GESPRE has been invited to and is attending the signing of the 5TH MASTER PLAN OF THE COMMUNITY OF MADRID. The presentation and signing of the 5th Master Plan were attended by the President of the Community of Madrid, together with the social partners, represented by the General Secretary of Workers’ Commissions of Madrid, Mr. Jaime Cedrún; the General Secretary of UGT Madrid, Mr. Luis Miguel López Reillo; and the President of the Business Confederation of Madrid CEIM-CEOE, Mr. Juan Pablo Lázaro. The 5th Master Plan for Occupational Risk Prevention 2017-2020 represents a further step in the regional government’s commitment to workplace safety…
5TH MASTER PLAN FOR OCCUPATIONAL RISK PREVENTION OF THE COMMUNITY OF MADRID 2017-2020
Dissemination of knowledge, practical prevention, Preventive Culture.
On April 24, 2017, at 12:00 PM, at the Royal Post Office Building, Headquarters of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, the 5th Master Plan for Occupational Risk Prevention of the Community of Madrid was signed.
The presentation and signing of the 5th Master Plan were attended by the President of the Community of Madrid, together with the social partners, represented by the General Secretary of Workers’ Commissions of Madrid, Mr. Jaime Cedrún; the General Secretary of UGT Madrid, Mr. Luis Miguel López Reillo; and the President of the Business Confederation of Madrid CEIM-CEOE, Mr. Juan Pablo Lázaro. The 5th Master Plan for Occupational Risk Prevention 2017-2020 represents a further step in the regional government’s commitment to workplace safety.
Representing the Official Association of Mining Technical Engineers of Madrid and the Interprofessional Union, Rosa Luz Carreño González, member no. 1443, attended the event.
Representing GRUPO GESPRE, the Commercial and Technical Director for Occupational Risk Prevention, Mr. Álvaro Catalán Sánchez, attended, accompanied by Ms. Rosa Luz Carreño González, CEO of Grupo Gespre.
The 5th Master Plan contains four guiding axes, 20 strategic preventive programs, 50 lines of action, and 180 specific objectives. Among the main innovations is the commitment to more practical and real prevention and measures aimed at self-employed workers.
The 5th Master Plan is structured around 4 guiding axes focused on developing more practical and real prevention, improving knowledge, promoting a preventive culture, and consolidating public policies on occupational risk prevention, strengthening the role of social partners in improving safety and health at work, and increasing coordination among all stakeholders involved. In addition, the 5th Master Plan includes 20 strategic preventive programs, 50 lines of action, and a total of 180 specific objectives. During this event, the President of the Community of Madrid emphasized “that this is an agreement of great importance as it represents the signing with social representatives, trade unions, and the employers’ association of Madrid on a matter of fundamental importance and absolute significance, as it concerns preserving the safety conditions of all workers in Madrid.”
A plan that focuses its attention on the main objective: the WORKER, valuing all their contributions and taking into account not only their productivity but also prevention.
This 5th Master Plan has been developed with the aim of continuing to promote occupational health and the prevention of workplace accidents.
According to the President of the Community of Madrid, due to the 3.7% increase in the economy in 2016, there may be an increase in risk situations. This makes it more necessary than ever to promote all possible actions aimed at greater occupational risk prevention.
The Community of Madrid is the region with the lowest workplace accident rate in the country, with 17% fewer accidents than in other Spanish regions and a lower rate of serious accidents, specifically 57.5% below the national average. Therefore, in light of these figures, the President of the Community of Madrid, despite having the best results at the national level, insists that we must promote and invest in occupational risk prevention, since “a single accident constitutes a priority objective for us to work to prevent it.”
What this Master Plan aims to achieve is to make the worker’s environment a safer environment.
To implement this 5th Master Plan, a budget of 56.2 million euros has been allocated, which represents a 12% increase over the amount allocated to the 4th Master Plan (the previous Master Plan).
This Master Plan consists of 4 guiding axes:
- AXIS 1: “Promote, with the participation of social partners, a more practical occupational risk prevention adapted to the reality of companies and workers.”
The health and well-being of workers are clearly influenced by working conditions. It is indisputable that comprehensive actions to improve them increase levels of health and well-being, so actions in this area must be intensified and prioritized to achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency, dedicating efforts to those sectors and groups that may require greater attention.
- AXIS 2: “Enhance the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on occupational risk prevention.”
Knowledge and safety are directly related concepts, so if we intend to increase safety levels, actions must be implemented to improve knowledge, both in its generation and acquisition and in its access.
Table 1: Evolution of workplace accident rates by implementation period of the Master Plans of the Community of Madrid.
- AXIS 3: “Promote the integration of prevention and the development of key competencies for greater dissemination of preventive culture.”
Occupational risk prevention is more than a mandatory legal framework and a set of documents; it is a value that must be integrated into company policies and extend to society as a whole. In addition to continuing to improve material conditions and prevention and protection measures, it is necessary to approach prevention from another perspective that will contribute to further progress in reducing accident rates. To achieve effective integration of occupational risk prevention in companies, a genuine culture of prevention must be incorporated. And this requires bearing in mind that companies are made up of people, so that preventive culture should be incorporated into the management that each person performs in the company according to their functions and responsibilities and, therefore, in the greatest number of behaviors, acts, decisions, and projects adopted in each company. To this end, it is essential to promote the acquisition and exercise of a series of key competencies among members of organizations that translate into everyone becoming aware of safety and health as a common and shared value.
- AXIS 4: “Consolidate public policies on occupational risk prevention and strengthen the role of social partners in improving safety and health at work, increasing coordination among all stakeholders involved.”
Law 31/1995, of November 8, on Occupational Risk Prevention establishes that policy on occupational risk prevention is articulated on the basis of the principles of effectiveness, coordination, and participation, ordering both the action of the various Public Administrations with competencies in preventive matters and the necessary participation in such action by employers and workers, through their representative organizations. Twenty years after the approval of the aforementioned Law, there is consensus on the progress made in safety and health thanks to the modernization of the regulatory framework, as well as public policies and social dialogue that have promoted the involvement and complementarity of all stakeholders involved.
And 4 cross-cutting axes:
- Cross-cutting Axis No. 1: Company typology.
Without prejudice to the modulation of actions considering the typology and size of companies, they will be prioritized in small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Cross-cutting Axis No. 2: Worker groups.
Priority will be given to vulnerable groups, as well as those that require special attention due to their characteristics.
- Cross-cutting Axis No. 3: Activity typology.
Without prejudice to carrying out actions in any economic sector or branch of activity, priority will be given to those economic activities that show a more unfavorable evolution of the incidence rate in year-on-year terms and in which a greater number of workers are employed.
- Cross-cutting Axis No. 4: Territoriality.
While occupational risk prevention has a strong sectoral and activity component, for the sake of greater effectiveness of certain actions, the Regional Institute for Safety and Health at Work will prioritize its actions in those municipalities of Madrid that present the most unfavorable data from the point of view of occupational risk prevention.
Therefore, this Master Plan aims to continue working along the same lines and with the same shared objective, and above all, that only through the joint effort of all will it have a very positive impact on the quality of life of all workers.
Only by following these guidelines and striving for a single objective, which is Occupational Risk Prevention, can we improve employment and its quality.
The event concluded with applause for the speech by the President of the Community of Madrid, who thanked the efforts of all participants in achieving the signing of this agreement and all attendees.
