osha.europa.eu · bulgaria establishment reports . authors: jim hillage, alice sinclair, beth...

Bulgaria Establishment Reports

ISSN: 1831-9343

Qualitative post-test evaluation of ESENER: Establishment interviews- BULGARIA European Risk Observatory

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

1

EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work


Authors: Jim Hillage, Alice Sinclair, Beth Foley, Institute for Employment Studies,

Carsten Brück, Reka Zayzon, Katariina Röbbelen-Voigt, Kooperationsstelle Hamburg IFE GmbH,

Professor Katya Vangelova, National Center of Public Health and Analysis (NCPHA), Bulgaria,

Emanuela Carta

Project Management: William Cockburn (EU-OSHA)

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).

Cataloguing data can be found on the cover of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union

ISBN: 978-92-9240-277-8

doi: 10.2802/86555

© European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2013

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers

to your questions about the European Union

Freephone number (*):

00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers, or these calls may be billed.

2


http://europa.eu/


Contents

Introduction 8

1 Establishment Overview ID 2 10

Establishment background 10 Respondent profiles 10 Organisation of health and safety 10 Health and safety performance 11 Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words;

sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgment in answering) 11

Summary of respondents’ answers 14








3














sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgement in answering) 71







4







Establishment Overview 44 106









Establishment background 132 Respondent profiles 132 Organisation of health and safety 132 Health and safety performance 133 Summary of Respondents’ Answers 135 Risk Assessment 136 Worker participation and involvement 140 OSH and organisational performance 141


Establishment background 143

5



Respondent profiles 143 Organisation of health and safety 143 Health and safety performance 144 Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words;
















Establishment background 187 Respondent profiles 187 Organisation of health and safety 187 Health and safety performance 188

6



Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgment in answering) 188













Summary of respondents' answers 221

7



Introduction

This report presents the findings for each establishment visited in Bulgaria as part of the qualitative post-test of the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER). Nineteen establishments were visited in total. Each establishment overview details any technical issues that emerged concerning the tested questions and a summary of findings. Data from interviews with both the management representative and the employee representative are included within each establishment overview.

8



9



1 Establishment Overview ID 2

1.1 Establishment background

The establishment is a small organisation in the education sector. It is a primary public school with 19 employees: 15 teachers, 2 stokers (dealing with the heating system), 1 cleaner and 1 accountant. The school provides education for 150 children.

1.2 Respondent profiles

The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. She has been involved in health and safety for ten years, and was provided with general training on health and safety by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative is a teacher. She was appointed as an employee representative at a general meeting of the trade union. She was provided with training on fire fighting.

1.3 Organisation of health and safety

The Director is responsible for ensuring the School is compliant with health and safety legislation. She chairs the health and safety group.

According to the proforma, two officials and the employee representative are involved in health and safety. No data was provided for the time dedicated to health and safety work. External occupational health services have been purchased for €150.

Occupational health services are subcontracted.

There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety group.

10



1.4 Health and safety performance

According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year.

Sickness absence was also felt to be low (3.2 days per person annually).

1.5 Main technical issues

(issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgment in answering)

MM200: ‘For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern or no concern at all in your establishment?’

01) Dangerous substances (e.g. dusts, chemical, biological); 02) Accidents; 03) Noise and vibration; 04) Musculoskeletal disorders; 05) Work-related stress; 06) Violence or threat of violence; 07) Bullying or harassment.

The method used to determine whether a risk was of some, no or major concern varied for the items presented. For example, some risks were regarded as being of concern as they were present (noise), in other cases because they were managed (dangerous substances).

MM164: ‘Which of the following areas are routinely considered in these (workplace) checks?’

01) Equipment and working environment; 02) The way work is organised; 03) Irregular or long working hours; 04) Supervisor-employee relationships.

Item 03) in Bulgarian was translated as supplementary and long working hours. An initial negative answer did not change after the interviewer asked about irregular working hours. The respondent said:

'Irregular or long working hours are not checked by the Occupational Health Services; they are checked by the Labour Inspectorate.'

Management representative

11



MM166: ‘And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these checks?’

01) Changes to equipment or working environment; 02) Changes to the way work is organised; 03) Changes to working time arrangements; 04) Provision of training.

For some of the items, the follow-up actions were explained. For item 03) regarding the need for working irregular working hours, the respondent said:

'In case of temperatures falling to -20oC if the stoker did not start the heating in the evening, the next day it would be impossible to carry out any teaching and the heating system would be damaged.'


MM171: ‘In your establishment, how important are the following reasons for addressing health and safety? For each one, tell me whether it is a major reason, a minor reason, or no reason at all?’

01) Fulfilment of legal obligation; 02) Requests from employees or their representatives; 03) Staff retention and absence management; 04) Economic or performance-related reasons; 05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation’s reputation; 06) Pressure from the labour inspector.

The answer for item 02) was a hypothetical 'yes' The respondent added:

'If there were any requests from employees or their representatives they should be considered a major reason.'


Item 05) is two questions in one and the interviewee answered only the part concerning the organisation's reputation. 06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate, although the item was considered as major reason to address health and safety at work.

ER202: ‘In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?’

The employee representative found it difficult to rate the impact, she hesitated and finally answered 'some impact', as she felt it was difficult to judge. She interpreted 'impact' as the degree of fulfilment of health and safety policy.

12



ER250: ‘For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?’


The respondent found it difficult to determine whether the level of risk was of some, no or major concern; some risks were regarded as a major concern as they were present (noise), in other cases as they were managed (accidents).

ER155: ‘Do you usually receive information on time and without having to ask for it’?

The employee representative qualified her negative response by saying that she received general information, but was not much interested in information on health and safety.

ER160: ‘Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?’/ ER162 – ‘Which of the following are the main reasons for receiving no or not sufficient training on these issues?’

The employee representative felt that more training would be desirable, but did not point to any reasons for not receiving sufficient training.

MM402/MM403/New questions on OSH and enterprise performance

The Director had no basis for comparison of absenteeism, health and safety outcomes, etc. with other schools.

MM403: ‘How would you rate the current economic situation of this establishment? Is it very good, quite good, neither good nor bad, quite bad or very bad?’

The respondent found the options insufficient to answer the question. She answered that it was neither very good, nor quite good. It was good. 'Quite good' was interpreted as more than good.

13



New question: ‘Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?’

The respondent did not answer the question as she found it not applicable to schools.

1.6 Summary of respondents’ answers

Approach to management of health and safety

MM155/ER200: ‘Is there a documented policy, established management system or action plan on health and safety in your establishment?’

The question was understood well. Both respondents referred to the school health and safety policy and they had plans, setting out key objectives and activities for the year.

MM156/ER202: ‘In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?’

The Director felt that there had been a large impact, as the rules were followed strictly and there were no accidents. She said:

'The risk of accidents is not large for the teachers, but I am worried for the safety at work of the stokers, the school is heated with gas, and an accident could put in risk not only the stokers, but also the students and all the staff of the school.'


The employee representative felt there was only some impact, she interpreted impact as the positive result of the health and safety policy.

MM159/ER 214: ‘Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?’

The Director rated it quite high, while the employee representative rated this very highly. However, both referred to the same activities carried out by the vice-director.

14



ER215_05 ‘Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by employee or their representatives.'

The question was understood well. The employee representative agreed with the statement and referred to timely and prioritised actions by the Director.

Risk Assessment

MM161/ER207: ‘Are workplaces in the establishment regularly checked for safety and health as part of a risk assessment or similar measures?’

Both respondents understood the question well. Risk assessments of the whole workplace was carried out annually by the Occupational Health Service and was documented.

MM162: ‘Are these risk assessments or workplace checks mostly conducted by your own staff or are they normally contracted to external service providers?’

This question was well understood by the respondent. Risk assessments were conducted by an external provider, the Occupational Health Service.

MM163: ‘On which occasions are these risk assessments or workplace checks carried out?’

01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees e.g. in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause.

None of the terms were considered confusing. 01) No. They had no new workplaces or changes in layout or in the organisation of work. 2) No. There were no requests from employees. 03) Yes. The workplace was checked annually.

MM164: ‘Which of the following areas are routinely considered in these checks?’


01) Yes, lighting, noise and microclimate measurements were carried out.

02) Yes. The ‘way work is organised’ was interpreted as working time, worker’s obligations and responsibilities, and the specificity of the tasks.

15



03) No. The Irregular or long working hours were not a part of risk assessment.

04) No. The supervisor-employee relationships were not subject of these checks.



The follow-up actions of item 01) depended on the instructions of the Occupational Health Service.

02) Yes, the respondent referred to eventual changes in the legislation that had to be implemented.

03) Yes. The stokers worked irregular working hours.

04) No. Training was provided, but not as a result of the risk assessment.

ER209: ‘Do you have a say in the decisions on when and where these risk assessments of workplace checks are carried out?’

The question was well understood. The employee representative said that she could have a say, but actually they just accompanied the staff of the Occupational Health Service showing them the rooms.

ER210: ‘If the risk assessment or workplace check identifies a need for action: Is the necessary follow-up action taken?’

Yes. The employee representative said that the needed follow-up actions would be taken to improve working condition such as some repairs, changes in equipment etc.

ER211: ‘And are you as health and safety representatives usually involved in the choice of follow-up actions?’

Yes. The employee representative could propose follow-up actions, but their fulfilment was in dependent on the school's financial resources.

16



Levels of concern with occupational safety and health risks

MM200/ER250: ‘For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?’


01) The Director felt it was of some concern and referred to health and safety instructions for the stokers, who worked with gas and the cleaner, who used detergents. The employee representative said that they have no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees felt it was of major concern, pointed preventive actions and that they had had no accidents.

03) Noise was considered to be of major concern by both interviewees, the children were noisy.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of no concern by both respondents; the Director said that everybody should take care of his/her own health.

05) Work-related stress was considered of some concern by the Director because of the scrutiny young teachers were under when starting their teaching career. The employee representative said it was of no concern.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern, as they had not experienced any incidents.

07) Bullying was considered of no concern as the respondents did not know of any cases.

Drivers of and barriers to management of health and safety

MM171: ‘In your establishment, how important are the following reasons for addressing health and safety? For each one, please tell me whether it is a major reason, a minor reason, or no reason at all.’


01) The director felt that this was a major driver because it was right to fulfil legal obligations.

17



02) If there were any requests from employees or their representatives they would be considered a major reason.

03) Staff retention was not a reason in the school, and neither was absence management.

04) No reason at all.

05) Organisation reputation was felt to be a major reason.

06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate, although the item was considered as a major reason to address health and safety at work.

MM172: ‘In your establishment, what are the main difficulties in dealing with health and safety? Please tell me for each of the following whether it is a major difficulty, a minor difficulty, or not a difficulty at all.’

01) A lack of resources such as time, staff or money; 02) A lack of awareness; 03) A lack of expertise; 04) A lack of technical support or guidance; 05) The culture within the establishment; 06) The sensitivity of the issue.

Item 01) was not considered a difficulty; they had staff and were able to find financial resources.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty, they were provided with information on health and safety at work.

03) Not a difficulty, they had subcontracted occupational health services and services for the maintenance of heating system.

04) She felt she knew where to find information on health and safety, so the issue was not a difficulty at all.

05) Minor difficulty. The respondent felt the health and safety culture was not quite good as the teachers knew their rights, but not always their obligations.

06) The interviewee considered the sensitivity of the issue as no difficulty.

Worker participation and involvement

ER102: ‘Is there a permanent committee or working group consisting of members of the management and representatives of the employees dealing with safety and health in this establishment?’

There is a health and safety group. There are quarterly meetings, chaired by the Director.

18



ER107: ‘How often do controversies related to safety and health arise between the management and the employee representatives? Is this often, sometimes, or practically never the case?’

The employee representative stated that there were sometimes controversies relating to health and safety between the management and employee representatives; this was interpreted as a discussion of different opinions.

ER205: ‘Are employees in this establishment regularly informed about safety and health in the workplace?’

The employee representative stated that all staff and students were required to undertake a health and safety induction every year, and were also provided with information and advised on risks of using electric appliances during the winter.

ER150: ‘Do you as the employee representative for safety and health usually get sufficient time off from normal duties to perform these tasks adequately?’

The question was understood well by the respondent. The employee representative answered positively.

ER154: ‘Does the management provide you with the necessary information for carrying out your health and safety tasks properly?’

Yes. The employee representative was provided with information.

ER155: ‘Do you usually receive information on time and without having to ask for it?’

General information, yes.

ER159: ‘On which of the following issues have you or your health and safety representative colleagues received training?’

01) Fire safety; 02) Prevention of accidents; 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards; 04) Ergonomics; 05) Violence, bullying or harassment; 06) Work-related stress; 07) Discrimination (for example due to age, gender, race or disability).

The employee representative had received training on 01) fire safety. She was not provided with training for the other items listed, but she did not know about her colleagues.

19



ER160: ‘Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?’

She felt more training would be desirable.

ER162: ‘Which of the following are the main reasons for receiving no or not sufficient training on these issues?’

The respondent pointed to the difficulties in getting time off for training and the lack of information about available courses as the main reasons for not receiving more training. She added:

'I find that some of the available courses are not appropriate for us.'

Employee representative

OSH and organisational performance

MM402: ‘How would you rate the level of absenteeism in your establishment compared with other establishments in the sector? Is it very high, quite high, about average, quite low or very low?’

The Director regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, but had nothing to compare it against.

New question: ‘Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?’

The respondent left the question unanswered and said that they had no basis for comparison.


In the current economic situation it was neither very good, nor quite good. It was good.

20




The respondent did not answer as she felt the question was not applicable to schools.

21





The establishment is a small organisation in the education sector. It is a public primary school with 11 employees, 8 teachers, 1 stoker (dealing with the heating system), 1 cleaner and 1 accountant. The school provides education for 70 children in four classes and individual education for one child.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. She has been involved in health and safety for seven years and was provided with general training on health and safety by the Occupational Health Service staff.

The employee representative is a teacher. She was appointed as an employee representative for 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work' at a general meeting.


The Director is responsible for ensuring the school is compliant with health and safety legislation. She has delegated some responsibilities on health and safety to a teacher, who chairs the 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work'. The commission also has a secretary and one other member – the employee representative. The chair of the commission reports to the Director.

According to the proforma, two officials are involved in health and safety, but there is no data about the time they dedicate to health and safety at work. The employee representative also has a specific role in health and safety, no data was provided for the time dedicated to health and safety at work. External occupational health services have been purchased at a low price of €50. During the last calendar year €1,600 were spent on changing the lighting in the building.

22




Health and safety at work issues are discussed at quarterly meetings of the 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work'.



Sickness absence was felt to be low (0.6 days per person annually).



MM155: ‘Is there a documented policy, established management system or action plan on health and safety in your establishment?’

The respondent referred to the plan for health and safety of teaching, education and work, the health and safety issues at work were part of the health and safety policy of the school. It is not clear the extent to which this policy deals with the health and safety issues of the employees.



The calculus used to determine whether a risk was of some, no or major concern varied for the items presented. For example, noise was regarded as of major concern as it was noisy in the school because of the children, while musculoskeletal disorders were considered of some concern, as they tried to manage them. Stress at work was considered of major concern, both because of the presence of stress and provided training. Some items were of no concern because they considered they had no such risks (egdangerous substances, violence), while others were of no concern as the risks had not been realised, but the possibility was recognised (eg accidents).

23





Item 02) the 'way work is organised' was interpreted as 'completing the normative teaching hours, participation in school commissions, pedagogical commissions and the coupling of these activities'. Item 03) in Bulgarian was translated as supplementary and long working hours. The negative answer did not change after clarification about irregular working hours. The respondent said they did not work irregular or long working hours.



The answer to item 02) was hypothetical: 'If there were any requests from employees or their representatives they would be considered major reason'. Item 05) is two questions in one and the interviewee answered only the part concerning the clients, but the answer was not related to the health and safety of the employees. 06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate, but the item was considered as a major reason to address health and safety at work.


The employee representative interpreted 'some' as minor. She felt there was an impact, neither some nor large.

24





The respondent found it difficult to determine whether the risk was of some, no or major concern; some risks were regarded as a major concern as they were present (noise), in other cases because they were managed (stress).


There is a 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work' within the establishment. It is not clear the extent to which this commission deals with health and safety issues of the employees.


The employee representative answered positively as she was provided with time for the tasks of the 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work'. It is not clear the extent to which this commission deals with health and safety issues of the employees.




Both respondents referred to the health and safety policy; they had plans setting out key objectives and activities for the year. The plan is a part of the plan for health and safety of teaching, education and work.

25




The Director felt that there had been some impact, she would like to improve health and safety in the school, but they had financial difficulties. The employee representative interpreted 'some' as minor. She felt there was an impact, but neither some nor a large impact.


The Director rated it as quite high, while the employee rated it very highly.


The employee representative agreed with the statement and referred to the actions of the Director.

Risk Assessment


Risk assessment of all workplaces was carried out annually by the Occupational Health Service and was documented.




01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees eg

26



in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause.

None of the terms were considered confusing. 01) Yes. When there were changes in staff they communicated with the Occupational Health Service for risk assessments and health and safety inductions. 02) No. They had no such cases. 03) Yes. Workplaces were checked annually.



01) Yes, equipment and working environment, e.g. lighting and dust measurements were carried. 02) No. The respondent considered work was well organised in the school and for this reason this was not included in the checks. 03) No. They had no irregular or long working hours. 04) No. The supervisor-employee relationships were not subject to these checks.



The follow-up actions of item 01) depended on the instructions of the Occupational Health Service; during the last calendar year they had changed the lighting in the school. 02) No. 03) No. 04) No. Training was provided, but not as a result of a risk assessment.


Yes. The question was well understood. The employee representative said that she could have a say, but actually they just accompanied staff from the Occupational Health Service, showing them the rooms.


Yes. The employee representative said that the required follow-up actions would be taken if they could financially afford it.

27




Yes. The employee representative felt she could propose follow-up actions, but she had not done so yet.




01) Both respondents felt it was of no concern as they had no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees justified their negative answer by explaining that they had had no accidents. The management representative felt accidents were possible everywhere, as somebody could slip, even on the way to/from the school.

03) Noise was considered to be of major concern by both interviewees as the children were noisy.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of some concern by both respondents. The Director said that musculoskeletal disorders were typical for the teachers as they were on their feet all day, but as a preventive action they had a staffroom where the teachers could rest in their free hours.

05) Work-related stress was considered of major concern by both respondents; they were provided with training to overcome stress at work. The Director pointed out that their work was getting more stressful because of organisational issues of the education system.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern, as they had not experienced any incidents.

07) Bullying was considered to be of no concern as the respondents did not know of any instances.

28






01) The director felt that this was a major driver because it was right to fulfil legal obligations.

02) If there were any requests from employees or their representatives they should be considered a major reason.

03) Staff retention was not felt to be a reason for addressing health and safety in the school, neither was absence management.


05) Major reason. The respondent answered that they worked for the children and their parents.

06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate, although the item was considered a major reason to address health and safety at work.



Item 01) was considered a minor difficulty; they were able to find financial resources for the most urgent issues.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty, they were provided with information on health and safety at work.

03) Not a difficulty, they had subcontracted occupational health services.

04) She felt she knew where to find information on health and safety, so this was not a difficulty at all.

29



05) The respondent felt the health and safety culture was quite good, so this was not a difficulty at all.

06) The interviewee considered the sensitivity of the issue of no difficulty.



There is a 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work'. The Director had delegated responsibility for chairing the commission to one of the teachers. There were quarterly meetings.

ER107: ‘How often do controversies related to safety and health arise between the management and the employee representatives? Is this often, sometimes, or practically never the case?’

01) Often 02 Sometimes 03) Practically never 04) No answer.

The employee representative said that there were practically never controversies related to health and safety between the management and employees.


The employee representative stated that all the staff were required to undertake a health and safety induction annually, provided by the Occupational Health Service staff.


The employee representative answered positively as she was given time for the tasks of the 'Health and Safety Commission for Teaching, Education and Work'.



30







The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety and 05) Work-related stress. For the rest of the items she was not provided with training, but she did not know about her colleagues.




Financial difficulties were given as the main reason of not receiving more training.



The Director regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low compared with another similar primary school in the town.


The respondent answered very well, referring to the lack of accidents and low rate of sickness absence.

31




The interviewee considered it was neither good, nor bad. They had a low budget, calculated on the basis of the number of children they taught, but they been financed by supplementary activities (e.g. whole day education), and different programmes (nutrition of children and support for refurbishment of the building).

New question: 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?'

The performance was rated neither good nor bad for the same reasons as MM403.

32





The establishment is a small organisation in the education sector. It is a basic public school with 31 employees: 25 teachers, 2 stokers (dealing with the heating system), 2 cleaners, 1 accountant and 1 administrator. The school provides education for 270 children, studying in 15 classes. The school provides also pre-school education for its future students.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. She has been involved in health and safety since 1995, was provided with general training on health and safety, and recently undertook training on ‘stress management in the work of teachers’.

The employee representative is an IT teacher. She was appointed as an employee representative at a meeting several months ago. She has not been provided with training on health and safety at work yet, but was provided with training on fire fighting.


The Director is responsible for ensuring the school is compliant with health and safety legislation. She has devolved responsibilities for health and safety to the vice-director and one official from the administration; both reporting to her.

