An event on the theme: “Basic Principles of Health and Safety at Work” was co-organized on Monday afternoon by the Chamber of Ioannina, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Hellenic Institute of Health and Safety at Work (EL.IN.Y.A.E.) and the Federation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants of N. Ioannina, with the support of the European Organization for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).
The organization was addressed to the Business-Members of the Chamber of Ioannina and the local Federation of Professional Craftsmen, who were invited to participate in the preparation of the Occupational Risk Assessment Study in the area of small and medium-sized and very small businesses with the OiRA Program and digital tools.
The event was organized as part of the information and awareness activities of the National Strategy for Health and Safety at Work 2022-2027.
The representative of the Ministry of Labor referred to the objective of the program to support small and very small businesses to comply with labor safety issues, a long-term effort that should continue for many years and for which although the relevant law 3850/2010 is recent, its provisions have been in effect since the 1980s.
Small and medium-sized enterprises do not have the means, resources and experts to help them if an accident occurs, especially a fatal one. In this case, the company will be closed, since it is impossible to cope with the burdens that will arise. It is therefore a question of survival for the business itself, to take care to integrate a plan of preventive measures into its daily operation. The protection of human life is not a simple administrative burden but must be a primary concern.
Rena Bardani, President at the Hellenic Institute of Health and Safety at Work (ELINYAE), an organization that is a statutory advisor to the state, argued that since the adoption of the first measures, the Law on Health and Safety until today, a lot has been done in this sector. But this does not mean that there are no shortcomings.
For SMEs it is a key issue at the national level, because we are a country according to Ms. Bardani, with many small and very small businesses compared to the average European level, small businesses are the backbone of entrepreneurship, the backbone of our economy but also important factor for medium and large companies because they are their partners and accidents that occur in super-contracting companies are often recorded.
In his greeting, the president of the Chamber of Ioannina, Makis Chrysostomou, emphasized that the health and safety of employees is always at the center of the efforts of businesses. Speaking from the position of the president and the professional, Mr. Chrysostomou emphasized that firstly, training on the best risk prevention practices is required, secondly, the development of a security policy with coherent policies with preventive verification and improvement programs, thirdly awareness raising to invest in such measures businesses, fourth the self-evident compliance of businesses with laws and fifth the recognition of good practices. “We need the Ministries by our side to reward the good practices” emphasized Mr. Chrysostomou.
Finally, the president of the OEBE of Ioannina, Christos Tatsis, addressed a short greeting.
