News on Work Protection Field within CFR SA

# At the end of the last year the General Norms for Work Protection have been published. The National Institute of Research-Development has elaborated this important work for Work Protection, in collaboration with the specialists within the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity and within the Ministry of Health and Family, and these two ministries have noticed it. The new provisions included in the tome bring adjustments in the activity of work protection at the level of the entire country.
As we have written down in our magazine when the time was right, during the year 2002 there has appeared the "Yellow Book", as it is already known among the railway employees, named "Instructions of Work Protection Regarding the Activity on the Railway Infrastructure", a collection of work protection norms and regulations that should be obeyed in the development of the complex activities within CFR SA.
One of the most important aspects that occur in the General Norms is the obligation of all the units with juridical personality from this country to set up work health and security services. These services suppose two distinct activities: the work and health protection. With respect to the work protection, CFR SA is well organized in its structures on vertical: therefore, within RGSCC there is a central inspector on work protection problems, in the eight rail regions there are regional inspectors, and each section, has work protection inspectors. There are going to be set up a work health service, which is going to have in its composition a physician specialized in work medicine.
We have discussed about this subject with Mr. Erold Gadea, central inspector on work protection problems, he has told us about the steps performed by CFR SA in order to respect the legal provisions. "We have already started the collaboration with the Management, Strategy and Health Department, within MLPTL and, there has been also submitted at the human resources department from our company a demand for setting up a position of work medicine physician for each rail region. And that is only the beginning. Yet, starting with the next year, there should be emphasized more detailed and stricter the accidents and the events from the Railways, namely the "book-keeping" of the hospitalization days and the money spent in this respect; there should be also emphasized the professional illnesses, because starting with 2004 according to them, namely according to the level of risk factors, there will be established the criteria according to which the units will pay the CAS (health assurance taxes).

# Recently, the National Institute for Work Protection, in collaboration with the University from Petrosani, has organized a post-university course for the assessment of the level of risk factors in the railway activity, where there have participated all the rail region inspectors and the central inspector on work protection problems within CFR SA. During May 26-30, there took place the exam and the diploma exam.
That is how CFR proves its permanent concern to train its employees in order to improve the development of its activity. And in point of work protection the result is quite visible: the reduction of the number of events and accidents at the Railways.

# The analysis of the work protection activity developed during 2002 has pointed out the fact that CFR SA has registered 16 accidents with temporary incapacity of work (ITM), one o with invalidity and a mortal one. In comparison with the previous years (in 2000 - 35 accidents with ITM and four mortal ones; in 2001 - 14 accidents with ITM and seven mortal ones), it is obvious a difference demonstrating the important role that the work protection activity takes in the development of the complex activity within the company for the administration of railway infrastructure.

# On May 9, the meeting of the Committee for Security and Work Health of the National Railway Company "CFR" SA took place, where there have been established more concrete measures for the improvement of the work conditions. One of them regards the provision of water to all the locations where CFR SA is developing its activity. Therefore, there has been established the performance of the inventory of all the places of work on the network where there is no potable water, the rail regional security committees being in charge with this issue - which includes the representatives of the administration and of the trade unions on the regional plan. Therefore, during the next period will be enforced a measure program for the improvement of the endowments with potable water sources.

# On May 13, the current year, the Disposition no. 15 has been issued by the general director of CFR SA with regard to the action of collecting and the storage of the trash and the wastes around the railways, action scheduled to take place on May 21 and 22. This initiative has imposed its unfolding to begin, on May 20, with a training regarding the work protection on a period of time of minimum two hours, and when the employees are involved in the practical activity for collecting the wastes they will be trained according to an established thematic of the Order no. 635 issued on this occasion by RGSCC, by filling in the individual file of work protection of each employee, under signature. The thematic of the additional training of the railway employees includes a series of articles from the Instructions of Work Protection Regarding the Activity on the Railway Infrastructure that have been sent, through the order mentioned above, at all the rail regions, subsidiaries and branches on the entire railway network.

# Staring with May 16 and up to the end of May, the training and the annual examination of the railway employees within the central office of CFR SA took place, being part of the Central Inspectorate for Traffic Safety and Control (RGSCC) based on questionnaires, by filling in the individual file for work protection.

# Taking into consideration the general norms for work protection which have been issued in 2002 modify the old ones, there is implied the reediting of the "yellow book", fact stipulated in the measures plan of RGSCC for the current year. During the next months there are expected the suggestions at central level and also completions from the territory, which will be introduced in the new edition of Instructions of Work Protection Regarding the Activity on the Railway Infrastructure, together with the norms that will be changed according to the legal regulations issued in 2002. Therefore, there is hoped for a collaboration with all the employees of CFR SA, especially with the workers working with the Tracks, Equipment and Traffic Departments from the central office and from the rail regions.

# Pursuant to the recent discussions with the trade unions, these have required a study regarding the special work conditions at CFR SA, study that is going to be performed by Incertrans Bucharest. The Special work conditions have been initially established directly by law at national level, in these category being included a quite reduced number of professions (aviators, miners etc.). The category assignment for a place of work according to the G.D. no. 261 is very restrictive, and CFR SA, with all the determinations made, being taken into consideration the fact that the activity at the Railways is, generally, a special one, there has been received the verbal noticed of the Ministry of Labor to be inserted in the category of special conditions the profession of SCB and IFTE electro-mechanic and the SCB and IFTE assembler. The trade unions also make efforts for the introduction in this category of other handicrafts from the railway activity (from the Tracks and Traffic sectors, mostly).

Material written down by Silvia Mirea, 
in collaboration with RGSCC