According to the proforma, three senior officials are involved in health and safety, two spending three hours per month and one spending four hours per month. There is also an employee representative with a specific role in health and safety, no data was provided for the time dedicated to health and safety at work. External

33



Occupational Health Services have been purchased for €450. In the last calendar year €100 were also spent on protective clothing.

Occupational Health Services are subcontracted.

There are quarterly and meetings of the health and safety group.






MM156: ‘In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?’

The Director interpreted ‘some’ impact as ‘minor’ impact and explained her answer in terms of the lack of time and financial resources, and insufficient coordination between the institutions.



The method used to determine whether a risk was of some, no or major concern varied for the items presented. For example, some risks were regarded as a major concern because they were present (egnoise), in other cases because they were well managed (accidents, work-related stress).

34





Item 02), 'the way work is organised' was interpreted to include schedules of work, workplaces, and obligations and responsibilities. Item 03) was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative, as they have no supplementary and long working hours. When asked about irregular working hours, the respondent confirmed her negative answer.



Item 05) is two questions in one, the interviewee made association between item 04) (the performance) and the part of item 05) concerning the school's reputation. The Director pointed to the requirements of the clients (parents) as a major reason, but there was no link to addressing health and safety and their requirements. Item 06), 'pressure from the labour inspectorate' was considered as a minor reason to address health and safety at work, but the interviewee clarified that there was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.

MM172: ‘In your establishment, what are the main difficulties in dealing with health and safety? Please tell me for each of the following whether it is a major difficulty, a minor difficulty, or not a difficulty at all?’


05) The respondent interpreted ‘health and safety culture’ to mean ‘the rights and obligations of the teachers’. Item 06), 'the sensitivity of the issue', was considered a difficulty as employees were not happy to write reports for their requests, and the Director felt that they preferred to make anonymous requests.

35



ER200: ‘Is there a documented policy, established management system or action plan on health and safety in your establishment?’

The employee representative found it difficult to answer the question. First she referred to the plan of action in case of disaster and fire, later she mentioned the health and safety activities in health and safety induction and safety instructions for different workplaces, etc.


The employee representative explained her answer referring to preventative measures in case of disasters and fires. They had conducted a training exercise with the children and optimised their actions. She felt they were better prepared after the exercise.



The respondent found it difficult to determine whether the level of risk was of some, no or major concern. Some risks were regarded as a major concern as they were present (noise), in other cases because they were well managed (work-related stress, musculoskeletal disorders). In some cases the interviewee found it difficult to rate whether the risk was of some or major concern, egitem 02) accidents.


The employee representative qualified his positive response by saying that she received general information without having to ask for it; the information was not restricted to health and safety at work.

36




The employee representative felt more training would be desirable, but did not point to any reasons for not receiving sufficient training.


The Director had no basis for comparison with other schools.




The Director referred to the school health and safety policy. They had plans setting out key objectives and activities for the year. The employee representative first referred to the plan of action in case of disaster and fire, and then to the health and safety inductions and the safety instructions for different workplaces, and the set responsibilities. Everything was documented.


The Director felt that there had been some impact, although it was considered to be minor. This was explained as being due to the lack of time and financial resources and insufficient coordination between the institutions. The employee representative felt that there had been a large impact, and referred to preventative measures in case of disasters and fires.


The question was well understood by the respondents. The Director rated it quite high, while the employee representative rated it very highly.

37



ER215_05 ‘Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: ‘Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by employee or their representatives.'

The employee representative agreed with the statement. She clarified this further:

'Our management takes action on occupational safety and health issues raised by employees or their representatives without delaying them and they are prioritised, e.g. if the financial resources are insufficient, the contractors for the roof are considered a priority, ergonomic chairs can be the next step.'


Risk Assessment


The respondents understood the question well. Risk assessment of all workplaces was carried by the Occupational Health Service and was documented. They had to report to the Municipality about the condition of the school, and were subject to controls. The employee representative added that they had fulfilled the requirement for measuring the temperature in the classrooms every day during the colder days.





None of the items were considered confusing. 01) Yes, in case of new studies or laboratories, new workplaces or new employees. 02) Yes. Risk assessments at request of the employee were generally carried out, but were comparatively rare. 03) Yes. Safety plans were checked every year.

38





01) Yes. In the work room they have machines and safety measures are undertaken. 02) Yes, she referred to one versus two shifts they had. The ‘way work is organised’ was interpreted as schedules of work, workplaces, and obligations and responsibilities. 03) No. They had no irregular, supplementary or long working hours. 04) No. The Director said:

'Supervisor-employee relationships are not subject of these checks, but I think they should be. The good relationships contribute to positive results. There are different interests: of students, parents, teachers, external organisations. It is difficult to work with people, addressing the psychosocial factors is important for strain elimination or reduction.'




None of the terms was considered confusing. 01) Repairs in the building: the floor in the informatics study was repaired, lighting was changed, new ergonomic furniture was provided. 02) No, not related to the checks. 03) No. 04) Yes. Training on work-related stress was provided after the risk assessment.


The question was well understood. The employee representative said that she could have a say, but actually they just accompanied staff from the Occupational Health Service around, showing them the rooms.


Yes. The employee representative gave the example of changed lighting and floor repairs in the informatics study.

39




Yes. The employee representative recently proposed buying new fire extinguishers.




01) Both interviewees answered negatively explaining their ratings as being due to the lack of dangerous substances in the school.

02) Both interviewees felt it was of concern. The Director felt it was of some concern, while the employee representative felt it was difficult to rate it. Both pointed to preventative actions undertaken. The Director gave the example of when they found that a shaft lid was missing and this was replaced with a new lid as a matter of urgency.

03) Noise was considered to be of major concern by both interviewees, as the children could be noisy.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of concern, the Director argued for medical checks, while the employee representative pointed to ergonomic furniture as a preventative action.

05) Work-related stress was considered as of major concern; all teachers were provided with training on coping with stress by the Ministry of Education. Training was provided on the organisation of education, and stress issues were included, too.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees as of major concern. They had received a threat of violence from the parent of one of their students. They were advised by the police officer to increase security by building a fence around the school, but had no financial resources to do it.

07) The Director rated bullying of major concern and expressed a hope that the teachers do not feel bullied. The employee representative answered that they have no bullying. Both interviewees considered that they could be bullied by external factors.

40






01) The director felt that this was a major driver because they were controlled by many institutions.

02) Requests from employees or their representatives were considered a major reason. Some building work had been carried out at the request of employees. Another question, raised by the employees was about a place for smoking, but she could do nothing. Smoking was recently banned indoors in all public places. An example was given that employees in the area can smoke outside, but the teachers can not smoke in the school yard in front of the students.

03) This was considered a major reason, although staff retention was not a problem in the school and absences were because of sickness.

04) It was a major reason to address health and safety for performance reasons, as they were associated with the reputation of the school.

05) Parents were regarded as clients, but no link was made between addressing health and safety and their requirements.

06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate, the item was considered as a minor reason to address health and safety at work.



Item 01) was considered a major difficulty both in terms of a lack of time and financial resources.

02) A lack of awareness was a minor difficulty, they were provided with information on health and safety at work.

41



03) This was felt to be a major difficulty, the respondent felt they were insufficient well-trained specialists in health and safety.

04) She feels she knows where to find information on health and safety.

05) The respondent felt the health and safety culture was not quite as good as it could be as the teachers knew their rights, but not always their obligations.

06) The interviewee considered the sensitivity of the issue as major difficulty as some employees had requirements, but did not submit reports. If she took follow-up actions for requirements without written document the Director felt she could have problems during a financial audit of the school.



There is a health and safety group. There are quarterly meetings, chaired by the vice-director.

ER 107: ‘How often do controversies related to safety and health arise between the management and the employee representatives? Is this often, sometimes, or practically never the case?'

The respondent understood the question and gave the answer of practically never. She said that she did not know of any cases.


The employee representative said that all staff and students were required to undertake a health and safety induction every year, and were also provided with information and advised on different risks (egusing electric appliances during the winter).


The employee representative answered positively. She was overloaded, but she considered it was her personal choice, as she had duties for trade unions, as the employee representative representing basic level teachers, and also worked overtime.

42









The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety, 05) Violence, harassment and bulling and 06) Work-related stress. To her knowledge nobody was provided with training on item 07) Discrimination. For the rest of the items she was not provided with training, but she did not know about her colleagues.




The employee representative did not provide any reasons for not receiving sufficient training.



The Director regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, but had no data from other schools to compare it with.

43




The respondent felt that they performed quite well in terms of health and safety. They had no accidents and the sickness absenteeism was regarded as quite low.


In the current economic situation it was neither good nor bad. They succeeded in providing everything necessary for normal work, but the respondent felt under strain about whether they would be able to pay salaries, electricity, some urgent repairs in the building etc.


The respondent considered that the results were very good. The school’s performance attracted children from a wide area of 25 villages, even though there were often poor transportation links and more conveniently located schools. The students participated in international events and competitions. They studied at this particular school because of the good relations between the teachers and students.

44





The establishment is a hospital specialising in lung disease, in the health and social work sector. It is a public establishment with 49 employees.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. She has been involved in health and safety for more than 15 years, and has attended one day health and safety courses on several occasions.

The employee representative is a nurse. She has been engaged in health and safety at work since 2009 and was provided with training too.


The Director is responsible for ensuring the Hospital is compliant with health and safety legislation. She is has a team of five employees, all reporting to the Director.

According to the proforma, the Director spends ten hours a month on health and safety. Two doctors are also involved in health and safety; their time spent on health and safety is recorded, with one spending 20 hours and the other ten hours a month. There are also three other employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the time spent by these employees on health and safety). External occupational health services have been purchased for €400 and €150 was spent on training in health and safety. During the last calendar year €3,000 was spent on ergonomic equipment, protective clothing and devices and glasses for working with PC.


There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety group. 45




According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year. Sickness absence was felt to be low (1.1 days per person annually).



MM156: 'In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?'

The Director found it difficult to estimate the level of the impact as she felt there were no clear criteria to do so. She considered that she should rate the impact rather as large, as they had fulfilled all legislative requirements and work was organised in a manner to reduce strain and stress, and to eliminate and reduce the risks in their hospital.

MM159: 'Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?'

The respondent referred to actions such as buying ergonomic equipment, preventive clothing and devices, rather than how much managers were involved in safety and health at work.



The answer to item 02) was a hypothetical ‘yes’.

46




01) Equipment and working environment; 02) The way work is organised; 03) Irregular or long working hours; 04) Supervisor-employee relationships

03) Irregular working hours was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary, and the answer was that they have neither supplementary nor long working hours. On asking about irregular working hours the answer did not differ, shift work was not included in the risk assessment.



Item 06), 'pressure from the labour inspectorate', is perhaps not sufficiently clear. The respondent answered that this was a major reason for addressing health and safety, but in terms of avoiding orders/fines from the labour inspectorate. There was no pressure from the inspectorate.

ER214: ‘Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?’

The respondent referred to actions undertaken, rather than how much managers were involved in safety and health at work.


01) Dangerous substances (e.g. dusts, chemical, biological); 02) Accidents; 03) Noise and vibration; 04) Musculoskeletal disorders; 05) Work-related stress; 06) Violence or threat of violence; 07) Bullying or harassment

The respondent's judgement on whether an item is of major or some concern is not very clear; one risk, which the respondent described as being well-managed, was a source of major concern (egdangerous substances), but others were of some concern (egmusculoskeletal disorders).

47




The employee representative qualified her positive response by saying that she received general information without having to ask for it. She initially hesitated in answering, presumably because in some circumstances she may request information.



The employee representative pointed to training in health and safety from her studies for nursing (egitem 04 Ergonomics). Item 02) Prevention of accidents was interpreted as being able to provide first aid, also a course from the diploma. There may be a need to clarify what types of training the question refers to.

The respondent hesitated about item 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards, as the question is wide and includes several different hazards. The answer for some could be yes, while for others no. His second reason for hesitation was whether the instructions provided could be regarded as training. They were recently provided with safety instructions for working with biological hazards.

ER160: 'Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?' ER162: 'Which of the following are the main reasons for receiving no or not sufficient training on these issues?'

The interviewee answered that more training would be desirable and the main difficulty was the lack of time. Later she included financial resources, although initially she answered that they were not a difficulty.


The interviewee had no access to data to be able to give a considered judgment on the questions.

48






The Director referred to a programme for risk assessment, which was documented. The employee representative described the management system detailing the roles of every member.


The Director found it difficult to estimate the level of impact. After some hesitation she rated it as large, as they had fulfilled all legislative requirements and work was organised in a manner to reduce strain and stress and risks in their hospital. The employee representative rated the impact as large and referred to improvements in work organisation.


Both the Director and employee representative rated this very highly; they referred to buying preventive clothing and devices when needed.


The employee representative agreed with the statement and said:

'The employer has provided good working conditions; we have personal protective devices and information for health and safety at work.'


49



Risk Assessment


The question was well understood. There was a programme for risk assessments.


Risk assessments are conducted by external staff and the hospital's own staff, ie Occupational Health Service staff with a person from every department.



01) Yes, in the case of changes to the work organisation, but also working conditions 02) Yes, hypothetically if there are requirements from the employees. 03) Yes. See earlier answers.



01) Yes, working conditions, medical and non-medical equipment, work stations, etc. 02) Yes. The respondent said:

'Definitely, it is very important. Our work is organised in such a way that employees are able to substitute for each other on different tasks. The employees have been provided with training in order to be able to take on different roles and conduct different tasks.'

Management Representative

03) No, they had no supplementary or long working hours. On being asked about irregular working hours the Director answered that they have shifts, but their schedules are not included in risk assessment. 04) They used to conduct anonymous survey questionnaires to find out the opinions of staff about the supervisor-employee relationship.

50





01) The offices and rooms were refreshed, some new equipment was bought, and everything required was provided, even a coffee machine and party grill for the rest room. 02) The number of employees conducting different tasks was reconsidered, and several changes were brought in to achieve a moderate workload for all employees. 03) No. 04) An example was given of training provided to staff on how to act if there was a disaster, fire or earthquake. They had an exercise in how to deal with fire extinguishers and they also had an exercise in how to act in an earthquake situation.


The employee representative said that she could have a say. She illustrated her answer with examples:

'We proposed to the Director that a new machine for washing the floor should be bought. It is able to dry the floor after washing it. In that way we reduced the risk of slips for both the staff and patients. Also we required non-slip material for the stairs. We have a requirement that if there is an area of wet floor in the hospital, a ’wet floor’ sign is put in place.'



Yes. The employee representative gave an example of increasing the staff in the reception hall.


Yes, she referred again to improvements to work organisation.

51






01) Both the Director and employee representative felt this was of major concern, all dangerous substances were input on a card-index and hospital attendants were aware of the risks of working with disinfectants.

02) Both interviewees made reference to safety measures in the workplace. The employee representative also referred to the instructions provided for working with autoclave, gas bottles, and physiotherapy equipment.

03) Noise and vibration was not considered to be of concern as they had no such risks.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern and they had provided the workplaces with ergonomic furniture.

05) Work-related stress was considered a major concern, they had good microclimate, but work with patients, especially the increasing number of patients, could contribute to stress.

06) Both interviewees stated that they had no problem with violence.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by the Director and employee representative as there were no reported incidents.




01) The Director felt that this was a major driver because of the risk of fines.

02) Being seen to address health and safety issues raised by staff was a major reason, due to its effect on morale and therefore performance of the organisation.

52



03) Not a reason at all. The Director pointed out that staff did not tend to leave the hospital and there were always people who would like to work in the hospital.

04) Minor reason. It was felt important to address health and safety as any adverse incident would be harmful to the success of the organisation.


06) Respondent felt it was a major reason, but there was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.



01) Not a difficulty at all. Whenever something has been requested it has been provided.

02) A lack of awareness was not difficulty at all.

03) Not a difficulty at all. They had a trained team and support from the Occupational Health Service.

04) Not a difficulty at all. She referred to the provided instructions, books, brochures and usage of other different sources of information.

05) Not a difficulty at all. The health and safety culture was felt to be quite good and employees were aware of their roles.

06) Not a difficulty at all. The issue was not considered sensitive as they discussed it.



There is a health and safety group, chaired by the Director. The group includes the chief nurse and representatives from departments with different risk factors, eg kitchen, physiotherapy, labs. There are quarterly meetings.

53




There were practically never controversies related to safety and health.


The employee representative stated that the staff was provided with instructions for carrying out different activities, such as working with equipment and machines.

ER150: 'Do you as the employee representative for safety and health usually get sufficient time off from normal duties to perform these tasks adequately? '

Yes, in general. The Director was positive about the activities for health and safety, but the employee representative in some cases felt it was difficult to complete all tasks within working hours.


Yes. The employee representative was provided with information from the Director and directly by the Occupational Health Service.





The employee representative has received training on 01) Fire fighting and 05) Violence, including issues from 06) Work-related stress. She felt she is trained in 02) Prevention of accidents as she is trained for first aid. On item 03) training was not provided, but instructions concerning biological factors had been given.

54



Concerning item 04) Ergonomics she answered that she had completed a course of ergonomics within her diploma. She and other employees from the hospital were not provided with training on 07) Discrimination, but she considered that they had no problems with this, as employees from different ethnical groups worked together in the hospital and the relations were good.


More training would be desirable.

ER162: 'Which of the following are the main reasons for receiving no or not sufficient training on these issues?'

The employee representative pointed to difficulties in getting time off for training, and difficulties in getting the financial resources for the training.



The Director regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low. The employees were motivated to avoid any absence as part of the salary related to different activities and was calculated only for their working days.


They had no accidents and injuries.


The economic situation of the hospital was very good. They we paying high taxes to the municipality but they were able to invest in the building on top of bills and salaries.

55




The Director rated performance as very good for same reason as for MM403.

56





Establishment is a small private-sector retail and service firm for office equipment which was established 20 years ago. It has 11 full time staff. The premise visited was an office, where the managers and the employees are based. Managers and employees spend some of their working time travelling to and from and working within their clients’ offices.


The management representative was the Retail Manager and one of the owners of the firm. He has been engaged with health and safety at work for years and has undertaken annual training in health and safety at work delivered by both the Association for Economical Initiative and the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative was a service coordinator. She has been provided with training on health and safety at work by the Occupational Health Service. Her responsibilities concerning health and safety at work are minimal, her role is more as a coordinator to schedule and decide how many specialists are needed for repairs.


The management representative is responsible for ensuring the firm is compliant with health and safety legislation. The responsibilities for health and safety in the workplace are held by the Service Manager.

According to the proforma, there are two senior managers involved in health and safety, each spending two to three hours per month on health and safety issues. No data were provided on the hours spent by the employee representative on health and safety. External occupational health services have been purchased for

57



€200. During the last calendar year fans were purchased for €150 and €150 were spent on health and safety at work training.

Health and safety expertise is outsourced to their Occupational Health Service. This service informs them which checks they have to conduct and at what time intervals, prepares the documentation for risk assessments, and consults and advises them on how to fulfil the legislative requirements for health and safety.

Formally there is a health and safety group in the enterprise. It consists of three members, the two managers and an employee representative. It is chaired by the Retail Manager.


According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the year January 2011 to December 2011. Sickness absence during this period was also low (on average 3.8 days per person).




The management representative initially understood documented policy to mean whether they were certified and pointed to their quality system (certification for ISO 9001), as it includes elements for health and safety at work. He later mentioned the folder provided by their external Occupational Health Service.

MM200/ ER250: 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern or no concern at all in your establishment?'


In answering whether or not a risk was of concern, the management representative considered to varying degrees the presence of risk. Only for one item (work-related stress) did he also mention preventive actions. When asked what 'concern' meant, he answered:

58



'Concern means to comply with the requirements, to take preventive measures and to raise awareness for the risks.'


The employee representative’s judgement varied depending on the hazard. For example, violence and bullying were not considered a concern as they had not experienced any to date, while other items such as MSDs and work-related stress were judged according to the extent to which preventive actions were in place.



The management representative felt a bit of confused by this question and considered current practise only rather than what they would do if a change occurred. In answering item 1 (following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work), he said no but this was because they had no new work places at present and had recently had to dismiss several employees in order to survive. He added that if the situation changed, work place checks and risk assessments of new work places would be carried out. The management representative also said that risk assessments were not carried out at the request of employees because no employees had raised any issues to date.



The management representative interpreted 'the way work is organised' (item 2) as 'strict rules for completing different tasks'. Irregular working hours (item 3) was translated in Bulgarian as 'supplementary' hours, but these weren’t relevant in this establishment. When asked specifically about irregular working hours the answer did not differ as there is no shift work. He answered 'no' to item 4, but this was because he felt that there were no problems in the communication between supervisors and employees and that relationships were good.

59





Answering item 4, the respondent stated that staff are provided with general training for completing particular tasks. This training includes health and safety issues, but is not dedicated exclusively to health and safety.



Item 6, 'pressure from the labour inspectorate', is perhaps not sufficiently clear. The management representative answered that this was a major reason for addressing health and safety, but in the sense that they wished to avoid eventual pressure (they had not been visited by the labour inspectorate to date).



Item 6, 'the sensitivity of the issue', was not considered a difficulty, as the respondent felt confident reminding employees to be careful about their safety, e.g.

