented by the eight winners and fifteen commended companies.

“The winning companies and organisations have made exceptional contributions to promoting safe maintenance good practice,” said László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. “These good practices are in line with our Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work (2007–2012) which - as well as targeting occupational ill health - aims to cut work-related accidents by a quarter across the EU.”

Welcoming the positive economic impact of safe maintenance, Mr Kolos Kardkovács, Secretary of State for Employment, representing the Hungarian EU Presidency, said: “A lack of proper maintenance can have serious safety consequences, ultimately impacting productivity and profitability. By according sufficient time and resources to safe maintenance, the award winners are proactively protecting the interests of their businesses and their employees for years to come.”

Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, praised the high quality of the entries: “Our network of focal points in participating Member States and Turkey received hundreds of good practice examples, with the very best national examples taken forward to the European level Good Practice Awards. The eight winners and fifteen commended companies all demonstrate the crucial role regular maintenance plays in eliminating workplace hazards and managing risks, underlining the key messages of the Healthy Workplaces Campaign.”

The eight winners are Voestalpine Hytronics GmbH and Voestalpine Weichensysteme GmbH (Austria, iron and steel production) for their use of technology and organisation to achieve safer maintenance; Protón Electrónica SLU (Spain, electrical equipment) for coordinating repair and maintenance with the client; Actavis Ltd (Malta, pharmaceutical products) for its proactive and reactive interventions to improve maintenance safety; Skellefteå Räddningstjänst (Sweden, fire services) for its development of safe work routines for firefighters; Sonae (Portugal, retail trade) for its management of preventative and corrective maintenance; GHT - Glass Handling Technic Vof (Netherlands, Horticulture) for maintaining and repairing horticultural glasshouses safely and effectively; Tarmac Quarry Materials (United Kingdom, mining and quarrying) for its competent maintenance teams and STIB-MIVB (Belgium, transport) for its comprehensive approach to maintenance starting from the design of the work area.

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Links

European Good Practice Awards 2010-11

European Good Practice Award Booklet

Healthy Workplaces Campaign on Safe Maintenance 

World Day for Safety and Health at Work

International Labour Organisation

Notes to editors

1. The mission of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to make Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work. EU-OSHA was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, EU-OSHA aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues. http://osha.europa.eu Now you can follow us on Twitter, visit the Agency’s blog or subscribe to our monthly newsletter OSHmail. You can also register for regular news and information from EU-OSHA via RSS feed.

2. The Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2010-2011, which is co-ordinated by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and its partners in the 27 EU Member States, supports a wide range of activities at the national and European level that promote safe maintenance. It will highlight the importance of maintenance (of plants, equipment, machines and workplaces) to eliminate workplace hazards, and to provide safer and healthier working conditions in workplaces throughout Europe. It is backed by the EU Presidencies of Spain and Belgium in 2010 and of Hungary and Poland in 2011, by the European Parliament and the European Commission, and by the European Social Partners. http://hw.osha.europa.eu

Press inquiries

• Birgit Müller - International press +34 94 479 35 52 | news@osha.europa.eu
• Marta Urrutia - Spanish press +34 94 479 57 46 | noticias@osha.europa.eu
• Brenda O’Brien - Brussels Liaison Office +32 2 401 68 59 | obrien@osha.europa.eu