'I might bother you, but please be careful while driving as the traffic is intensive.'


60




The employee representative found it difficult to answer whether she had sufficient time off from normal duties to perform the tasks adequately. It seemed her own view of what constitutes ‘adequate’ was different to that of the management.


The employee representative qualified her positive response by saying that she usually received information without having to ask for it. She initially hesitated in answering, presumably because in some circumstances she does have to request information.



The employee representative was provided with training on several items, but had no information on the training received by her colleagues.


The interviewee had no access to data from other establishments in the sector which he could compare against their own sickness absence, OSH performance, etc. He understood sector as other firms of their size and field of activity, ie office equipment retail and service.




The management representative answered positively and referred to the requirements of ISO 9001. After some hesitation he also mentioned the folder

61



provided by the Occupational Health Service, which includes details of the work places, the programme of checks, results from the checks carried out, risk assessment documentation, etc. The employee representative referred to the rules the organisation follows for safety and health at work.


The question was understood well by both respondents. The management representative felt that it had a large impact, the employee representative only some impact. Both referred to the organisation covering all the requirements for safety and health at work in the country and protecting employees from work accidents.


It was rated quite high by both respondents; they felt the line managers were involved in carrying out the service of the office equipment in a safe and healthy way.

ER215_05: 'Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: ‘Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by employees or their representatives.'

The employee representative neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. According to her, the occupational safety and health issues raised by employees or their representatives were not well managed; she felt that more could be done. She said:

'The problems of stress at work are ignored; this is an important issue for the employees.'


62



Risk Assessments


The question was understood well by the respondents. Risk assessments or checks are carried out regularly. Every year the Occupational Health Service checks workplaces and takes measurements, egof lighting levels. Some checks are carried out annually, others biannually as specified by the legislation. Some specialist checks are carried out by external providers, eg of PAT testing. After having the results from these measurements the Occupational Health Service carries out risk assessments and delivers a written report.


Risk assessments are conducted by external providers including the Occupational Health Service and providers certified for certain measurements, e.g. PAT testing, microclimate, lighting, etc.



01) No, because they have no new work places, but checks and risk assessments of new work places would be done if relevant. 02) No, because no employee has raised an issue. 03) Yes, at regular intervals, every year.



01) Yes, the respondent referred to checks on the office environment and cars that staff used to travel to the clients’ offices. 02) Yes. The interviewee mentioned the existence of different rules for completing every particular piece of work in the firm. 03) No. They only work regular working hours. 04) No. The management representative felt they had no problems with communication between supervisors and employee and that relationships were good.

63





01) Yes, fans had been bought for the office after a recent hot summer. They have no air conditioning. 02) Yes. Different tasks require different numbers of staff, either one employee or a team. For example, if a big piece of heavy equipment has to be installed or moved they plan how many people are needed for the task, taking into account whether the task is complex or easy. 03) No, working time is not a problem. 04) Yes. The staff have received training for completing tasks.

ER209: 'Do you have a say in the decisions on when and where these risk assessments or workplace checks are carried out?'

The question was well understood. The employee representative said that she could have a say. The managers consult with the people in the office informally and there are no obstacles to discussing issues with the managers.


Yes, the necessary follow-up actions are taken, depending on the financial resources of the firm.


Yes, the managers and employee representative discuss the problems. The interviewee was able to give a supportive example.

64






01) The management representative felt that dangerous substances were of no concern, as employees are not exposed to such substances. In contrast, the employee representative considered them of some concern, referring to the use of toners that contain carcinogenic substances, and the preventive actions that are put in place.

02) Both interviewees considered work accidents of some concern because employees are required to drive, so are at risk of accidents on the road.

03) Noise and vibration were considered to be of no concern, as employees are not exposed to either of these.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of some concern by the management representative and he referred to the problems associated with driving. According to the employee representative the office was not organized in a way that would prevent musculoskeletal disorders arising.

05) Work-related stress was of some concern to the management representative because of the amount of driving involved and the need to work with clients. In order to overcome these problems they made schedules and organised the work in teams when necessary. He gave the following example:

'The team is travelling with two cars for urgent repair to ensure on time arrival in case of problems with one of the cars, also optimal load for the employees and good quality for the client.'


In comparison, the employee representative felt it was neglected issue. She said:

'The managers do not realise the stress the employees are exposed to.'


06) Violence was considered of no concern by the management representative and of some concern by the employee representative. Both stated that they had not experienced any violence from colleagues or clients.

65



07) Bullying was not considered an issue by either interviewees as they had not experienced any bullying. The employee representative felt it was very unlikely that the managers would bully any employees.




01) The management representative felt that fulfilment of legal obligation was a major reason for addressing health and safety. 02) Requests from employees or their representatives was a major reason, they usually tried to fulfil the request if possible. 03) Staff retention and absence management was considered a major reason, as the issue was important. 04) The interviewee answered that economic or performance-related reasons for implementing health and safety at work were major because good health and safety can contribute to the company’s economic performance. 05) Damage to reputation was seen as a major reason because it could be bad for the business and they could lose clients. 06) Pressure from the labour inspectorate was felt to be a major reason, but they had not had any contact with their labour inspectorate.



01) Yes, the lack of resources is a major difficulty. The interviewee referred to the lack of time for addressing health and safety, mainly because of high workloads following a recent reduction in staff. Also, he felt that they needed newer cars for better safety, but they lacked the financial resources at present. 02) Not a difficulty at all, they do not lack awareness and are well informed on health and safety at work. 03) Not a difficulty at all. They receive expertise from an external provider. 04) No, they have the necessary information. 05) The interviewee believes that culture is not a difficulty in the firm because staff are educated and well trained on health and safety issues. 06) The interviewee does not find the sensitivity of the

66



issue a difficulty at all, as they feel confident talking about health and safety issues with staff.



There is an established health and safety group in the firm, but discussions on health and safety are informal.


There are practically never controversies related to safety and health.


They are provided with information through health and safety induction and periodical training, and posters on safety and health instructions for different tasks.


The employee representative found this difficult to answer as she thought her view of what constitutes ‘adequate’ differed from than that of management.


Yes. They also receive training on health and safety.


Yes.

67





The employee representative had received training covering 02) Prevention from accidents, 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards and 05) Violence, bullying or harassment. She was very impressed by the latter.


The training she had received was sufficient.



The management representative felt that the level of sickness absence was quite low and in all cases due to genuine illness. He did not have any information to allow him to compare his organisation with other establishments.

New question: 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in Bulgaria, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?'

The interviewee had no information concerning other companies of their size or the sector, but his answer was 'better than average'. They have had only a few accidents with the cars (without any injury to employees) and no accidents during installation or service of office equipment. Again he wasn’t sure of his answer.

MM403 – ‘How would you rate the current economic situation of this establishment? Is it very good, quite good, neither good nor bad, quite bad or very bad?’

The interviewee answered that it was very bad.

68



'There are no sales, the service is not enough, the clients delay paying for months, we are living on money we got earlier.'


New question: 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?'

The interviewee felt that business was quite bad. This was based on how they had performed in previous years rather than any comparison with other firms. They had recently been required to reduce staff numbers and expenses.

69





The establishment is a private-sector retail and service firm for the sale of newsprint and specialised paper for print and packages. The establishment offers logistics and transport, and for two years has bought back waste paper and sold it abroad to be processed. It prepares newsprint paper and produces paper envelopes and bags. It has 115 full time staff.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Technical Expert’. He has been involved in health and safety for four years and has been provided with training in health and safety annually.

The employee representative has the job title of 'Electricity Technician '. He was appointed as employee representative by the Director of the firm. He is provided with training on health and safety too.


The management representative is responsible for a team of seven and reports to the Director. He is responsible for overseeing the safety management system.

According to the proforma, there are five managers involved in health and safety, each spending 20 hours per month on health and safety issues. There are also two employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External occupational health services have been purchased, but no data were provided for the price of these services. Clothing and protective devices were purchased in the last calendar year for €1,000.

70




There is a health and safety committee with three members, chaired by the management representative. There are quarterly meetings of the committee.



Sickness absence was 5 days per person annually.


(issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgement in answering)

MM159: 'Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?'

The management representative judged this on involvement of line managers and supervisors and referred to activities, rather than how much they cared for the health and safety of the employees.

MM200: ‘For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?’


Answering item 05) Work-related stress, the respondent explained how he and the management felt, rather than the preventative actions that had been put in place for employees.



03) Irregular was translated in Bulgarian as ‘supplementary’ working hours. The management representative answered negatively, and when asked about irregular

71



working hours the answer did not change. They had no irregular or long working hours.



For items 02), 03) and 04) the respondent considered they were neither major, nor minor reasons. He felt there should be some position between, egimportant reason. The respondent clarified for item 06) that there was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.



01) The lack of resources was considered as neither a major nor a minor difficulty; it was an important reason.



04) The employee representative found it difficult to answer the item concerning musculoskeletal disorders. This was due to a lack of information about MSDs.


The employee representative qualified his positive response by saying that he received general information without having to ask for it. He initially hesitated in answering, presumably because in some circumstances he may request information.

72




The interviewee had no access to data to be able to judge on OSH performance.




Both the management and employee representative referred to the enterprise health and safety policy. This sets out responsibilities for health and safety throughout the managerial chain. The management representative also noted the existence of an occupational health and safety development plan setting out key objectives and activities for the year.


The management representative felt that there had only been some impact. He wished the employees were more disciplined and followed health and safety rules strictly in the establishment. The employee representative rated this as 'some impact' too.


The management representative rated the involvement of line managers and supervisors as quite high; he referred to the activities carried out. The employee representative also considered their involvement was quite high, because the line managers and supervisors were responsible in case of accidents.

73




The employee representative agreed with the statement as he felt the management was engaged in health and safety and tried to improve working conditions.

Risk Assessment


The question was understood well by both respondents and they gave positive answers. Risk assessment is carried out regularly.


Risk assessments are conducted by an external provider, the Occupational Health Service.



01) Yes, risk assessment is carried out following a change to staffing, layout or the organisation of work. The respondent gave an example of risk assessments for the new workplaces for producing paper envelopes and bags.

02) Yes. Recently the employees had requested a risk assessment because they felt it was dusty, and after carrying the measurements dust-masks were provided for the employees. The employees raised requirements, mainly for protective devices such as gloves, shoes with protective toe-caps, dust-masks, etc.

03) Yes. After the initial risk assessment is carried out by Occupation Health Services, workplaces are observed. Workplaces with high health risks are observed daily, other workplaces every week or monthly.

74





01) Yes. The respondent said:

'The safety of the equipment is a priority in these checks. We have equipment such as 1,200 kg rollers rising to a height of two meters, all safety issues are very important. We have subcontracted the maintenance of the equipment.'


02) No. It was not a part of risk assessment, but they tried to manage it, egfour employees were working on light motor lorries, and in the case one of them was absent, the technical expert could take on the role for the period of absence.

03) No. They had normal eight-hour working days. The drivers had to follow the eight-hour day strictly, otherwise the fines were very high. No irregular working hours.

04) Supervisor-employee relationships were not a part of risk assessment. The respondent felt there were no problems between the management and employees.

MM165: 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these checks?'


01) Yes. The respondent said:

'The checks found insufficient lighting in some of the workplaces, and we added additional lighting. The establishment was required to renew the electricity supply system, and we have partly done it. We are trying to replace old equipment with new ones, e.g. we got new light motor lorries. The new ones are more safe and quicker.'


02) No. 03) No, they had no irregular and long working days. 04) Yes. They provided some employees with training as result of these checks, eg some moving parts of a machine could not be closed for safety, so they provided the employees with training.

75




The employee representative said that he could have a say.


Yes. The employee representative gave a positive answer.


The employee representative stated that he felt free to propose follow-up actions.




01) Both respondents felt this was of major concern because of the dust, several rooms were provided with ventilation and employees were provided with dust masks.

2) Both interviewees considered it was of major concern; prevention of accidents was very important, employees were provided at least monthly with health and safety instructions.

03) Noise and vibration was considered of major concern by the management representative. Although the noise from machines did not exceed 60-75 dB and workplaces were not positioned close to the machines, the employees were provided with ear plugs. The employee representative considered that noise and vibration was neither of major, nor minor concern; he stated that the preventative actions were enough.

04) The management representative considered that musculoskeletal disorders were of major concern. The management representative said that the work was mechanised as far as possible. The employees were provided with wheelbarrows and electrical devices for moving loads. They tried to limit physical loads. The

76



employee representative found it difficult to answer the question, he said that employees who had musculoskeletal disorders only carried out suitable tasks.

05) The management representative stated that work-related stress was considered of major concern and surprisingly he explained how he and the management felt. He said he felt under high levels of stress, especially when they had urgent work and absent employees. They tried to arrange the work to reduce stress, but there were external factors, eg tight deadlines, and things often needed to be transported at speed, etc. The employee representative considered work-related stress was of no concern.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern; both stated that they have no such problem.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by the interviewees as there had not been any reported incidents.




01) The respondent felt that this was a major driver because everybody should be compliant with the legislation.

02) The respondent considered it was neither a major nor a minor reason. He considered it was important reason. Employees had raised requests for protective devices, and also for a room for rest. They had arranged a room where employees could have their rest.

03) The respondent considered it was neither a major nor a minor reason, but instead was an important reason. They had no problems with staff retention, they had people coming to ask about free positions everyday, but the employees were important to the firm.

04) The respondent answered that it was neither a major nor a minor reason, but an important reason, because health and safety at work contributed towards performance and economic results.

05) No reason at all. 77



06) Minor reason. There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.



01) The lack of resources was neither a major nor minor difficulty, it was important. He felt financial resources were limiting their activities in health and safety.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty; employees were provided with health and safety inductions and instructions.

03) They had subcontracted expertise from an occupational health service and was not a difficulty at all.

04) He knew where to find information on health and safety and it was not a reason at all.

05) Minor difficulty. It was felt that the health and safety culture was not high, some employees were not disciplined. They were informed of the risks, but did not follow the rules strictly. For example smoking was forbidden in the establishment, and they were able to enforce it with high fines. The cargo-lift has a light screen instead of an inner door and often the employees crossed the light screen and the lifts stopped.

06) The management representative felt it was minor reason.



There is a health and safety committee. There are quarterly meetings chaired by the management representative.

78




The respondent understood the question and answered that sometimes there were controversies related to safety and health.


The employee representative stated that all new staff were required to undertake a health and safety induction, it was provided by the management representative. Daily instructions were provided by the line managers.

ER150: ‘Do you as the employee representative for safety and health usually get sufficient time off from normal duties to perform these tasks adequately?`

The employee representative felt he was provided with sufficient time to perform health and safety tasks adequately.







The employee representative has received training on 01) Fire safety. No training on the rest of the issues was provided.

79






The main reason for not being provided with more training was the lack of information on available courses. He did not know whether the courses were suitable for him, or whether they would have financial difficulties.



The management representative regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, but had no basis for comparison.


There was no basis for comparison, but the management representative felt health and safety outcomes were much better than average as they had no accidents and had quite low absenteeism.


The respondent felt it was quite good, because of the financial results.


The management representative rated the business outcomes as quite good for the same reasons as MM403.

80





It is a private service establishment in the hotels and restaurants sector. It is hotel in a resort, providing year-round holiday packages. In the low season it has 45 employees, while in the high season it has 125.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Hotel Manager`. She carries all responsibility for the hotel, including safety and health at work. She has no training in safety and health at work.

The employee representative was the accountant. She was appointed as employee representative by the employer and was provided with training in health and safety at work by the Occupational Health Service.


The hotel manager is responsible for ensuring the hotel is compliant with health and safety legislation. There is a health and safety committee with six members and clearly designated responsibilities, chaired by the hotel manager. Two of the members of health and safety committee were provided with training in health and safety.

According to the proforma, there are three senior managers involved in health and safety, each spending four hours per month on health and safety issues. There are also three employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). In the last calendar year they have spent €700 on the Occupational Health Service, €550 on assessments, €200 on training. Equipment purchases cost €3,000 over the last

81



calendar year, mainly for air conditioners and floor coverings in the kitchen to prevent slips.

Occupational Health Services were outsourced, as well as training for all the staff on fire safety and safety in case of an earthquake.

They discussed health and safety issues regularly at meetings of the managers of the hotel. Quarterly meetings of a health and safety committee were also held.


According to the proforma, there was one accident in the last calendar year, and ten working days were lost due to this accident. Sickness absence was very low (0.7 days per person annually).




The respondent referred to the policy and data from workplace checks and actions, as prescribed by the Occupational Health Service, but nothing concerning the responsibilities.

MM159: ‘Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?’

The hotel manager interpreted this to mean 'the activities managers are involved in', rather than their level of engagement with health and safety and how important it was for them.

MM161: ‘Are workplaces in the establishment regularly checked for safety and health as part of a risk assessment or similar measures?’

The respondent hesitated in answering the question as they had no certified system for health and safety at work, but then described that workplaces were periodically checked and risk assessments were conducted and documented.

82





02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints. The hotel manager answered 'yes' although this appeared to be a hypothetical 'yes'.



The respondent answered positively to item 02), 'the way work is organised' and interpreted this to include information between the manager and staff and responsibilities at all levels. For item 04), whether or not 'supervisor-employee' relationships are 'routinely considered' in risk assessments/workplace checks, the interviewee answered 'yes'. A definition of what is meant by the ‘way work is organised` may be useful in making the distinction between items 02) and 04). Item 03) was translated in Bulgarian language as ‘supplementary and long working hours’. The answer was negative, as they have no supplementary or long working hours. Asking about irregular working hours the respondent confirmed her negative answer; the shift work schedules were not a part of risk assessment.

MM166: 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these (workplace) checks?'


The respondent considered the actions undertaken for item 02) as a process, not necessarily follow-up action to the checks. Secondly, it was interpreted to mean more actions concerning performance rather than preventative actions on health and safety. The interviewee answered negatively to 03):

'Changes in working time arrangements, such as shift work schedules, are not a part of risk assessment, they were developed to cover the different tasks.'


83





he hotel manager pointed out another important reason to address safety and health at work, namely the motivation of staff, which was very important for achieving good results at work. Items 04) and 05) are related, the reputation of the hotel was important for achieving good economic results.



The answer of the respondent to item 01) was hypothetical. She said:

'If resources are lacking, the request cannot be catered for, and in such a case it would be major difficulty.'

(Management representative)


The respondent referred only to the management system and set responsibilities, eg documents determining who provides employees with health and safety induction and periodic instructions, the person responsible for action in case of a fire or damages etc.


01) Dangerous substances (eg dusts, chemical, biological); 02) Accidents; 03) Noise and vibration; 04) Musculoskeletal disorders; 05) Work-related stress; 06) Violence or threat of violence; 07) Bullying or harassment.

84



The employee representative had difficulty in some cases saying whether or not an issue was of concern. For example, in relation to dangerous substances, she was not aware of whether the hotel had such risks. Some issues were regarded as of no concern as she did not know of any incidents of the issue (eg violence), although there was potential for an incident to occur.


The respondent left the question unanswered, as she did not know about controversies related to safety and health at the hotel. She interpreted controversies more widely as differing interests of the management and employees.



The employee representative was provided with training on three of the items. Although the respondent was provided with training on item 01) Dangerous substances, she was not much interested whether there were dangerous substances in the establishment, as she had no responsibilities on this issue. Another employee was responsible for providing new employees with induction and periodic instructions on the safety of chemicals. She hesitated in answering about ergonomics, then gave the answer no. On querying what she understood by ergonomics, she answered that she did not know.


The employee representative answered that more training would be desirable, but the reasons for not receiving more training were not clear. She pointed to three items, but the explanation was rather general, eg in a hotel it is difficult to organise training because the staff work on shifts and services to the guests have to be provided all the time. For item 04) she answered that it was a main reason, as there were financial restrictions everywhere and it was obvious she did not have the required resources to attend training.

85




The additional specificity in the new questions (size and sector in the country) did not add much value in this case. The interviewee had no real data to compare with. The responses were based on information from colleagues and the opinion of the respondent.




There was a documented policy, an established management system and an action plan on health and safety in the establishment. The management representative referred to the policy and data from workplace checks and actions, as prescribed by the Occupational Health Service. The employee representative talked about the management system and the set responsibilities, all laid down in written documents.


Both the hotel manager and the employee representative felt that there had been some impact. Both referred to improvements in safety and health, but considered that in the high season the time they could allow for health and safety was not enough.


Both respondents considered it was quite high. The hotel manager said:

'A healthy work force with high productivity would contribute to the prosperity of the hotel.'


The employee representative felt the managers of the hotel were very responsible for health and safety of employees.

86




The employee representative agreed with the statement and referred to the existence of the health and safety committee, their meetings and the activities undertaken.

Risk Assessment


Workplaces were periodically checked and risk assessments were conducted and documented, the system for health and safety at work was not certified.


The question was well understood. The respondent answered that risk assessments were conducted by the Occupational Health Service.


01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause.

01) No, they had no such changes. 02) Yes, hypothetically if there were requirements from the employee. 03) Yes. Annually workplaces were checked and risk assessments were conducted.



01) Yes. 02) Yes. 03) No. The respondent considered the shift schedules as very important, but they were not included in risk assessment. 04) Yes. Supervisor-employee relationships were estimated as being important for performance.

87





01) The hotel manager referred to purchasing air conditioners and safety materials to prevent slips in the kitchen. 02) The respondent answered positively referring to a variety of actions. 'Work organisation' was interpreted to mean performance, and was seen more as a process rather than simply follow-up actions on health and safety. 03) No, working time arrangements were developed to cover the tasks. 04) Yes, training was provided.


The employee representative said that she could have a say. She added:

'The consultations with the employees can be very useful, they often have a different point of view and can contribute to solving problems relating to safety and health.'

(Employee representative)


The respondent understood the question well and answered 'only partly'. She pointed out that managers tried to take the possible actions and to improve safety and health at work.


Yes.



01) Dangerous substances (eg dusts, chemical, biological); 02) Accidents; 03) Noise and vibration; 04) Musculoskeletal disorders; 05) Work-related stress; 06)

88



Violence or threat of violence; 07) Bullying or harassment.

01) The hotel manager felt this was of major concern and referred to instructions for the safe use of chemicals for cleaning out of sewers, fuels, etc., while the employee representative did not know whether they had such substances, or whether they were of concern in the hotel.

02) The prevention of accidents was of major concern for the hotel manager, and of some concern for employee representative.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of some concern, they tried to reduce noise, but the problem existed in some area of the workplace.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of no concern by the management representative, especially during summer season, when they have a lot of work, the issue was not raised at all. The employee representative considered that they were of some concern and they tried to improve work organisation.

05) Work-related stress was considered as of some concern by both interviewees. The hotel manager gave as an example preparations for a conference, where she tried to arrange the schedules in such way that employees would have enough time to rest. The employee representative considered that they did not discuss problems concerning psychosocial factors enough.

06) Violence was considered by hotel manager as of major concern largely because there was the probability of an incident, mainly from external factors, such as clients of the hotel. The employee representative felt it was of no concern, as she did not know of any cases.

07) Bullying was considered a delicate issue and the hotel manager expressed her hope that it was considered of major concern. The employee representative answered that they had no bullying.

89






01) The hotel manager felt that this was a major driver because it is normal to fulfil legal obligations.

02) Being seen to address health and safety issues raised by staff was major reason for performance.

03) The retention of qualified staff was major reason.

04) Major reason.

05) Reputation was major reason as this would affect the attractiveness of the hotel.

06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any intervention from the labour inspection.

07) Asked for other reasons the interviewee pointed to the motivation of the staff. She said:

'Another important reason to address safety and health at work is the motivation of staff, it is very important for achieving good results at work.'




01) If resources are lacking, the requests could not be catered for, and in such a case it would be major difficulty.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty because they had enough information.

90



03) It was considered a major difficulty, as external occupational health specialists carried often took on most of the formal duties.

04) She felt she knew where to find information on health and safety. 05) Interviewee felt the health and safety culture was a minor difficulty, staff were aware of their roles, but not all of them realised the importance of looking after hotel equipment for safety and health at work. 06) The safety manager didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue.



The question was well understood. The respondent answered positively, referring to the health and safety committee.


The respondent left the question unanswered. She did not know about controversies related to safety and health at the hotel. She interpreted controversies as differing interests of the management and employees.


The employee representative stated that all new staff were required to undertake a health and safety induction, and later were provided with periodic instructions on health and safety.


The question was well understood. The respondent answered negatively, she found that the time provided was not enough.

91




The employee representative understood the question well and answered positively referring to the provided written risk assessments.





The employee representative has received training on 01) Fire safety, 02) Prevention of accidents, 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards 04) No. 5) No 06) No 07) No. All employees had received training on 01) Fire safety, and also on safety in case of an earthquake.




The employee representative pointed to three of the four items, as follows: difficulties getting time off for training, the lack of information about available courses, and difficulties in securing financial resources for training. She did not seem convinced of her answers, it sounded more like an excuse for not having more training.

92





The hotel manager regarded the level of absenteeism as about the average, the basis for comparison was information from colleagues.


The respondent answered ‘about average’, stating: 'We had only one light accident during the last calendar year'.


The interviewee described the economic situation as ‘neither good nor bad’, because they could not raise the price of the services, as they would lose clients.


Quite good, the hotel manager referred to the fact that the hotel had been providing all year round services for the last 12 years.

93





It is a private establishment in the hotels and restaurants sector. It consists of two small hotels, located in a big town and managed as one enterprise. The owner is Norwegian. The staff of the two hotels total 28 employees.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. He is responsible for ensuring the hotel is compliant with Bulgarian legislation, including health and safety at work. He graduated in business systems and has been provided with training on personnel management, but no training in health and safety at work. He has had responsibilities for health and safety at work for six years.

The employee representative is an accountant and was appointed as employee representative by the employees at a meeting. She was provided with training on health and safety in 2006.


The Director is responsible for a team of three. A manager is appointed to carry out health and safety induction and periodic safety instructions and he is provided with health and safety training. He and the employee representative have to report to the Director, who in turn reports every three months to the owners of the hotel.

According to the proforma, there are two senior managers involved in health and safety, each spending five hours per month on health and safety issues. There is also an employee with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours this employee spends on health and safety). In the last calendar year

94



occupational health services have been purchased for €180 and assessments for €600.

The occupational health services were subcontracted.



According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year. Sickness absence was low (0.7 days per person annually).

8.5 Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgment in answering)



The respondent answered positively to item 02), ‘the way work is organised` and interpreted this to include working with machines, chemical substances and safety instructions. Item 03) was translated in Bulgarian as ‘supplementary and long working hours’. The answer was that they had no such risks, except for the respondent, who often worked long hours. Asked about irregular working hours, the negative answer was maintained, as shift work was not a part of the risk assessment.

MM166 – 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these (workplace) checks?'


Actions for 02),'changes to the way work is organised' were interpreted as providing the employee with more and adequate safety instructions.

95





Item 06) 'pressure from the labour inspectorate', is perhaps not sufficiently clear. Addressing health and safety was a means to comply with the requirements of the labour inspectorate, but they had not experienced pressure. The respondent explained that the labour inspectors first informed organisations if their working conditions were not compliant with the legislation, and if follow-up actions were not carried out, fines followed. In this way he felt they were more engaged in prevention. The interviewee also pointed out that addressing health and safety was very important employees' motivation.


The employee representative felt that the impact was neither large, nor some. She interpreted ‘some’ as minor, and would liked to have had an option between large and some, for example good impact.



The employee representative judgements on the levels of concern varied during the interview process. In some cases, an issue was of concern/no concern because the risk was present/was not present, in other cases a risk was of concern/of no concern because of the preventative actions.

96




The employee representative qualified her positive response by saying that she received general information without having to ask for it. She hesitated, then added that if the information was not provided she requested and received it. The responded stated that there was continuous exchange of information on health and safety at work between management and employee representatives.



The employee representative gave a negative answer for 04) Ergonomics. On discussing the issue she said that she did not know what it meant.


The respondent had no base for judgement for MM 402/New question. He answered by comparisons with information obtained from conversations with colleagues, not from official data. For differences concerning the economic situation and business results. he found the question narrow; he preferred to compare their situation not only to establishments in Bulgaria, but also to hotels Norway (where he originally came from).




Both respondents understood the question well and answered positively. The Director referred to the occupational health and safety policy and development plan, set out by the Occupational Health Service, while the employee representative described their management system and set responsibilities.

97




The Director was not very happy with the services provided by the Occupational Health Service; he felt that there had been some impact, but it could be larger. He stated his intentions to subcontract health and safety services to another firm. The employee representative felt there was an impact, but neither large nor some. She referred to the lack of accidents and the low rate of sickness absence.


Both the Director and employee representative felt that there was quite a high degree of involvement. The Director pointed out that the managers were aware of how important health and wellbeing were for productivity. The employee representative said that the Director and managers cared about the employees.


The employee representative referred to the Occupational Health Services provided as evidence that management gave proper consideration to health and safety. She felt the medical checks were important for the employees.

Risk Assessment


The question was well understood by the respondents. The risk assessments were carried out every year.


There was no confusion in understanding the question. Risk assessments were conducted by external service providers: these were Occupational Health Services certified to conduct formal measurements.

98





01) No. 02) No, but in the case of a request by an employee, it should be done. 03) Yes. See earlier answers (MM161/ER207: The risk assessments were carried out every year). .



01) Yes. The equipment and working environment were considered in these checks. The respondent said:

'We have machines; the electricity system has to be safe; the level of noise and temperature are controlled.'


02) Yes. 03) No, as they had no supplementary or long working hours, only the respondent was working long hours. After asking about irregular working hours the respondent answered that shift work was not a part of the risk assessment. 04) No, not a part of the risk assessment.



01) The respondent referred to the purchase of new lighting and action to reduce noise etc. 02) Yes. According the interviewee this meant strengthening the effect of safety instructions. 03) No, shift work was not a part of the risk assessment and follow-up actions. 04) No.

99




The employee representative understood the question well and said:

'I can have a say, usually my colleagues discuss their problems with me, or directly with the Director.'



Yes. The employee representative answered that if there was a problem, it was dealt with either by their maintenance staff, or by an external contractor.


The employee representative stated that if she attends a workplace inspection, she felt she was able to have a say on the action taken and the Director was generally supportive.




01) Both respondents felt this was of major concern, as in housekeeping different preparations were used, and they had undertaken preventative actions.

02) The Director rated accidents to be of major concern, while the employee representative felt them to be of some concern. Both referred to the preventative actions. The Director also pointed out:

'In our hotels all the activities have to be conducted by specialists, e.g. changes of lamps are conducted by electricians, window cleaning is subcontracted etc.'


100



03) Noise and vibrations were considered to be of no concern by the Director as they had no such risks, although the employee representative considered they were of some concern.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were felt to be of some concern by both respondents. The management representative said:

'We have no heavy physical work, but we have undertaken some preventative actions, e.g. only men are engaged in carrying clients' suits, linen etc.'


05) Work-related stress was considered of major concern as they worked with people, and there were stressful situations, but the Director tried to talk with staff and find solutions to problems. According to the employee representative, the Director and the managers took care of the staff.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern because they had not experienced any.

07) The Director felt he would rather leave if there was such a problem in the establishment. Bullying was not considered an issue by employee representative, as they had no bulling.




01) The Director felt that this was a major driver because fulfilling legal obligations should help ensure effective protection of staff from workplace risks.

02) Being seen to address health and safety issues raised by staff was major for morale and the performance of the organisation.

03) Staff retention and absence management was a minor reason as they actually had no problem with retention of staff and sickness absence was low.

04) Minor reason.

05) Minor reason.

101



06) Addressing health and safety was a means to comply with the requirements of the labour inspectorate, but they had not experienced pressure; he felt they were engaged more in prevention.

07) The Director pointed out that addressing health and safety is very important for employee motivation.



The question was well understood. The respondent answered for item 01) that whenever something had been requested it had been provided. 02) A lack of awareness was a minor difficulty because staff were provided with health and safety inductions, and also periodically with safety instructions. 03) A lack of expertise was considered a major difficulty. The respondent said:

'I am not content with the Occupational Health Services provided and feel there are not enough good specialists in this area. The staff of the Occupational Health Service conduct their work formally. I shall try to find a better Occupational Health Service for next year.'


04) He felt they have information on health and safety and considered it as a minor difficulty. 05) The interviewee felt that the health and safety culture is quite good, but staff were not engaged enough in the protection of their own health and to some extent neglected healthy lifestyles. 06) The respondent didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue as they discussed the issues.



The question was well understood by the respondent. She answered that there is a health and safety group, chaired by the Director.

102




The respondent understood the question well and answered negatively. She said that to her knowledge there were no controversies related to safety and health at the hotel.


The employee representative said that employees were provided with health and safety inductions and periodic instructions. They also have an information wall, where all new information is displayed, so all employees have access to the information.


The question was well understood by the respondent. She answered positively.


Yes. The employee representative answered that she had access to risk assessments and all documents concerning health and safety at work.


Yes. The employee representative felt it was rather a process of exchange of information.



The employee representative was provided with training in 01) Fire safety and 02) Prevention of accidents.

103



ER160 – 'Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?

She regarded the training she had received as sufficient.


The employee representative felt more of the available courses were not suitable for them. They were more suitable for industrial enterprises.



The Director regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low judging from conversations with colleagues.


Referring to lack of accidents, the Director rated the organisation as performing quite well.


The respondent rated the current economic situation as very good. The owners were happy with the development and growth. The bases for comparison were not only hotels in Bulgaria, but also in Norway.


Performance was rated as very good for the same reason as for MM403.

104




105



Establishment Overview 44


The establishment is a large private producing enterprise (approx. 900 employees) in the electricity, gas and water supply sector. It is a thermoelectric power station, producing mainly electricity.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Chief engineer`. He is responsible for the technical development of the entire station. He has been involved in health and safety for five years and was provided with training on health and safety as a member of the health and safety committee.

The employee representative is a fault detector. He was appointed as employee representative by the trade union. He has been involved in health and safety at work for ten years and has also been provided with training in health and safety at work as a member of health and safety committee.


The chief engineer is responsible for ensuring the thermoelectric power station is compliant with health and safety legislation. He is responsible for a team of 15 department managers, each responsible for health and safety in their department, and also four members of the health and safety committee. The department managers report to the chief engineer, who in turn reports to the director.

According to the proforma, there are 15 senior managers involved in health and safety, but there are no data for the time they spend on health and safety at work. According to the chief engineer, the time spent on health and safety varies widely, and they were not able to point to relevant data. There are also four employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External health and safety services have been purchased for €60,000. In the last calendar year €5,000 was spent on air conditioners, €5, 000 was spent on protective work clothes and shoes, and personal protective equipment such as glasses, masks, helmets, ear plugs, gloves, etc.

106



There is a contract with an external Occupational Health Service. Training is also provided by external providers.

There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety committee, chaired by the chief engineer.


According to the proforma, there were three accidents in the last calendar year. One of the accidents was fatal; an employee died in a road accident. However, the company bore no responsibility for this. Twenty working days were lost due to work-related accidents. The chief engineer reported improvements in the number of accidents over the previous five years.

The chief engineer considered that sickness absence was increasing and associated it with the ageing of the staff of the station (7.1 days per person annually for all employees and 5.9 days per person for the senior managers).

9.5 Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgement in answering)


The chief engineer interpreted the question to mean conducting activities that went beyond the legislative requirements. After clarifying that the research was interested in what was happening in the enterprise, he answered positively, and described both their policy and responsibilities for health and safety within the managerial chain.



In general the answers were based on the preventative actions undertaken, but the method used to determine whether a risk was of some, no or major concern varied for each item. For example, some risks were regarded as a major concern as they

107



were present and well managed (eg dangerous substances, prevention of accidents, noise and vibrations). In other cases, a well-managed risk was regarded as some concern (eg violence). Musculoskeletal disorders were of no concern, as he considered they had no such risk.



The chief engineer answered positively to 02) 'the way work is organised' and interpreted it as working shift and night work. They had extended 12-hour shifts for continuous work cycles, and the answer for 03) was positive. Irregular was translated in Bulgarian language as ‘supplementary’ working hours. However, after being asked about irregular working hours, the interviewee pointed out that he answered positively to 02) as they have shift and night work. A definition of the ‘way work is organised` may be useful in making the distinction between items 02) and 03).



The chief engineer answered that item 06) ‘pressure from the labour inspectorate` was a major reason for addressing health and safety at work, but confirmed that there was no specific pressure from the labour inspectorate, apart from in the sense of avoiding prescriptions/ fines from the labour inspectorate.


The employee representative interpreted 'some' as ‘minor’. He felt the effect was neither 'some' nor 'large'. He wanted to choose a rating between some and large. After some hesitation he chose the option 'some', as there was no middle option and the respondent felt that they should trying harder to have larger impact.

108



ER214: ‘Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?’

The employee representative rated the degree of involvement of line managers and supervisors as quite high, but found it difficult to explain his response. He said that both line managers and supervisors were involved in the management of health and safety.



For most of the items the employee representative argued for ratings of 'major concern' where preventative actions undertaken, but the judgement was not clear for ratings of 'some' or 'no concern'. For example he rated violence as of 'some concern' because they had external and internal safeguards to prevent any instances, and stress as of 'some concern', pointing out that it was down to individual perception and nothing could be done about it. He said that bullying was of 'no concern' as they had not had any cases. Both for stress and bullying he felt no preventative actions were possible, but the rating varied from 'some' to 'no' concern'.



The respondent found it difficult to answer item 02) and chose to respond 'no answer', as they had instructions, but no training. The employee representative did not understand what 04) Ergonomic factors meant. After this was explained he said that they are provided with information in the safety instructions.

109



ER160: ‘Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?’ / ER162 – 'Which of the following are the main reasons for receiving no or not sufficient training on these issues?'

The employee representative answers to these questions were somewhat confused. He felt that the training was sufficient, and mentioned that they received some information on training in health and safety, but it was rather expensive. He was very well informed about providing training in relation to dangerous substances, and was provided with such training, but had no information on training concerning stress, violence, discrimination, etc.


The interviewee had no access to data to be able to compare on sickness absence and OSH performance with establishments of the same size and sector in the country. In some cases he referred to the condition in the station the years before, in others he gave his opinion about the present condition.




Both respondents answered positively, they had a documented policy which set out responsibilities for health and safety throughout the managerial chain. The chief engineer said that they are following the legislative requirements and do not carry out any further processes.


The chief engineer felt that there had been a large impact; he said:

'Staff are aware of the risks and do not undertake actions, which could increase risks. This is true both for line managers and workers.'

The employee representative felt there was an effect, although it was neither some nor large. He rated it closer to 'some impact', because there was no middle option and he felt that they should be trying harder to have a larger effect.

110




Both the chief engineer and employee representative rated the degree of involvement by the line managers and supervisors in safety and health as being quite high. The chief engineer referred to compulsory training in health and safety and a variety of preventative measures, but he considered that because of priorities associated with the production, involvement in health and safety could not be rated as very high. He gave an example that he would not like employees to work outside at low temperatures, but they had to conduct some work in those conditions in order to provide electricity for people. In this case, the work was considered the priority, but they had provided protective warm clothing for employees.


The employee representative referred to the number and type of activities that had been undertaken; he appreciated the activities were conducted in a timely manner, without being delayed.

Risk Assessment


The question was well understood. The workplaces in the establishment are regularly checked for safety and health, the risk factors and assessments are carried out according to the requirements of the legislation. Written risk assessments are provided annually by the Occupational Health Service. Work risk assessments are carried also when there are changes to the work equipment and organisation.


Risk assessments are conducted by an external service provider, the Occupational Health Service.

111





There was no confusion in understanding the items. 01) Yes, they conduct risk assessments for new workplaces, changes to staff, new equipment, etc. 02) No. They had no cases of this. 03) Yes. Risk assessments were carried out annually.



01) The chief engineer referred to equipment radiating heat, noise, vibrations, and moving parts of machinery. He said:

'Everything that could be a risk for safety and health of the employee is routinely considered in these checks.'


02) The way work is organised was interpreted as involving shift and night work. 03) Yes, they are considered a workplace with continuous work cycles; the employees work 12-hour shifts. 04) No, the supervisor-employee relationships are not included in these checks; they are not part of the risk assessment.



01) The chief engineer referred to the purchase of air conditioning, an aspirator, a dust-reducing system, and the cleaning of some areas. 02) No. 03) No. The respondent said:

'We are making schedules, but not as result of these checks.'


04) No. Training was provided, but not as a result of these checks.

112




The employee representative said that he could have a say, the management discussed these issues with employee representatives, both informally and at meetings.


Yes. The employee representative referred to a programme. It had deadlines and they were strictly followed. According to him everything possible was done, except if the actions needed considerable financial recourses, eg reduction of carbon emissions.


The employee representative answered negatively and said that he was not competent for the different workplaces.




01) Both the chief engineer and employee representative felt this was of major concern, the dangerous substances were under the control of the departmental managers, and the Control Department, but also they had a special Ecology Department, dealing with the issue. The dangerous substances were reported, there were documented procedures, which were followed.

02) Both interviewees stated it was of major concern. The chief engineer said:

'We have a variety of risks, machines, and because of our preventative actions we have no fatal accident during the last 15 years.'


113



03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of major concern both as part of continuous follow-up of the parameters for using prevention equipment, but also for marking zones where employee should only stay a limited time.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of no concern by the chief engineer, but of major concern by the employee representative, who referred to limiting physical work with technical equipment, cranes, jinney, as well as carrying out medical checks on employees.

05) Work-related stress was considered of some concern by both interviewees. The chief engineer referred to shift work. The chief engineer also considered that the thermo-electric power station operators were potentially exposed to stress. He said:

'All processes are automated and controlled by computer systems; light and noise signals are available. Nowadays a lot of tasks previously performed by the operators are done by the computer. The work is less stressful.'


The employee representative considered that perception of stress was individual, and nothing could be done about it.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of concern, largely because of the potential impact of an incident. They had external and internal mobile guards according to the requirements for such enterprises in the country.

07) Bullying was rated of some concern by the chief engineer as it should be prevented, but he did not know of any cases in the enterprise. The employee representative said that they had no bullying.




01) The chief engineer felt that this was a major driver because it was wise to do so.

114



02) The respondent stated that health and safety issues raised by staff were minor reason and were addressed.

03) Addressing health and safety at work was major reason important for retention of qualified staff and absence management, but the staff was aging and sickness absence was increasing.

04) It was major reason important to address health and safety, as any incidents would be harmful for the establishment.

05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation’s reputation were not considered a reason.

06) The labour inspectorate was major reason for addressing health and safety. There was no pressure from labour inspectorate, but it featured in their considerations.



01) The chief engineer rated the lack of resources as a minor difficulty. According to him the lack of financial resources was not the most important problem, he considered the lack of time as a more significant difficulty. 02) A lack of awareness was not considered a difficulty because they had a lot of information. 03) They had trained teams and support from Occupational Health Service. 04) They had technical support and instructions for working with different machines and under different conditions. 05) The health and safety culture was considered a major difficulty. He said:

'Employees are aware of the risks, protective devices are provided, but not all the employees use them (e.g. dust masks, ear plugs) and the managers are not able to take care that every employee uses the protective equipment.'


He felt a lot is desired concerning the health and safety culture. 06) The chief engineer didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue as they discussed the issue.

115





There is a health and safety committee with five members. There are four to six meetings per year, chaired by the chief engineer. The employee representative added:

'Health and safety issues can be raised not only by employee representatives, but by all employees. Every employee can submit written proposals, questions, requirements, etc. and they are discussed by the health and safety committee.'



The question was well understood. There were sometimes controversies related to safety and health.


The employee representative said that all new staff were provided with a health and safety induction, and all the staff with periodic instructions. He added:

'Also in case of an event which could cause an accident, the risks are discussed and the employees are provided with safety instructions.'



The employee representative was provided with sufficient time within the work day to perform the duties.


Yes.

116







The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety and 3) Chemical, biological, radiation and dust hazards. The respondent found it difficult to answer item 02) and made the choice to respond 'no answer', as they had instructions, but not training. The employee representative did not understand what 04) Ergonomic factors meant. After explaining this he said that they are provided with information in the safety instructions. They were not provided with training on 05), 06) and 07).


He regarded the training he had received as sufficient for his role.


The employee representative answer was somewhat confused. He did not point to reasons for not receiving more training, but mentioned that they received some information for training on health and safety, but it was rather expensive. He was very well informed about providing training in relation to dangerous substances, and was provided with such training, but had no information on training concerning stress, violence, discrimination, etc.

117





The chief engineer regarded level of absenteeism as quite high. He had no data about the sector, but compared current levels with the sickness absence rates in their establishment in previous years. He felt the increase of sickness absence was normal because the staff was aging, and consequently people were ill more often.

New Question – ' Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?'

The interviewee chose the answer 'very well', but had no data for comparison with other establishments in the sector. His answer was based on having no fatal or serious accidents during the last few years.


He judged the economic situation at the establishment to be quite bad, based on incomes and expenses.


The chief engineer rated performance as quite bad for same reason as for MM403.

118





The establishment is a small private enterprise with 24 employees in the construction sector. In the period of the economic crises the enterprise changed its activities from construction to focusing more on building renovations. It also reduced its staff.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Director`. She is a construction engineer, but more engaged in the financial matters of the establishment. She has been involved in health and safety at work for several years, but felt more involved for two years, as she was responsible for OHSAS certification of the establishment (ISO 18000) and is presenting the establishment management in this role. She was provided with training in health and safety at work by Occupational Health Service staff and a consultancy company for certification, and got training as an internal auditor for compliance with ISO 18000.

The employee representative is an accountant. She was elected as an employee representative a year earlier by the employees in a meeting and was provided with training in health and safety by Occupational Health Service staff. She is also engaged as an internal auditor for compliance with ISO 18000, and was provided with the relevant training.


The Director is responsible for a team of five, she has assigned the task of health and safety coordinator to another construction engineer. The health and safety tasks for every site are assigned to one of the three qualified technicians. The employee representative is responsible for health and safety inductions of new

119



staff. They carry out an annual internal audit on health and safety, and were audited by the authorities for compliance with ISO 18000.

According to the proforma, the management representative spends 20 hours a month on health and safety at work, and the five members of the team (a construction engineer, three qualified technicians and the accountant, the employee representative) each spend five hours per month on health and safety issues. External occupational health services have been purchased for €1,000. The establishment spent €500 on insurances and €250 on health and safety general training and training on safe work with electric appliances.

There are quarterly and annual meetings of the health and safety group.


According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the year January 2011 to December 2011.




The management representative interpreted this to mean 'the activities the management is involved in' rather than their level of engagement with health and safety and how important it was for them. The Director and health and safety coordinator visited the sites, and the health and safety coordinator provided training for the employees. The qualified technicians provided everyday training.



120



The respondent chose not to answer to item 03), as she had answered ‘at every new site’ for item 01). She considered risk assessments could not be conducted more regularly, as if they had a new site every month they carried out risk assessment every month.



02) 'The way work is organised' was interpreted as looking at how every process in the construction was organised, the equipment and the risk factors. A definition of what is meant by the ‘way work is organised` may be useful. 03) The irregular working hours were translated as ‘supplementary’ working hours. The management representative said that they followed the eight-hour day. After being asked about irregular working hours the answer of the respondent did not change; she answered negatively and argued:

“Employees work compressed working weeks, working for two weeks, but they work 8-hour working days.” (Management Representative)

Compressed working weeks were not considered by the Director to be irregular working hours, because of the eight-hour working day.



The respondent felt items 04, 'economic or performance-related reasons', and 05), 'requirements from clients or concern about the organisation’s reputation', were closely linked.

121




The employee representative considered the question was general and the answer could vary in different situations, but she agreed with the statement referring to timely action of the management.



For most of the items preventative actions were highlighted, except for three. Item 05) Stress at work, 06) Violence and 07) Bullying were considered of no concern as she considered they had no stress, had not experienced any incidents and did not know of cases of bulling.



The employee representative hesitated in answering item 03) Chemical, biological, radiological and dust hazards. The item is broad, she was provided with training on chemical and dust hazards. The employee representative did not understand what 04) Ergonomics was. After explaining this, she stated that she was not provided with specialised training, but was aware of issues around workplace design.

122




The employee representative answers to these questions were somewhat confused. She answered that the training was sufficient, but it seemed that she found the courses proposed were not suitable for them.


The interviewee had no access to data compare. She found it difficult to make a judgement on OSH performance, as the question was not raised earlier and she had not thought about it.




Both the management and employee representative answered positively. The health and safety policy sets out responsibilities for health and safety throughout the managerial chain. The management representative also noted the existence of an occupational health and safety development plan setting out key objectives and activities for the year, and which is reviewed and revised on an annual basis. For the current year one of the objectives was to provide the employee with protective clothing and devices, as well as to train the employee on several health and safety issues.


Both respondents felt that there had only been some impact. The management representative felt the impact could be larger if employees were engaged more in their own health. She said:

'There are still problems in enforcing employees to wear helmets, but we are determined the things to happen and we are taking care that employees follow the rules of the standard strictly.'

(Management Representative)

123



The employee representative referred to the variety and number of actions that have been taken to improve health and safety such as training for the employees, discussions concerning the standard, etc.


The management representative felt the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety was very high, while the employee representative felt it was quite high. Both referred to the personal activities of the health and safety coordinator and the three qualified technicians, but also of the Director. The Director and health and safety coordinator were visiting the sites personally; the coordinator was providing employees with health and safety training. The three qualified technicians were providing employees with everyday health and safety training.


The employee representative agreed with the statement referring to timely action by the management. She considered the question was general and the answer could vary with the different situations.

Risk Assessment


The question was well understood. Risk assessments for the different positions were conducted. Risk assessments were carried at every new site and risks were discussed by the establishment management and internal auditor.


Risk assessments were conducted by their own and Occupational Health Service staff. They were provided with a table of the possible risks by the Occupational Health Service staff, and a qualified technician filled in the risks at every site, then they were discussed.

124





01) Yes, risk assessments were carried at every new site. 02) No, as they had no such cases. 03) No answer. The respondent considered risk assessments could not be conducted more regularly, as if they had a new site every month they carried risk assessment every month.



01) The checks included all the equipment and working environment factors. 02) If the site had written documentation on how to conduct the work, it should be included. 'The way work is organised' was interpreted as looking at how every process in the construction is organised, the equipment and the risk factors. 03) The management representative said that they followed the eight-hour day. After asking about irregular working hours the respondent answered in the negative and added that workers operated on compressed working weeks, but worked eight-hour working days. 04) No, not a part of risk assessment.



01) The management representative gave an example for welding appliances that they checked. They were considered to be in poor condition and new appliances were purchased. 02) No. 03) No. 04) Example given of refresher training provided after finding incompatibility with the standard.


The employee representative answered in the negative and clarified that other employees participate in risk assessments, and most probably could have a say.

125




Yes.


The employee representative understood the question well and gave a positive answer. She added:

'I am an internal auditor for the two standards (health and safety at work and environment), and in case follow-up actions are needed I have to propose the needed actions.'

(Employee Representative)




01) Both the management and employee representatives felt this was of some concern due to the use of paints and other materials, and the risk of inhaling harmful gases. It was only of some concern as the risk was not considered to be large.

02) Both interviewees stated it was of major concern. At every site the risks were considered, preventative measures were developed, and terms and responsible persons were determined.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of major concern, instructions were elaborated describing the work-rest schedules, the work duration was limited and the rests during work were longer than the usual. Ear plugs were provided as a protective measure against the noise.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern and the employees were provided with instructions for prevention of MSDs, different for different positions in the firm, eg the instructions for employees in the office included

126



exercises, the transportation of heavy materials, the use of technical equipment, the position of the body during moving/loading the object, etc.

05) Work-related stress was considered of some concern by the management representative and of no concern by the employee representative. It was considered of some concern by the management representative, as they had not assessed stress, but she was very impressed by a check list for self-assessment of stress on the website of the Agency and she intended to try with it. The employee representative initially answered that it was of no concern, then clarified that it was of no concern as they had no stress.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees as of no concern as they had not experienced any incidents.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue as they did not know of any cases.




01) The Management representative felt that this was a major driver because she, as Director, had a duty to follow the compliance of the enterprise with health and safety legislation.

02) Being seen to address health and safety issues raised by staff was major reason as it could reflect on the final product of the enterprise.

03) Not a reason. They dismissed casing and steel construction workers because of the changes in the tasks of the establishment, from crude construction to completing construction activities.

04) Minor reason as health and safety at work were associated with the economic results of the enterprise.

05) Minor reason.

06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means of avoiding any intervention by the labour inspectorate. They had met labour inspectors working

127



as subcontractors and were not provided with enough information from the main actor. Since that meeting they were very careful.



01) The lack of financial resources was a major difficulty, they were not able to buy the workers the best quality winter clothing and shoes. The employees were provided with winter clothing, but not warm enough, so they needed to wear their own warm clothes underneath. Good quality shoes for construction were very expensive, about €150. The employees were provided with protective shoes, but not of such good quality.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty because employees were provided with health and safety inductions and regular training.

03) They felt they were trained and had support from the Occupational Health Service.

04) She felt she knew where to find information on health and safety, one of the sources was the OSHA website.

05) She felt the health and safety culture was not a difficulty now. They experienced some difficulties some years ago after establishing their firm, but they provided training for their staff, worked at sites in Germany and staff were aware of their roles.

06) The management representative did not feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue for the establishment as they discussed the issue a lot.



There was a health and safety group made up of three members, chaired by the Director, the two other members were the health and safety coordinator and the employee representative. They had quarterly meetings.

128






The employee representative stated that all new staff were required to undertake a health and safety induction and all employees were provided with regular training.


The employee representative answered in the negative and explained a lot of other duties she had. In order to be able to perform these tasks adequately she would like to have more time free from other duties in order to be able to provide new employees with timely health and safety induction, to follow, inform and train the staff for new legislative documents, and to prepare all the documents on time.


Yes. The employee representative was provided with written risk assessments and annual health and safety training, as required by the legislation.


Yes.



The employee representative has received training from a specialised firm on 02) Prevention of risks and from the Occupational Health Service on 03) Chemical and

129



dust hazards. Another employee from the establishment was provided with training on 01) Fire safety. The employee representative did not understand what 04) Ergonomics was. After explaining this she stated that she was not provided with specialised training, but she had information on these issues, but in the ISO standard they were described differently, so she was not able to make the link. Neither she nor another employee in the establishment were provided with training on 05), 06) and 07).


The training she had received she regarded as sufficient for her role.


The employee representative found the courses proposed were not suitable for them.



The management representative regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, besides she had no information for other enterprises in the construction sector, but in her opinion employee absenteeism was only because of sickness, even sometimes obviously sick the employee were working.


The respondent found it difficult to answer. She stated that she had not thought about that, but they had no accidents at the enterprise.

130




The management representative felt that the economic situation of the firm was quite good as they did not reduce the staff significantly, and were able to pay salaries and suppliers. However, it could not be rated as very good as they could not fulfil the criteria to apply for the largest contracts (turnover of 1, 500 thousand leva and more than 30 employees), so they now could apply for smaller sites only. They were determined to reach these higher standards once again.


The management representative considered it was quite good referring to their turnover (1,200 -1,300 thousands leva), achieved with 24 people.

131





The establishment is a small private firm in the construction sector. It carries out installation construction, construction of building installations, external installations, supply for base stations, transmission lines, etc. It has 23 employees.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Manager’ and is also owner of the firm. She has training for implementation of ISO 18000 and annual training in health and safety at work, provided by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative is an electric engineer. He was appointed by the employer to take on the role of employee representative temporarily two weeks earlier, as the previous employee representative was in hospital and long term sickness absence was expected.


The management representative is responsible for a team of three, who she has authorised for health and safety responsibilities; one engineer and the appointed employee representative, both reporting to her.

According to the proforma, the management representative spends ten hours a month on safety and health at work issues, the authorised engineer – eight hours, the employee representative and all employees – three hours, as they are provided with refresher instructions on safety and health which they look at for ten minutes every day. The following external services have been purchased: Occupational Health Service – €200, Medical checks – €100, training – €100. A further €350 were spent on working clothes and €50 euro on protective devices.

132



There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety group, chaired by the management representative.


According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year, and there were few working days lost due to sickness absence (0.4 days per person annually).

Main technical issues (issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgment in answering)

MM156/ER202: 'In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?'

The manager felt that the options ‘large impact’ and ‘some impact’ were not enough; she considered that there should be an option like moderate, meaning it had a good effect.

MM200: 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern or no concern at all in your establishment?'


The EU-OSHA objective to identify the priority areas for action on health and safety within the establishment seemed to some extent to be achieved and preventative actions were pointed to for the most of the risk factors. Item 04) ‘musculoskeletal disorders’ was an exception. The management representative referred to a questionnaire filled by employees for musculoskeletal complaints.

MM163: 'On which occasions are these risk assessments or workplace checks carried out?'


The respondent gave a hypothetical positive answer for item 01), saying that they had no new staff or workplaces. The answer for item 02) was also a hypothetical ‘yes`, because they had no requirements from the workers.

133



MM164: 'Which of the following areas are routinely considered in these (workplace) checks?'


The response options yes/no and n/a may not be sufficient to cover the range of response for item 02). The manager felt that there should be an option of 'some', as the ‘way work is organised’ is rather wide, some aspects were checked, others not. 03) Irregular working hours was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary, and their answer was that they have neither supplementary nor long working hours. After asking about irregular working hours the answer did not differ, they had no shift work. For item 04) the Manager felt 'supervisor-employee relationships’ are routinely considered in risk assessments/workplace checks, and interpreted this to include communication between the authorised engineer and staff, which happened daily.

MM166: 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these (workplace) checks?'


Changes were introduced, but not as a result of these workplace checks, except for training.

MM171: 'In your establishment, how important are the following reasons for addressing health and safety? For each one, tell me whether it is a major reason, a minor reason, or no reason at all?'


Item 06), there was no actual pressure, addressing health and safety was seen as a means to avoid any prescriptions from the labour inspectorate.

134



MM172: 'In your establishment, what are the main difficulties in dealing with health and safety? Please tell me for each of the following whether it is a major difficulty, a minor difficulty, or not a difficulty at all?'


Item 06), 'the sensitivity of the issue', was not considered a difficulty as they discussed the issue.

ER250: 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?'


The respondent found it difficult to answer item 05) Stress at work, because there were different reasons for stress, lower qualification and difficulties in doing the job, or personal incompatibility of the employee in the team. He felt that some issues were of concern, eg the authorised engineer was considering concerns about the compatibility of employees in teams.


The question was difficult, as the interviewee had no information on the sector. She was able to give her point of view of their enterprise. ‘Sector’ she interpreted as enterprises carrying out a similar activity, ie installation construction.

11.5 Summary of Respondents’ Answers


MM155/ER200: 'Is there a documented policy, established management system or action plan on health and safety in your establishment?'

The question was well understood. Both the Manager and employee representative referred to the policy, required by the legislation in the country, and it was documented. They had an established management system, but they were not certified for health and safety.

135



MM156/ER202: 'In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?'

The Manager felt that there had been an impact, but neither large, nor some impact, just a good impact, because they tried to minimise the risks and dangers, but were not able to eliminate them. The employee representative rated this policy as having some impact.

MM159/ER 214: 'Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?'

Both respondents rated the degree of involvement by line managers and supervisors as quite high. The employee representative referred to the safety instructions the authorised engineer provided at every new site, for all risk factors. The manager raised another question. She said:

'I think the involvement of the employees should be higher.'


ER215_05: 'Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by employee or their representatives.'

The employee representative answered ‘yes’ and referred to the preventative actions the management was undertaking for all risk factors at every site. He said:

'The authorised engineer discusses the possible risks at every site with the employee. The employees are provided with safety instructions everyday.'


11.6 Risk Assessment

MM161/ER207: 'Are workplaces in the establishment regularly checked for safety and health as part of a risk assessment or similar measures?'

Both respondents answered positively. The manager answered that risk assessments were carried out annually. She felt regularly would mean every three months, as the safety and health group meetings were every three months. The employee representative referred to risk assessments conducted at every new site.

136



MM162 :'Are these risk assessments or workplace checks mostly conducted by your own staff or are they normally contracted to external service providers?'

The question was well understood. Risk assessments were conducted by the organisation's own staff. Employees conducting risk assessment were provided with training annually, and also used brochures, guidance and other sources of information.

MM163: 'On which occasions are these risk assessments or workplace checks carried out?'


The manager answered that risk assessments were carried out annually. They would assess risks at new workplaces and on the requirement of the staff, but they had neither new workplaces nor staff requirements.

MM164: 'Which of the following areas are routinely considered in these checks?'


01) Yes. 02) The manager gave a ‘partial yes’, because work organisation encompassed many different aspects and some were checked. 03) No, the respondent stated that they had no irregular or long working hours. 04) Yes. The authorised engineer was taking into account the compatibility of the teams. The respondent said:

'Supervisor-employee relationships are very important, especially in high risk operations.'


MM166: 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these checks?'


For items 01), 02) and 03) the answer was ‘no’, not as a follow-up to these checks. The actions were taken according their plan and resources, but if they received

137



external recommendations (eg labour inspectorate), they would follow them. 04) Yes. Training was provided as a follow-up to these checks.

ER209: 'Do you have a say in the decisions on when and where these risk assessments of workplace checks are carried out?'

The employee representative said that he had a say; consultations were not only held with the employee representative, but wider consultations with employees were also usual in the firm.

ER210: 'If the risk assessment or workplace check identifies a need for action: Is the necessary follow-up action taken?'

Yes. The employee representative answered that usually follow-up actions were taken, but in the case of a lack of resources the machinery, was stopped until follow-up actions were carried out.

ER211 – 'And are you as health and safety representatives usually involved in the choice of follow-up actions?'

The employee representative stated that he attends workplace inspections, he feels he is able to have a say on the actions taken.


MM200/ER250 – 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?'


01) The manager considered this was of major concern, as they had implemented a system for management of waste and dangerous substances. Staff were trained to work with chemical substances, such as paints and other chemicals used in the home. They did not use radioactive or very dangerous substances. The employee representative considered they had no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees considered accidents as a major concern, the prevention of accidents was regarded of greatest importance.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of some concern by the manager. These were controlled and preventative devices were supplied, and seen as of no

138



concern by employee representative. According to him they had no exposure to noise and vibrations.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were felt to be of some concern by both the manager and employee representative, but their arguments were different. The manager referred to a questionnaire study, carried by the Occupational Health Service, while the employee representative pointed to preventative actions the employer had put in place, such as providing equipment to move heavy objects, etc.

05) Work-related stress was of some concern. The manager considered that they tried to minimise stress in the workplace, but there were stressful situations outside the workplace too. The employee representative appreciated the efforts of the authorised engineer to take into consideration the compatibility of employees when working in a team.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern as they had friendly atmosphere in the workplace.

07) Bullying was considered to be an issue of major concern by the management representative, but from external sources. The employee representative felt that there was no problem.


MM171 – 'In your establishment, how important are the following reasons for addressing health and safety? For each one, please tell me whether it is a major reason, a minor reason, or no reason at all.'

01) Fulfilment of legal obligation; 02) Requests from employees of their representatives; 03) Staff retention and absence management; 04) Economic or performance-related reasons; 05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation’s reputation; 06) Pressure from the labour inspector.

01) The management representative felt that this was a major driver because it was normal to fulfil legal obligations. 02) Health and safety issues raised by staff were a major reason for morale and performance of the organisation, as far as it was possible for the firm to take them in account. 03) Staff retention was considered neither a major nor minor reason, as they had no problem of staff retention, but staff were important to them. 04) It was felt to be a major reason t to address health and safety as any adverse incidents would be harmful to the success of the organisation. 05) Reputation was a major reason , especially during the crises. 06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any intervention from the labour inspectorate.

139



MM172 – 'In your establishment, what are the main difficulties in dealing with health and safety? Please tell me for each of the following whether it is a major difficulty, a minor difficulty, or not a difficulty at all.'


01) The lack of financial resources was major difficulty. They would like to do on for safety and health. 02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty at all. 03) They were trained, and had outsourced Occupational Health Services. 04) They had safety instructions for all their tasks. 05) Minor difficulty. She felt that the health and safety culture was not at the level she would like it to be. She said:

'People should be more responsible for their own health.'


06) The manager didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue for the organisation as they talked about the issue. 07) Asked for other reasons, the manager pointed to a lack of support for small enterprises. She had applied for financial support, but did not succeed in getting any.

11.7 Worker participation and involvement

ER102 – 'Is there a permanent committee or working group consisting of members of the management and representatives of the employees dealing with safety and health in this establishment?'

The question was well understood. The respondent answered that there was a health and safety group.

ER 107 – 'How often do controversies related to safety and health arise between the management and the employee representatives? Is this often, sometimes, or practically never the case?'

There were practically never any controversies related to safety and health.

ER205 – 'Are employees in this establishment regularly informed about safety and health in the workplace?'

The employee representative stated that all new staff had to undertake a health and safety induction and all staff had regular health and safety instructions at every new site, provided both by the authorised engineer, and the site manager.

140



ER150 – 'Do you as the employee representative for safety and health usually get sufficient time off from normal duties to perform these tasks adequately?'

The question was understood well by the respondent. The employee representative had enough time to think about the possible risks at every site and propose adequate preventative actions.

ER154 – 'Does the management provide you with the necessary information for carrying out your health and safety tasks properly?'

Yes. The management provided the necessary information, and it was important as their work was high risk: they were often working at height.

ER155 – 'Do you usually receive information on time and without having to ask for it?'

Yes.

ER159 – 'On which of the following issues have you or your health and safety representative colleagues received training?'


The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety and 02) Prevention of accidents.

ER160 – 'Is this training sufficient or would more training in any of these fields be desirable?'

He regarded the training he had received as sufficient for his role and in the context of safety at work.

11.8 OSH and organisational performance

MM402 – 'How would you rate the level of absenteeism in your establishment compared with other establishments in the sector? Is it very high, quite high, about average, quite low or very low?'

The manager regarded level of absenteeism as quite low, but could not compare it with other enterprises.

141



New question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?'

The respondent gave the answer ‘very well’, as they had had no accidents.

MM403 – 'How would you rate the current economic situation of this establishment? Is it very good, quite good, neither good nor bad, quite bad or very bad?'

The answer was ‘quite bad’; it was difficult for the firm to survive in the current climate.

New question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?'

‘Quite bad’ for same reason as for MM403.

142





The establishment is a large private producing enterprise with 344 employees in the construction sector. The main activities are road repair, maintenance and construction. The enterprise has also two bases for bituminous concrete production and two gravel-pits. In addition the enterprise has commercial activities: it sells bituminous concrete, sand and gravel, rends construction machines and trucks, and provides transport services for construction materials. The enterprise has a laboratory for evaluating the bituminous concrete and for carrying out assessments for its own production, and also for other enterprises.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Manager’ of bituminous concrete production. He has been involved in health and safety for more than 30 years and has been provided with training in health and safety, annually for the last few years.

The employee representative has had the job title 'Quality Expert' for several months. She was appointed as employee representative by the Executive Director of the enterprise. She was provided with training on health and safety too.


The management representative is responsible for a team of seven and reports to the Executive Director. He is responsible for overseeing the safety management system.

According to the proforma, there are seven managers involved in health and safety; each spend between six and ten hours a month on health and safety issues. There are also three employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data

143



was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External occupational health services have been purchased, but no data was provided about the price of these services. Clothing and protective devices were purchased in the last calendar year, but there are no data on the amount spent.


There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety committee.


According to the proforma, there were three accidents in the last calendar year, and 64 working days were lost due to work-related accidents. The management representative reported that the number of accidents over the previous five years was two to three per year.

Sickness absence was 9.1 days per person annually.


(issues with interpretation of questions, concepts and words; sensitivity of questions; problems in recall or reaching a judgement in answering)



02) 'The way work is organised 'was interpreted as the technological process for performing the job and instructions for the different tasks. 03) Irregular was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary working hours. The management representative answered negatively, but after being asked about irregular working hours he changed his answer to a positive one.

'Our work on road construction is seasonal; occasionally we work long hours, or during the holidays. For several years we have worked during the winter too as we are engaged in the maintenance of roads and that is associated with working night shifts, being on call etc. Since the change in working patterns, irregular and long working hours are checked as part of a risk assessment.'


144




01) A lack of resources such as time, staff or money; 02) A lack of awareness; 03) A lack of expertise; 04) A lack of technical support or guidance; 05) The culture within the establishment; 06) The sensitivity of the issue

The management representative found it difficult to answer item 06) The sensitivity of the issue and chose not to answer it. He said that he did not understand the item.


The employee representative found it difficult to answer the question, as she had worked for the enterprise for a comparatively short time.

ER250 – 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment'


04) The employee representative found it difficult to answer the item concerning musculoskeletal disorders.


The employee representative qualified her positive response by saying that she received general information without having to ask for it. She initially hesitated in answering, presumably because in some circumstances she may request information.


The interviewee had no access to data to be able to judge on OSH performance.

145






Both the management and employee representative referred to the enterprise's health and safety policy. This sets out responsibilities for health and safety throughout the managerial chain. The management representative also noted the existence of an occupational health and safety development plan setting out key objectives and activities for the year.


The management representative felt that there had only been some impact, as their health and safety policy could not be entirely realised because of financial problems of the enterprise. The employee representative found it difficult to answer the question as she had worked for the enterprise for a comparatively short time.


The management representative rated the involvement of line managers and supervisors as quite low. He felt health and safety policy was documented, but only partly implemented. The employee representative considered that involvement was quite high, she felt the line managers and supervisors cared about the health and safety of their employees.


The employee representative agreed with the statement as she felt the management was engaged in health and safety and tried to improve working conditions.

146



Risk Assessment


The question was understood well by both respondents and they gave positive answers. Risk assessment was carried out regularly: for the basic workplaces a traditional risk assessment was carried out, while for mobile workplaces a risk assessment was made for model workplaces. The management representative said that they had still had workplaces with a high level of noise and dust, and high physical loads.


Risk assessments are conducted by an external provider, the Occupational Health Service.


01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees e.g. in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause

01) Yes, risk assessment is carried out following a change in staffing, layout or the organisation of work. 02) No. 03) No.



01) Yes. 02) 'Yes. The 'way work is organised' was interpreted as the technological process for performing the job and instructions for the different tasks were available. 03) Yes. The management representative referred to seasonal work in road construction, occasionally they worked long hours, or during the holidays. For several years they worked during the winter too as they were engaged in maintenance of roads and that necessitated night shifts, being on call etc. Since that change in working patterns irregular or long working hours were checked as part of a risk assessment. 04) Supervisor-employee relationships were not a part of the risk assessment.

147



MM165 – 'And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these checks?'

01) Changes to equipment or working environment; 02) Changes to the way work is organised; 03) Changes to working time arrangements; 04) Provision of training

01) New aspiration system and aluminium framed windows were installed in the bituminous concrete base, contributing towards a reduction in dust and noise in the workplace. New equipment was also bought including trucks, different building machines, instruments, all with better characteristics concerning noise and vibration.

02) No. The respondent said:

'We have work-rest schedules, they are documented, but sometimes we can not use them as scheduled, e.g. ten trucks of asphalt are waiting, we can not stop work because of these schedules. The employees take their rest at a suitable moment while waiting for the trucks.'


03) No, they had irregular and long working days, but there were no follow-up actions after the checks.

04) No. They were not provided with training as result of these checks.


The employee representative said that she could have a say, she felt she could put forward proposals, but so far had not.


Yes. The employee representative gave a positive answer.


The employee representative said that she felt free to propose follow-up actions, but more of the actions were proposed by a colleague, responsible for OHSAS certification.

148






01) Both respondents felt this was of major concern referring to the use of bituminous in the laboratories and also industrial kerosene. Both are known to be carcinogenic. The main dangerous substance at the enterprise was the dust, both in the gravel-pits and on the road. The employees were provided with dust-masks, but did not wear them.

02) Both interviewees considered it was of major concern. The management representative made reference to accident statistics (two or three accidents annually). The accidents occurred due to workings lowering their attention according the management representative. They had undertaken actions to eliminate use of alcohol at work, they bought breathalisers and organised controls. The employee representative referred to health and safety inductions and daily safety instructions.

03) Noise and vibration was considered of major concern. Most of the trucks and building machines were new and there were no data for workplaces with these machines exceeding the hygienic norms in terms of noise and vibration. But the noise and vibration exceeded the hygienic norms at some workplaces in the gravel-pits. The employees were provided with ear plugs, but many of them did not use them.

04) The management representative considered that musculoskeletal disorders were of no concern. The employees were provided with medical checks, but there were no preventive actions. The employee representative found it difficult to answer the question. She was not aware of whether there are preventative actions.

05) Work-related stress was considered of no concern by both respondents.

'Nobody is thinking about stress.'


06) Violence was considered by both interviewees as being of no concern, both stated that they have no such problem.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by the interviewees as there had not been any reported incidents.

149





01) Fulfilment of legal obligation; 02) Requests from employees or their representatives; 03) Staff retention and absence management; 04) Economic or performance-related reasons; 05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation’s reputation; 06) Pressure from the labour inspector

01) The respondent felt that this was a major driver because everybody should be compliant with the legislation. 02) No reason at all . Employees raised requests, management agreed, but the requests were rarely fulfilled because of financial resources. 03) No reason at all . 04) No reason at all. 05) No reason at all. 06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any intervention from the labour inspectorate.


01) A lack of resources such as time, staff or money; 02) A lack of awareness; 03) A lack of expertise; 04) A lack of technical support or guidance; 05) The culture within the establishment; 06) The sensitivity of the issue

01) The lack of resources was a major reason, especially financial resources. Staff and time were not a problem. 02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty; the employees were provided with health and safety inductions and instructions. 03) They had subcontracted expertise from an Occupational Health Service. 04) He knew where to find information on health and safety. 05) Minor difficulty. It was felt that the health and safety culture was low, the employees were aware of their risks, but some employees did not use protective devices. 06) The management representative found it difficult to answer this item and chose not to answer it. He said he did not understand the item.



There is a health and safety committee. There are quarterly meetings chaired by the management representative. Meetings also include four managers, three

150



employees and two union representatives. These meetings deal with the specific health and safety problems at the different work sites, protective equipment, working clothing etc.


The respondent understood the question well and answered practically never.


The employee representative stated that all new staff were required to undertake a health and safety induction, and daily instructions were provided by the manager of every site.


The employee representative said that she was provided with sufficient time to perform health and safety tasks adequately. Recently she had prepared a project on financial support for health and safety actions in the enterprise, which required a lot of time.


Yes. The employee representative was provided with all the written risk assessments when she started in the role. Any information she required for preparing the project was also provided (see ER150).



151




01) Fire safety; 02) Prevention of accidents; 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards; 04) Ergonomics; 05) Violence, bullying or harassment; 06) Work-related stress; 07) Discrimination (for example due to age, gender, race or disability)

The employee representative has received training on 01) Fire safety and 03) Chemical and dust hazards. No training was provided on the other issues.




The main reasons for not being provided with more training were financial.



The management representative regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, but had no basis for comparison.


There was no basis for comparison, but the management representative felt that the accident rate was much better than the average.

152




The respondent felt it was quite good, as they regularly received their salaries and insurances, even when the government delayed paying the establishment.


The management representative said that the question was not in his area of competence. The Executive Director and the owners of the enterprise could discuss issues related to business outcomes.

153





The establishment is a small private producing enterprise in the manufacturing sector. It produces metal constructions, such as buckets for excavators, diggers and loaders. In 2008 the enterprise had 120 employees, but orders fell during the financial crisis and the employer reduced the staff to 28 employees in 2012.


The management representative has the job title ‘Chief Engineer’. He has had responsibilities for safety and health at work for four years and was provided with training on health and safety at work one year earlier by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative is a warehouse worker of the enterprise. He has had responsibilities for safety and health at work for more than 30 years. He was appointed as employee representative by the employer and was provided with training by the chief engineer.


The management representative is responsible for safety and health in the enterprise. He chairs the health and safety group, and in turn reports to the Director of the enterprise.

According to the proforma, there are two senior managers involved in health and safety; the Director who spends two hours a month on health and safety at work, and the chief engineer, who spends five hours on the issue. There are no data on the time spent by the employee representative on health and safety issues. They have spent €600 on Occupational Health Services and medical checks, €100 on

154



training and €100 on workplaces assessments. They have purchased protective work clothes for €300.

There is a contract with an external Occupational Health Service.



According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year, and the number of working days lost due to sickness absence were felt to be low (0.5 days per person annually).




The chief engineer interpreted this to mean ‘the activities they are involved in` rather than their level of engagement with health and safety. How important it was for them and their involvement depended on the financial resources of the enterprise.



The chief engineer, in answering whether or not a risk was of concern, mentioned in some of his answers the presence of the risks (dangerous substances, stress), in other medical checks (musculoskeletal disorders), and in others preventative actions (accidents, noise and vibrations).

155





The interviewee found item 02) difficult, giving an answer of n/a and interpreted ‘the way work is organised` as the structure of the enterprise, internal rules and daily tasks. He felt he was not able to judge whether the issue was included in workplace checks. 03) Irregular working hours was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary, and the answer was that they have neither supplementary nor long working hours. After asking specifically about irregular working hours the answer did not differ, they had no shift work. For item 04), whether or not ‘supervisor-employee` relationships are considered in risk assessments/workplace checks, the chief engineer answered negatively, he added:

'Supervisor-employee relationships are not part of standard risk assessment.'




For item 04) the respondent appeared keen to give a positive answer, but referred to the safety instructions they provided, not training.



Item 06), ‘the sensitivity of the issue`, was not clear, the interviewee asked for clarification.

156





The employee representative, like the chief engineer, in answering whether or not a risk was of concern, based some of his answers on the presence of the risks, while others he based on preventative actions. How the employee representative reached a judgment about the level of concern varied. In the cases where preventative actions were undertaken, whether an issue was of some or major concern varied with the risk perception (eg accidents were of major concern, while noise and vibrations were only of some concern).


The respondent found the question difficult. The employee representative could not define whether he got sufficient time, he completed the health and safety tasks between other tasks.


The interviewee had no basis for comparison, no data on other enterprises, and was rather confused answering the questions. For one question he compared the situation in the enterprise before the crisis to the current situation, in two others he only discussed the current situation of the enterprise, and in one he made the choice not to answer the question at all.




The question was understood well by both respondents. Both answered positively, confirming that health and safety activities were carried out according to legislation requirements. Both the management and employee representative referred to the annual risk assessment and following protective measures. The risk

157



assessment for 2012 was not done by the end of September, as they had no financial resources to conduct the assessments.


The question was understood well. The chief engineer felt that there had been some impact, he added:

'Before the crises the policy had a larger effect, as we could allow investments in improving working conditions and also provided lunch for the workers.'



Both respondents rated the degree of involvement as quite high. Both pointed to the prevention actions undertaken; these were completed according to the financial ability of the enterprise.


The employee representative agreed with the statement; he considered that the activities the management had undertaken were the proper ones.

Risk Assessment


The question was well understood by the respondents. The workplaces were checked regularly according the requirements of the legislation.


Risk assessments are conducted by external an Occupational Health Service.

158





01) No, because there were no new employees, or changes to the layout or organisation of work. 02) No, because there were no requirements from the workers. 03) Yes. See earlier answers.



01) Yes, these are included in standard checks. 02) No answer, he interpreted the way work is organised as the structure of the enterprise, internal rules and daily tasks. 03) No, because they have no supplementary, irregular or long work hours. 04) No. He said:

'Supervisor-employee relationships are not a part of standard risk assessment.'




01) The chief engineer referred to the purchase of equipment for the isolation of noise and improvement of lighting. 02) No. 03) No. 04) Yes. Instructions on safety and health were provided.


The employee representative understood the question well and said:

'I have a say, both in meetings or in informal conversations.'


159




Yes.


The employee representative said that he participates in the discussions.




01) Both respondents answered that there are no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees rated this a major concern and referred to preventative actions.

03) Noise and vibration were considered to be of major concern, as the machines were noisy, but protective equipment was provided.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern, and medical checks included the musculoskeletal disorders.

05) Work-related stress was considered of some concern by the management representative and of major concern by the employee representative, who said:

'Stress might be dangerous for the employee, working with machines.'


06) Violence was of no concern, they had no incidents.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue, they had no bullying.

160






01) The respondent felt that this was a major reason because the legal obligations should be fulfilled.

02) Health and safety issues raised by staff were a major reason and they fulfilled such requests. He referred to buying protective clothes and devices.

03) The retention of qualified staff was major reason. There were not many qualified workers in metal construction producing enterprises in the region.

04) Minor reason.





01) Major difficulty, there are no financial resources for improvement of working conditions; the enterprise even had difficulties in paying salaries.

02) A lack of awareness was a minor difficulty because they were provided with information by the Occupational Health Service.

03) Minor difficulty as they had a contract with an Occupational Health Service.

04) Minor difficulty.

05) Minor difficulty, the workers should be more responsible for their own health.

06) Not a difficulty.

161





There is a health and safety group, they have meetings every three months.




They were provided with information on safety and health every three months.


The employee representative could not define whether he gets sufficient time; he completes the tasks concerning health and safety in between other tasks.


Yes. He referred to information provided to the enterprise by the Occupational Health Service.


General information, yes. He felt that if he had required more information he should have received it.


01) Fire safety; 02) Prevention of accidents; 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards; 04) Ergonomics; 05) Violence, bullying or harassment; 06) Work-

162



related stress; 07) Discrimination (for example due to age, gender, race or disability).

The employee representative has received training on 01) Fire safety and 02) Prevention of accidents.


He regards the training he has received as sufficient for his role.



The chief engineer had no basis for comparison, but considered that the level of absenteeism was quite low. The problem was that they had not enough work, meaning employees were often were on unpaid leave.

New Question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?'

No answer, no basis for comparison, but in their enterprise there were no work accidents and registered occupational diseases.


Quite bad, although he had no basis for comparison with other metallurgical enterprises, he compared the current situation of the enterprise with how it was before the crisis. They had delays in paying salaries and debts to suppliers. The condition from a financial point of view was quite bad.


Chief engineer rated performance as 'quite bad' for same reason as for MM403.

163



164





The establishment is a small private service organisation in the transport, storage and communication sector with 30 employees. It is engaged in transport and logistics; the main activity is linear transport brokering.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Export Manager`. He has been involved in health and safety since 2005 and was provided with training in health and safety in 2010 by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative is an accountant. She was appointed as the employee representative by the Director of the enterprise. She has not been provided with training on health and safety at work.


The management representative is responsible for health and safety in the enterprise. There is a health and safety group, and the export manager reports health and safety issues to the Director.

According to the proforma, there is one manager involved in health and safety, who spends eight hours per month on health and safety issues. There is one employee with a specific role in health and safety (no data provided on the hours the employee spent on health and safety). Occupational health services have been purchased for €400. There are no data about equipment purchased in the last calendar year.

Occupational health services were subcontracted.

165



There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety group, but many issues were discussed informally.


According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year. Sickness absence was also felt to be low (0.5 days per person annually).



The respondent reached a judgement related to the degree of presence of risk factors, eg the health and safety policy of an enterprise with many risk factors would have a large impact. He felt that there had been only some impact, because they were not exposed to many risks. The management representative interpreted the effect of the policy as there having been no work accidents.



The respondent did not associate item 02) 'The way work is organised' with health and safety, he interpreted this to mean complying with the procedures and the internal organisational structure. He argued:

'We check 'the way work is organised' during the annual audit for compliance with ISO9001. It is not a part of risk assessment, carried by the Occupational Health Service.'


Item 03) was translated in Bulgarian language as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative, when asked about irregular working hours the respondent confirmed his negative answer. 04) The interviewee

166



explained that while supervisor-employee relationships were not included in risk assessment, his own opinion on the issue was that they were very good.



Item 06), ‘pressure from the labour inspectorate`, is perhaps not sufficiently clear. It was considered a major reason for addressing health and safety, but there was no pressure.

ER215_05 ‘Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: ‘Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by employee or their representatives'

The employee representative’s answer was a hypothetical agreement, as she considered that there were no safety and health problems in the firm, and no issues were raised by employees or their representative.


The employee representative explained her negative answer with reference to the health and safety legislation, which they were following. Her participation in the decisions does not seem to be against the legislative requirements.


The answer was a hypothetical ‘yes’. The workplace checks had not found need of any actions at the present.


Hypothetically ‘yes’ for the same reasons as in ER210.


167



The respondent had no basis for comparison for absenteeism, health and safety outcomes, economic situation, etc. with other enterprises of the same size and in the same sector of activity in the country.




Both respondents understood the question well and referred to the health and safety policy of the firm. This sets out responsibilities for health and safety. The management representative said:

'We have no developed action plan as there were no prescriptions for any improvement to working conditions by the Occupational Health Service.'



The respondents felt that there had been only some impact, because they were not exposed to many risks.


Both respondents rated the involvement of the managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety as very high.

ER215_05 – 'Please tell me whether you agree (1), neither agree nor disagree (2), or disagree (3) with the following statement: ‘Our management gives proper consideration to occupational safety and health issues raised by an employee or their representatives.'

The employee representative agreed with the statement, but her answer was hypothetical as she considered that there were no safety and health issues to be raised by employees or their representative.

168



Risk Assessment


The question was understood well by both respondents. The workplaces were checked regularly, assessments were conducted in line with legislation requirements and the risk assessment, carried out by the Occupational Health Service, was documented.


Workplace checks and risk assessments were conducted by external providers: an Occupational Health Service and certified bodies for conducting assessments.



There was no confusion in understanding any of the items. 01) No. They had no changes to staffing or layout. 02) No. There were no requests from employees. 03) Yes. See earlier answers to MM161.



01) Lighting, radiation from computers and microclimate were regularly monitored. 02) The way work is organised was interpreted by the respondent to mean complying with the procedures and internal organisational structure. They checked the way work is organised during the audit for ISO9001 certification. 03) No. They had no supplementary, long or irregular working hours. 04) No. The respondent pointed to the good supervisor-employee relationships as a reason not to include the issue in risk assessment.

169





The question was well understood. 01) No. The management representative stated that they had no prescribed follow-up actions, they thought it was because if there were problems, ega faulty monitor, they changed it immediately without waiting for risk assessments. 02) No. If there were any problems with the way work was organised, they discussed them and made changes without delay. 03) No. He said:

'We have normal working time; we have rests during work, so there is no need for changes to the working time arrangements.'


04) No. Training was provided, but not as a result of workplace checks.


The employee representative explained her negative answer by reference to the health and safety legislation which they were following. In her opinion, risk assessments were not open to discussion, as the conditions and terms for carrying them out were specified in the legislation.


The answer was hypothetically ‘yes’. The workplace checks had not found need of any actions at the present.


Hypothetically ‘yes’ for the same reasons as in ER210.

170






01) Both respondents felt that they had no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees considered accidents to be of some concern and had undertaken preventive actions, egPAT was undertaken and they ensured the surface of the floors and stairs was not slippery.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of no concern, staff were not exposed to these risks.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern. The workplaces were ergonomic and employees were provided with medical checks.

05) Work-related stress was considered of some concern by both interviewees. Work tasks were scheduled so as to avoid employees working under time pressure or being required to do overtime. The employer had also scheduled rests during work.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees to be of no concern because they had not experienced any.

07) Bullying was not considered of concern because they had not experienced any.


MM171 –'‘In your establishment, how important are the following reasons for addressing health and safety? For each one, please tell me whether it is a major reason, a minor reason, or no reason at all.'


01) The management representative felt that this was a major driver because he considered it was normal to comply with legislative requirements.

171



02) Being seen to address health and safety issues raised by staff was a major reason for morale and therefore the performance of the organisation.

03) Major reason. Staff were important for the organisation.

04) It was a major reason to address health and safety for the success of the organisation.

05) Its reputation was a major reason as this would affect the competitiveness of the enterprise.

06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any intervention from the labour inspectorate. There was no pressure.



01) Not a difficulty at all. Whenever something had been requested it had been provided.

02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty because of health and safety induction and periodic instructions.

03) The organisation has subcontracted occupational health services and this not a difficulty at all. 0

4) They had information on health and safety and this not a difficulty at all.

05) They felt the health and safety culture was quite good and this not a difficulty at all.

06) Not a difficulty at all. The respondent didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue for the organisation as they talked about the issue.

172





The question was well understood. There is a health and safety group. The respondent said that there were meetings four times annually, but they discussed health and safety issues informally, too.




The employee representative stated that all new staff were required to undertake health and safety induction, and periodic instructions were provided for all employees.


The employee representative answered positively. To perform these tasks adequately the employee representative felt she needed to ensure that the work was of a high quality and completed on time.


The respondent answered negatively as she did not consider that there was any information she should be provided with.


No, for the same reasons as ER154.

173





The employee representative answered that she had not received training on any of the listed items.


The question was well understood. The respondent considered that she did not need training in health and safety at work.


The respondent pointed out that some of the available courses were not appropriate for them.



They had no basis for comparison, but the management representative considered absenteeism was quite low.


The respondent felt the organisation compared very well, referring to the lack of accidents and low sickness absenteeism.

174




The management representative considered that the economic situation of the enterprise was quite good. He referred to the annual company general meeting and the Director's statement of achieved results.


The management representative rated performance as very good for same reason as MM403, but had no basis for comparison.

175





The establishment is a large organisation (330 employees) in the transport, storage and communication sector. It is private and provides services: it delivers consignments by post and courier.


The management representative has the job title of 'Personnel Manager'. She has been involved in health and safety since 1990 and was provided with training for implementation of BS OHSAS 18001 by a consultancy company, and general health and safety training by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative has the job ‘Quality Manager’. He was appointed as employee representative by the employer and was provided with training for implementation of ISO 9001 and BS OHSAS 18001, as well as general training in health and safety at work by the occupational health service.


The management representative is responsible for ensuring the establishment is compliant with health and safety legislation and overseeing the Safety Management System. All 15 managers of the departments are involved in health and safety and health and safety issues are regularly discussed at management meetings.

According to the proforma, there are 15 senior managers and officials involved in health and safety. The management representative spend three hours per month on health and safety issues, the rest each spend one hour a month. There are also three employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External occupational

176



health services have been purchased for €2,500. The firm had a new office building with entirely new equipment; no data for the investments was provided.


There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety committee, chaired by the management representative and consisting of six members.


According to the proforma, there was one accident in the last calendar year, and 64 working days lost due to this accident. Sickness absence was felt to be about the average (12.9 days per person annually).


MM156– 'In practice, how much of an impact does this policy, management system or action plan have on health and safety in your establishment? Does it have a large impact, some impact, or practically no impact?'

In answering the question, the management representative took the high risk jobs into consideration. She felt there was only 'some impact' as they did not have many risks. She said that the impact would be large in establishments with high risk activities.



02) 'The way work is organised' was interpreted as the technological processes at work. . 03) The item was translated into Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The respondent answered negatively. When asked about irregular working hours, she answered that they worked shifts and the issue was included in risk assessment, so the answer changed to positive.


177




The respondent was unsure how to answer item 04), as training was provided annually and was compulsory, but it was not carried out as a result of the risk assessment.



The respondent answered item 03) as two questions, addressing health and safety issues because of staff retention, and to manage absences. Item 05) was understood as two questions too and the respondent gave two answers, as follows:

'Reputation is a major reason to address health and safety, while requirements of clients are not a reason as they are not related to the health and safety of employees.'


ER 214 – 'Overall, how would you rate the degree of involvement of the line managers and supervisors in the management of health and safety? Is it very high, quite high, quite low or very low?'

The employee representative referred to effective and timely actions by the management, rather than how much they cared for the health and safety of employees.


Yes, in general, but sometimes he had to request information and it was then provided.


The interviewee had no data with which to form a judgment on OSH performance.

178






Both the management and employee representative referred to the establishment’s health and safety policy. This sets out responsibilities for health and safety throughout the managerial chain. The management representative also noted:

'We have an occupational health and safety plan setting out key objectives and activities for the year, and it is reviewed and revised on an annual basis.'



The management representative felt that there had been some impact, while the employee representative felt it had had a large impact. The management representative considered that there was only 'some impact' as they did not have high risk activities. The employee representative referred to the low number of accidents in the establishment.


The management representative felt it was quite high, while the employee representative rated it as very high. The management representative said that both the line managers and supervisors were involved in implementation of the action plan, providing employees with instructions, and even following up whether employees passed the medical checks. The employee representative referred to effective and timely actions by the management. He added that they were ISO certified and during the annual audit the actions of the management were checked.

179




The employee representative agreed with the statement and referred to the number and type of activities that have been undertaken (egtraining, medical checks, effective preventive actions, timely actions, etc.).

Risk Assessment


Risk assessments of all workplaces were conducted annually and risk assessments were documented.


The respondent answered that risk assessments were conducted by the Occupational Health Service, as they were professionals.



01) Yes, in case of the creation of new positions and relocating staff. She gave the example of relocating staff to a new building. 02) No. They had not had any requests. 03) Yes. See earlier answers to MM161/ER207 (risk assessments were carried annually).



01) Yes.

180



02) No. The way work is organised was not included in the risk assessment. The respondent considered that it was well organised and issues related to work organisation could not increase health risk.

03) No. The respondent answered that they had no supplementary and long working hours. When asked about irregular working hours, he answered that they worked shifts and the issue was included in risk assessment.

04) Supervisor-employee relationships were not a part of risk assessment.



01) The management representative referred to the purchase of better lighting for some workplaces, and new offices in a new building for part of the staff. 02) No. It is not a part of the risk assessment. 03) No. There were no changes in shift work schedules or any other working time arrangements. 04) No. Training was provided annually and was compulsory, but it was not completed as a result of the risk assessment.


The employee representative said that he personally did not participate in the meetings where decisions were taken about when and where the workplace checks were to be carried, but he participated in risk assessments.


Yes. The employee representative stated that follow-up actions were undertaken.


The employee representative stated that it is usual practice for employee representatives to propose follow-up actions. All employees could make suggestions too and these were discussed.

181






01)The management representative felt that they had no dangerous substances, but the employee representative felt they were of major concern and referred to preventive actions they had for dangerous consignments.

02) Both interviewees stated that accidents were of major concern and made reference to prevention, leading to a very low rate of accidents.

03) Noise and vibration was not considered to be of concern by the management representative, she considered they had no such risks. In contrast because risk assessments measurements for noise were conducted the employee representative felt these risks were of some concern.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of major concern by both respondents. They were included in the medical checks, and employees with musculoskeletal disorders were accommodated in suitable workplaces with a lower manual workload.

05) Work-related stress was considered a major concern; it was managed in every department. The employee representative added:

'Work-related stress is acknowledged in our documentation for health and safety at work. The issue is discussed if any instances occur, but also during risk assessment.'


06) Violence was considered of no concern by the management representative as she considered they had not had any incidents, but of major concern by the employee representative, largely because of the potential impact of an incident, rather than knowledge of any incidents.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by the management representative, but of major concern by the employee representative. The later referred to their ISO certification annual audits, which included supervisor-employee relationships. He stated:

182



'Any rude behaviour by employees or management representatives is not tolerated. Action is undertaken immediately.'





01) Major reason. The management representative felt it was obligatory.

02) The respondent felt it was a major reason to address health and safety issues raised by staff.

03) Addressing health and safety issues was a major reason for staff retention, but it was not a problem during the crises. The absence rate was felt to be about the average.

04) Yes. It was a major reason to address health and safety as any adverse incident would be harmful to the success of the organisation.

05) Reputation was major reason for addressing health and safety, but requirements of clients were not related to health and safety issues.

06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means of avoiding pressure from the labour inspectorate. The respondent felt they were inspected all the time, and after addressing one issue another was raised immediately.



01) A lack of resources was not a difficulty at all , provision was made for health and safety.

183



02) A lack of awareness was not a difficulty at all because staff were provided with health and safety inductions and annual training.

03) They had internal and external specialists and was not a difficulty at all.

04) She felt they had information, instructions, etc. and was not a difficulty at all.

05) Not a difficulty at all. It was felt that the health and safety culture was quite good and staff were aware of their roles within the safety management system.

06) Not a difficulty at all. The management representative didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue for the organisation.



There is a health and safety committee, it is chaired by the management representative, and has periodical meetings, at least four times per year.


The respondent understood the question and answered practically never.


The employee representative stated that staff were regularly informed about health and safety at work, and circulars were put in visible places in the building, so staff could read them again at any time.


Yes. The employee representative interpreted adequately as 'rules, defining the task, deadlines, conditions'.

184




Yes. All the information needed for the audit was provided.


Yes, in general, but sometimes he had to request information and it was then provided.



The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety; 02) Prevention of accidents; 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards; 05) Violence, bullying or harassment; 06) Work-related stress. He was not provided with training on 04) Ergonomics, but understood it well. Neither he, nor other employees were provided with training on 07) Discrimination.


The respondent felt more training would always be desirable.


The respondent pinpointed financial difficulties as the main reason for not receiving more training.

185





The management representative regarded the level of absenteeism as about average on the basis of data from sickness absence analysis.


The respondent answered quite well, referring to low rate of accidents.


The interviewee did not answer the question, because felt she did not have enough information. The question was clear.


The management representative rated performance as quite good as they regularly received their salaries, and had a new building with new equipment etc.

186





The establishment is a small organisation in the financial services sector. It is a private insurance company providing life insurance. It has 42 employees. The establishment is a part of a holding company.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Vice-director`. He has been involved in health and safety for four years and was provided with training in health and safety by the Occupational Health Service.

The employee representative has the job title ‘Administration economic officer manager’. He was appointed as employee representative by the employer three years earlier. He was provided with training in health and safety at work by the Occupational Health Service.


The management representative is responsible for ensuring the establishment is compliant with health and safety legislation. He is responsible for a team of three.

According to the proforma, there is one senior manager involved in health and safety, spending 0.5 hours per month on health and safety issues. There are also two employees with a specific role in health and safety, each spending one hour a month on health and safety. Occupational health services have been purchased, but no data on the price was provided. The company has purchased new computers and air conditioners during the last calendar year, but there are no data on the amount spent.

187



There are quarterly meetings of the health and safety group, chaired by the management representative and consisting of three members.


According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year. Sickness absence was felt to be low (7.2 days annually per person).



The management representative's answer was hypothetical - not based on actual policy and actions, but on his perception of how large the impact could be in relation to risk factors, egmore risk factors , the more possibility of them having a larger impact.



The respondent, in answering whether or not a risk was of concern, included in his judgment both the presence of the risk and the preventative actions undertaken, egdangerous substances and noise were considered of no concern as they had no such risk factors, while violence was of no concern despite the potential of an event and safeguards being in place.



188



The answer to item 02) was a hypothetical 'Yes', as they had not had any such requests.



03) The item was translated in Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The respondent answered negatively. When asked about irregular working hour, he confirmed his negative answer as they had no irregular working hours.



03) Addressing health and safety issues was an important reason for staff retention, the respondent considered it was neither major nor minor reason. 06) There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.


The management and employee representative felt that there had been some impact, both considered that there was only 'some impact' as they did not have high risk activities.



The method used to determine whether a risk was of some or of no concern varied for the items presented, egmusculoskeletal disorders were considered of some

189



concern, although no preventative actions were outlined, while violence was of no concern despite there being safeguards in place.



The employee representative had undertaken general health and safety training, which included ergonomics issues; the respondent was hesitant on how to answer the question.




Both the management and employee representative referred to the establishment’s health and safety policy, which set out responsibilities for health and safety.


The management and employee representative felt that there had been some impact; both considered that there was only 'some impact’ as they did not have high risk activities.


Both respondents understood the question and rated involvement as quite high.

190




The employee representative agreed with the statement and referred to positive action by the management.

Risk Assessment


Risk assessments of all workplaces were conducted annually and were documented.


The respondent answered that risk assessments were conducted by the Occupational Health Service, as their staff were professionals.



01) No. They had no changes in layout or work organisation. 02) Yes. However, they had not had any such cases. 03) Yes. See earlier answers to MM161 (risk assessments were carried annually).



01) Yes. 02) No. The way work is organised was not included the risk assessment. 03) No. The respondent answered that they had no supplementary and long working hours. When asked about irregular working hours, he confirmed his negative answer as they had no irregular working hours. 04) No. Supervisor-employee relationships were not a part of risk assessment.

191





01) Management referred to the purchase of new computers with good quality monitors, air conditioners, etc. 02) No. 03) No. 04) No. No need of training as a follow-up action to the checks.


The employee representative said that he did not have a say; the decisions on when and where these risk assessments of workplace checks were to be carried out were taken by the holding company representatives.


Yes. The employee representative stated that follow-up actions were undertaken.


The employee representative said that usually he was involved in the choice of the follow-up actions.




01) Both respondents answered that they had no dangerous substances.

02) Both interviewees stated that accidents were of some concern; although they had had no accidents.

192



03) Noise and vibration was not considered to be of concern by the management representative, he considered they had no such risks after the assessments were carried out. The employee representative considered they were of some concern because measurements for noise were carried out.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered to be of some concern by both respondents. The management representative added that they were included in the medical checks.

05) Work-related stress was considered to be of some concern by the management representative. He explained his rating:

'We divide the work between the employees, taking care that deadlines are realistic; and in the case of more work we increase staffing levels.'


The employee representative considered stress was of no concern.

06) Violence was considered of no concern by the respondents as they had not experienced any. Both pointed out that they had safeguards in place.

07) Bullying was considered of major concern by the management representative. In the holding company there was a system in place allowing every employee to pass information about bullying up to a higher level. In the establishment they had not had any cases. The employee representative said that it was of no concern as they had not experienced any bullying.




01) Major reason. The management representative felt it was obligatory. 02) The respondent felt it was a major reason to address health and safety issues raised by staff. 03) Addressing health and safety issues was an important reason for staff retention, the respondent considered it was neither a major nor a minor reason. 04) Minor reason. 05) Minor reason. Addressing health and safety was important for the reputation of the organisation. 06) Minor reason. There was no pressure from the labour inspectorate.

193





The respondent felt that they had healthy and safe workplaces, and none of the listed items was a difficulty in dealing with health and safety at work.



There is a health and safety group, chaired by the management representative. There are periodical meetings, at least four per year.




The employee representative stated that staff were regularly informed about health and safety at work.


The employee representative gave a positive answer.


Yes. All the information needed such as requirements, ordinances, etc.

194




Yes, in general, but sometimes he had to request information and then it was provided.



The employee representative had received training on 01) Fire safety; and 02) Prevention of accidents. He was also provided with some training on ergonomics within the general annual health and safety training. He was not provided with training on 03) Chemical, biological, radiation or dust hazards; 05) Violence, bullying or harassment; 06) Work-related stress and 07) Discrimination


The respondent felt the training was sufficient for his role.


The respondent felt some of the courses were not suitable for them.



The management representative regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low.

195




The respondent answered very well. He considered they had healthy and safe working conditions.


Very good, the answer was based on financial results.


The management representative rated performance as very good as the holding company has a leading market position and good profit ratings.

196





The establishment is a municipality in public administration and defense: compulsory and social security sector. It provides administration and public services. The municipality has 115 employees. Seventy six employees are engaged with the main administration and public services of the municipality, while the rest with different additional services, such as home social assistance (eight employees), municipality inspectorate (ten employees), nurses in kindergartens and schools (13 nurses) and a day centre for working with children on the street (eight employees). The staff of the home social assistance cook and take food to 100 older people in the municipality. The day centre for working with children on the street works with children from social institutions.


The management representative has the job title of ‘Chief Secretary'. He has been involved in health and safety for 12 years and has been provided at least twice a year with training on different health and safety at work issues.

The employee representative is a manager of the day centre for working with children on the street. She was appointed as employee representative at a general meeting of the municipality. She has been an employee representative for one year and was provided with health and safety training by the Occupational Health Service.


The management representative is responsible for a team of six and in turn reports to the town council. He is responsible for ensuring the municipality is compliant with health and safety legislation and overseeing the safety management system.

197



According to the proforma, there are three managers involved in health and safety, each spend three to four hours per month on health and safety issues. There are three employees with specific roles in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External occupational health services have been purchased for €1,200. During the last calendar year redecoration of the municipality building and reconstruction work at the day centre for working with children on the street was carried out. Lighting, air conditioners, stoves and gas installation were updated at the home social assistance service and new computers were purchased. No data was provided for the amount spent.


There is a health and safety committee, consisting of six members, chaired by the management representative. They have quarterly meetings on health and safety.





The management representative felt that there had been an impact, but it was difficult to rate it.


01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause. 01) The answer was a hypothetical yes, as they had no changes to the layout or work organisation. 02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints, the

198



management representative answered 'yes', but again it was a hypothetical 'yes', as they had not had any cases.



The respondent did not relate item 2) 'The way work is organised' with health and safety at work. This statement was interpreted as instructions for carrying out particular work, and the equipment and preventive devices. 03) This was translated into Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative, as they have no supplementary and long working hours. When asked about irregular working hours the respondent confirmed her negative answer.

MM402/New question on OSH performance

The management representative left the questions MM 402 and the New Question on OSH performance unanswered as he had no data for comparison.




Both the management and employee representative answered positively. They had a health and safety policy with set responsibilities and an action plan, which was revised and checked annually.


The management representative felt that there had been an impact, but it was difficult to rate it. The employee representative rated the effect as large; she considered that she and other employees were provided with a lot of knowledge about occupational risks.

199




The question was well understood. Both respondents rated this quite highly. The management representative pointed out that managers and supervisors in the municipality were very responsible concerning health and safety at work.


The employee representative agreed with the statement and said that the management acted adequately and in a timely manner for every problem raised by the employees.

Risk Assessment


The question was understood well. Risk assessments were conducted annually and documented.


Risk assessments were conducted by an external provider, the Occupational Health Service.



01) Yes. If there are changes to the staffing, layout or organisation of work, it should be done, but they had not had any such changes. 02) Yes. If there are requirements, but as of the current time they had received no requests from

200



employees. 03) Yes. With the frequency as specified in the legislative requirements.



01) Yes. Lighting, PATs, noise, and working with VDUs were checked. 2) No. The way work is organised was interpreted as instructions for carrying out particular work, and the equipment and preventive devices. 03) No. It was translated into Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative; the supplementary and long working hours were not part of risk assessment. When asked about irregular working hours the respondent confirmed his negative answer. 04) No. Supervisor-employee relationships are not a part of risk assessment.



01) No. During the last calendar year the organisation improved the working environment a lot by redecorating the municipality building, reconstruction work at the day centre for working with children on the street and new lighting, air conditioners, stoves and gas installation for the home social assistance service, New computers were purchased, but none of these changes came about as a result of checks. 02) No. 03) No. 04) Yes. Training of the members of health and safety committee was carried out.


The employee representative said that she could have a say. She said:

'The management enables all employees to shares views on health and safety, both the management and employees are active, and this ensures good results.'


201




Yes. The employee representative stated that follow-up actions were carried as required.


The employee representative answered positively.

'Yes, we make proposals; we participate in discussions about the choice of follow-up action.'





01) The respondents answered that they were of major concern. The management representative referred to the existence of the warehouse for expired and out of use plant protection products in their municipality area; and they were responsible for their safe storage. In answering the question the employee representative gave the example of the day centre for working with children on the street and explained that all housekeeping chemicals were registered, stored and used very carefully because of the children.

02) Both respondents felt accidents were of major concern; there were variety preventive actions, as well as health and safety training of the staff.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of some concern by both respondents. The management representative added that they had carried out measurements of the noise, but the data showed low levels.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern to the management representative who referred to preventive actions such as instructions for exercise during breaks from work and ergonomic furniture. The employee representative

202



emphasised the importance of movement generally, as musculoskeletal disorders were caused by many factors and their prevention at work was not enough.

05) Work-related stress was considered to be of some concern by both respondents. The management representative felt that stress was increasing and he would like very much to organise team building, but they had no financial resources and, at the same time, had a lot of work. The employee representative referred to their programme for coping with stress.

06) Violence was considered of some concern by the management representative and of major concern by the employee representative. The management representative pointed out that although there were aggressive citizens, they had safeguards. The employee representative added that these had acted adequately and had prevented incidents, but violence from both children and parents, as well as other people trying to trace a child had to be considered.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by either interviewee as there had not been any reported incidents.




01) The respondent felt that this was a major driver because the legislation should be followed. 02) The item went unanswered because there were no requests from the employees. 03) No reason at all. 04) No reason at all. 05) No reason at all. 06) No reason at all.



203



The respondent understood the question and answered negatively to all items. He did not point to other difficulties in dealing with health and safety at work. He clarified:

'We have expertise. Employees were provided with health and safety inductions and they are provided with periodic safety instructions. These act adequately and the problems are solved; we are not an industrial enterprise and we have good work organisation.'




There is a health and safety committee with six members, three from management and three employee representatives. It is chaired by the management representative. The employee representative is the vice-chair.

'There are quarterly meetings, but there are also additional meetings if needed. The health and safety committee also meets when provided with health and safety training.'





The employee representative stated that they were provided with health and safety information.


Yes.

204




Yes. They were provided with risk assessment reports, orders, safety instructions, different reports, etc.



ER159 – 'On which of the following issues have you or your health and safety representative colleagues received training?


The employee representative has received training on all the items.


More training always would be desirable.



The respondent left the question unanswered as he had no data for comparison.


The management representative left the question unanswered, as he had no data for comparison, but added that they had no occupational accidents in the last year.

205




The management representative rated the economic situation as very good. He said:

'The economic situation is very good. We have a project for €116 million for the reconstruction of water-conduit and sewerage in the town we got a project for energy efficiency and we are building a sports hall with our own income.'


New question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the UK, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?'

Management representative rated performance as very good for same reason as for MM403.

206





The establishment is a municipality in the public administration and defence: compulsory and social security sector. It provides administration and public services. The municipality has approximately 90 employees (70 based in the municipality building and 20 employees in ten villages).


The management representative has the job title of ‘Chief Manager' of the Public Services Department. She has been involved in health and safety for ten years, but has not been provided with training on health and safety at work.

The employee representative is a clerk in the staff office and was appointed as employee representative at a general meeting of the Municipality. She has been an employee representative for four years and was provided with health and safety training by the Occupational Health Service in 2008.


The management representative is responsible for a team of five and in turn reports to the town council. She is responsible for ensuring the municipality is compliant with health and safety legislation and overseeing the safety management system.

According to the proforma, there are three managers involved in health and safety; each spends three to four hours per month on health and safety issues. There are two employees with a specific role in health and safety (no data was provided on the hours these employees spend on health and safety). External occupational health services have been purchased for €950. During the last calendar year €1,500 were spent on eye glasses and €5,000 on air conditioners.

207




There is a health and safety committee, consisting of five members, chaired by the management representative. They have quarterly meetings on health and safety.





The management representative initially referred to ISO 9001, a quality standard they were certified by. She argued that it included health and safety issues. It seems she felt that the documented policy would mean certification. After clarifying that the question does not concern only certificated policy, the respondent described their policy and set responsibilities.


The management representative interpreted 'some' to mean 'minor'. She felt that there had been neither a large impact nor some impact. She said the impact was normal. She interpreted ‘impact’ as ‘combination of activities leading to positive results’.


The management representative interpreted this to mean ‘the duties in health and safety' rather than their level of engagement with health and safety and how important it was for them.

208




01) Following a change in the staffing, layout or organisation of work; 02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints; 03) At regular intervals, without any specific cause. 02) At the request of employees eg in case of complaints. The management representative answered 'yes', but it was a hypothetical 'yes', as they had not had any cases.

MM164 – ‘Which of the following areas are routinely considered in these (workplace) checks? `


The respondent did not relate item 2) 'The way work is organised' with health and safety at work. It was interpreted as following definite rules and requirements for obtaining the quality of the work. She said:

'This is not a part of these checks, but is part of the audit for ISO 9001. Work organisation is audited annually.'


03) It was translated into Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative, as they have no supplementary working hours and only two employees occasionally have long working days. When asked about irregular working hours, the respondent confirmed her negative answer.

MM166 – ‘And which of the following actions have been taken as a follow-up to these (workplace) checks?


02) Similar to MM164 the respondent pointed to preventative and corrective actions for ISO 9001.


The employee representative referred to the plans in case of disaster and fire.

209




The employee representative felt there should be criteria for rating the impact and left the question unanswered.



The employee representative had difficulty in some cases in deciding whether or not an issue was of some or no concern. Some issues were regarded as of no concern, like musculoskeletal disorders, despite the preventative actions such as ergonomic furniture and instructions for exercise during breaks, while other cases were felt to be of some concern (egviolence) because there was the potential impact of an incident and the corresponding preventative actions.


The interviewee had no data to compare with on sickness absence and OSH performance; her judgment was based on her opinion or discussions with colleagues.




Both the management and employee representative answered positively. The management representative referred to ISO 9001, which included health and safety issues. After clarifying that the question does not only concern certificated policy, the respondent described their policy and set responsibilities. They had a contract with an Occupational Health Service, conducted risk assessments of all workplaces and followed-up actions. The employee representative referred to the plans in case of disaster and fire.

210




The management representative interpreted 'some' as minor and felt that there had been an impact - neither a large impact nor some impact. The employee representative felt it was difficult to answer the question, she stated that there should be criteria for judgment.


Both respondents rated this quite highly. The management representative pointed out that the duties for health and safety were fulfilled. The employee representative said that managers and supervisors cared for employees.


The employee representative agreed with the statement and explained that they purchased everything that was required by the employee, such as new monitors, ergonomic furniture, air conditioners and eye glasses.

Risk Assessment


The question was understood well. Risk assessments were conducted annually and documented.


Risk assessments were conducted by an external provider, the Occupational Health Service.

211





01) No. They had no changes to staffing, layout or organisation of work. 02) Yes. If there were such requirements, but until now they had received no requests from employees. 03) Yes. See earlier answers.



01) Yes. 2) No. The way work is organised was interpreted as following definite rules and requirements for obtaining the quality of the work. 03) It was translated into Bulgarian as supplementary and long working hours. The answer was negative, supplementary and long working hours were not part of the risk assessment. When asked about irregular working hours, the respondent confirmed her negative answer. 04) No. Supervisor-employee relationships are not a part of risk assessment. The respondent considered they were related to ethical norms.



01) The safety manager referred to the purchase of new computers, monitors and also glasses. 02) Yes. There were preventative and corrective actions for ISO 9001. 03) Any extra working time was compensated with additional days annual leave. Long working some days were compensated with shorter working hours on other days in the same week. 04) No.


The employee representative said that she could have a say, the issues were discussed with the staff of the Occupational Health Service.

212




Yes. The employee representative gave the example of a problem in the electricity system at the building which was repaired.


The employee representative stated that she is involved in the choice of follow-up actions, and sometimes even in control of their progress.




01) The respondents answered that they have no dangerous substances.

02) The management representative felt that accidents were of 'some concern' and gave an example of an air conditioner being replaced because its placement had posed an injury hazard. The employee representative considered they had no risk of accidents.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of some concern by the management representative. She pointed to measures for reduction of noise through insulation of the windows; two information desks in one office were divided by noise insulation materials. The employee representative felt that they had no such hazards.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were of some concern to the management representative who referred to preventative actions such as employees receiving instructions for exercises during breaks and ergonomic furniture. The employee representative felt these disorders were of no concern.

05) Work-related stress was considered some concern by both respondents. Both referred to forthcoming team building.

213



06) Violence was considered by both interviewees as of some concern, largely because of the potential impact of an incident. Both stated that there were more aggressive people and they had safeguards in place.

07) Bullying was not considered an issue by either interviewee as there had not been any reported incidents.




01) The respondent felt that this was a major driver because the legislation should be followed.

02) Major reason. They tried to address health and safety issues raised by staff.

03) Addressing health and safety was a major reason and seen as a means to retain staff as the salaries are low in the municipality.

04) It was felt a major reason to address health and safety as any negative result would be harmful to the success of the organisation.

05) Major reason. All efforts were geared towards providing high quality services; clients should be content.

06) No. The respondent said:

'This is not a reason at all. We address health and safety issues because of our employees, not because of the labour inspectorate.'




214



01) The lack of financial resources is a major difficulty. 02) A lack of awareness is not a difficulty at all. 03) They have a support from Occupational Health Service staff and it is not a difficulty at all 04) They have information on health and safety and it is not a difficulty at all. 05) It is not a difficulty at all; it is felt that the health and safety culture is quite good. 06) Not a difficulty at all. The respondent didn’t feel that health and safety was a sensitive issue for the organisation.



There is a health and safety committee with five members. There are quarterly meetings.




The employee representative stated that they had safety instructions for the different job roles, egsafety instructions for drivers, safety instructions for office work etc.


Yes.


Yes. They usually exchanged information with the management representative.


General information, yes. 215





The employee representative has received training on work-related stress.




The respondent said:

'Financial difficulties are the main reason, but also often the courses are not suitable for people working in an office; they are more suitable for the staff of manufacturing enterprises.'




The respondent regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low, but had nothing to compare it against.

New Question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the UK, how well would you say you perform in terms of health and safety outcomes such as the number of accidents and injuries at work, and the level of sickness absence?'

The management representative rated their performance as much better than average, as they had no work accidents and the sickness absences were low.

216




The economic situation was neither good nor bad. They succeeded in managing their activities within their budgets, but had financial problems.

New question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the UK, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?'

The management representative rated performance as quite good for same reason as for MM403.

217





The establishment is a small enterprise producing kitchen furniture. It is a private company in the manufacturing sector. There were 18 employees when visited, but the number of employees varies from 12 to 20, depending on the amount of work they have.


The management representative has the job title of 'Personnel Manager`. She has been involved in health and safety for two years and has no training in health and safety.

There is no employee representative at the enterprise. The respondent was an employee, who has worked for several years at the enterprise.


The management representative is responsible for subcontracting occupational health services, arranging medical checks for employees, and coordinating the activities in health and safety. The line manager has responsibility for providing employees with health and safety induction and instructions, and was provided with health and safety training by the Occupational Health service.

According to the proforma, there are two managers involved in health and safety, each spending 2-3 hours per month on health and safety issues. The external health and safety services have been purchased for €150. A total of €6,000 was spent during the last calendar year on a new compressor that contributed to the reduction of noise and dust in the workplace at the enterprise.

218




According to the proforma, there were no accidents in the last calendar year, and ten working days were lost due to sickness absence (0.6 days per person per year).



The management representative did not understand the question very well. She preferred to show the documentation prepared by the Occupational Health service rather than answer the question. When asked for an answer, the respondent referred to data for working conditions, instructions for safety and risk assessment.


The respondent hesitated and interrupted, saying there was 'some impact' although minor, stating:

'We should conduct the same amount of activities in safety and health even if there were no legislative obligations.'




The respondent in answering whether or not a risk was of concern, interpreted 'some' as minor, and, for example item 05) Stress at work, answered neither major, nor some, just a concern. Her judgment for items 06) Violence and 07) Bullying was based on the fact they had not experienced such events.

219





Item 02) 'the way work is organised' was not well understood; it was interpreted to mean the technological process. After querying whether it was just the technological process, the respondent hesitated and added using individual protective devices, the schedule of work and rest, communication between the manager and staff. A definition of what is meant by the 'way work is organised' may be useful.


01) Fulfilment of legal obligation; 02) Requests from employees or their representatives; 03) Staff retention and absence management; 04) Economic or performance-related reasons; 05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation's reputation; 06) Pressure from the labour inspector.

Item 06), 'pressure from the labour inspectorate', is perhaps not sufficiently clear. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any recommendations/fines from the labour inspectorate, but there was no pressure.



The respondent answered that item 02) A lack of awareness was a minor difficulty, but then hesitated and gave a hypothetical answer:

'If there are any new legislative requirements, and we do not know about them, and the Occupational Health doctor has not informed us about them, on meeting the labour inspectorate it would become major difficulty.'


ER250 – 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?`

220




How the employee reached a judgment whether the listed issues were of concern, or no concern varied during the interview process. In some cases, an issue was of concern because the risk was present, in other cases because preventative actions were undertaken. 'Some' was interpreted as minor, and the employee sometimes wanted to answer neither major, nor some, just a concern.


The interviewee had no bases for comparison with other enterprises.

19.6 Summary of respondents' answers



The management representative referred to data for working conditions, instructions for safety and risk assessment. All the documents were prepared by the Occupational Health Service, and were recently checked by the labour inspectorate. The employee said that they are provided with health and safety induction and instructions, and also medical checks.


The management representative felt that there had been only some impact, they would conduct the same amount of activities on safety and health even if they had no legislative obligations. The employee felt it was difficult to judge the impact. He said that probably there was an impact.

221




The management representative considered the involvement of a line manager in the management of health and safety as quite high; he was providing employees with health and safety induction and instructions.


The respondent answered that they neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement, some safety and health issues raised by the employee were forwarded, others were not.

Risk Assessment


The management representative answered positively. They have programme of risk assessment; all work places were checked annually and measurements for PATs, lighting, noise, etc. were conducted. Both the measurements and risk assessment were documented.


Risk assessments were conducted by the Occupational Health Service.



01) Yes, risk assessment was conducted for new workplaces and new employees. 02) Yes. Examples were given of an employee requiring a risk assessment for certain machines, as they were not sure it was safe, or lighting in some workplaces

222



being considered insufficient, etc. The management representative was informed of the requirements of the employee by the line manager. 03) No.



01) The respondent referred to checks of the machinery, whether it was in good working order, the working conditions eglighting, noise, temperature, etc. 02) Yes. The way work was organised, such as the production process, had been altered to include using individual protective devices and the schedule of work and rest. 03) No. The management representative said that they try to eliminate any irregular or long working hours. 04) Not included in risk assessment.



01) The management representative referred to machinery safety. 02) The respondent considered that work was organised well and needed no risk assessment follow-up actions. 03) No. 04) Training was not provided, but safety instructions were regularly provided.


No. The employee said that the external provider and the line manager discussed these issues, but if an employee noticed that there were safety problems with machinery, or any other problems, the employee communicated about them with the line manager.


Yes. The employee gave the example of improvement to lighting at two workplaces and repair to a machine.

223




No. Employees could raise some requirements separately.


MM200/ER250 – 'For each of the following issues, please tell me whether it is of major concern, some concern, or no concern at all in your establishment?`


01) The management representative felt this was of major concern. The employee worked with gum, they were provided with protective glasses and there was a system for waste management. The employee answered positively as they had dangerous substances, dust, gums, etc.

02) The management representative felt this was of major concern and made reference to regular instructions on safety and health, they had no accidents. The employee said it was of major concern and that they were provided with safety instructions.

03) Noise and vibration was considered to be of major concern. The reason for the noise at the enterprise was the compressor. It was isolated in a separate room and the level of noise the workers were exposed was reduced. The employee said that after the compressor was isolated in another room the conditions improved and they were able to have some news and music from a radio.

04) Musculoskeletal disorders were considered of some concern by the management representative largely because the workers had passed medical checks, including for musculoskeletal disorders. They used vehicles to move the heavy materials at the enterprise. When unloading panels employees used a motor car from an enterprise in neighbourhood. The employee said that they were provided with medical checks.

05) Work-related stress was considered a concern. The enterprise tried to maintain the five-day working week even in case of urgent projects in order to provide the employee with enough time for rest. The employee said that they did have periods with high work loads, and periods with less work.

06) Violence was considered by both interviewees of no concern, as they had not experienced violence.

224



07) Bullying was not considered an issue by the respondents. They stated that they have no bullying.



01) Fulfilment of legal obligation; 02) Requests from employees or their representatives; 03) Staff retention and absence management; 04) Economic or performance-related reasons; 05) Requirements from clients or concern about the organisation's reputation; 06) Pressure from the labour inspector.

01) The management representative felt that this was a major driver because it was important to fulfil the legal obligations. 02) Major reason. The respondent answered that the line manager tried to address the safety and health requirements raised by the employee. 03) Staff retention was not a reason at all; the problem was to provide enough work for employees. 04) Major reason. The healthy workers could contribute to better results. 05) Not a reason at all. 06) Major reason. Addressing health and safety was a means to avoid any recommendations/fines from the labour inspectorate, but there was no pressure.

MM172 – 'In your establishment, what are the main difficulties in dealing with health and safety? Please tell me for each of the following whether it is a major difficulty, a minor difficulty, or not a difficulty at all.`


01) Not a difficulty at all. The respondent stated that they invested in improving the safety and health of employees. 02) A lack of awareness was a minor difficulty, but if there were any new legislative requirements, and they did not know about them, and the external Occupational Health provider did not inform them, on meeting the labour inspectorate it would become major reason. 03) Not a difficulty at all. They subcontracted the needed expertise. 04) Not a difficulty at all. They had enough information on health and safety. 05) Not a difficulty at all. They felt the health and safety culture was quite good. 06) Not a reason at all.

225





No.


The employee said that all new staff were provided with health and safety induction and instructions by the line manager.


Not applicable, there is no employee representative in the enterprise.



ER155 – 'Do you usually receive information on time and without having to ask for it`?




The employee was provided with general safety and health induction and instructions, but not any training on the listed items.


The training he has received he regarded as sufficient.

226





The respondent regarded the level of absenteeism as quite low. She had no basis for comparison, ie no information for other enterprises.


The interviewee had no basis for comparison, but because they had no incidents gave answer 'much better than average'.

MM403 – 'How would you rate the current economic situation of this establishment? Is it very god, quite good, neither good nor bad, quite bad or very bad?`

The respondent answered neither good, nor bad stating:

'The conditions are difficult, we are not able to make plans; there is no stable level of work in order to plan investments.'

New question – 'Compared to other organisations of your size and sector in the country, how well would you say you perform in terms of business outcomes such as profit, turnover or other relevant measures of performance?`

The management representative rated performance as very good, as they were able to pay salaries regularly, had no debts and had made some investments the year before.

227



TE-RO

-13-107-EN-N

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work E-mail: [email protected] http://osha.europa.eu

The European Agency for Safety and

Health at Work (EU-OSHA) contributes to

making Europe a safer, healthier and more

productive place to work. The Agency

researches, develops, and distributes

reliable, balanced, and impartial safety and

health information and organises pan-

European awareness raising campaigns. Set

up by the European Union in 1996 and

based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency brings

together representatives from the European

Commission, Member State governments,

employers’ and workers’ organisations, as

well as leading experts in each of the EU-27

Member States and beyond.

228


mailto:[email protected]

http://osha.europa.eu/

osha.europa.eu · bulgaria establishment reports . authors: jim hillage, alice sinclair, beth...

Documents