WORK PROTECTION
A common task for both employees and managers

 

Not so log ago took place in Constanta the analysis of work protection activity within the rail system in the first six months of the year. The meeting also included a training in order to establish the way in which will be made the determinations regarding the settlement of a list with the places of work in special conditions. With this occasion there have been reunited the inspectors for the work protection within the five railway companies and from the eight rail regions. Mr. Alexandru Darabont also attended the meeting, representing the National Institute for Work Protection, and engineer Gheorghe Tranoiu, general inspector within MMPS.

In order to establish a new technical expertise methodology of the places of work in point of work protection in accordance with GD 261/2000 and respecting the Ordinance no. 352/2000, the representatives of the railway companies in charge with work protection problems must draw up a list with the handcrafts that are considered places of work with special conditions. Thus, it is going to make the determinations of professional noxious emanations for all places of work established in the Collective Work Contract 2001-2002 concluded within CFR-SA, at chapter 4, appendix 5. This activity is going to be finalized till October, current year, when data will be centralized at the Ministry of Work and Social Solidarity.

In order to find out the details about the way in which will be established wether at the Railway exist places of work "with special conditions" we contacted Mr. Erol Gadea, central inspector in charge with work protection problems within the General Inspectorate for Safety Circulation and Control (CFR-SA). Thus, we found out that on behalf of the Inspectorate was sent a notification to the medical division within MLPTL requesting a communication in writing that includes, according to the last 15 years data, "the specific answer of the human organism at the aggression of the professional noxious emanations, stressed by the indicators of the exposure and/or of the biologic effect, as well as the morbidity expressed through professional diseases recorded at CFR-SA". There were also requested data from the district public health departments and from Bucharest main district, from the clinics for work medicine and professional diseases and also from the accredited laboratories from the Ministry of Health and Family and recognized by MMSS.

Professional noxious emanations are in accomplishment stage according to art. 3, point b, within the Order no. 352/2001 related to the places of work stipulated in CCM 2001 2002 within all the departments of CFR-SA (Tracks, Equipment, Traffic, Commercial, Economic, Human Resources), in rail regions, at the Telecommunication Agency SUDAREC, Real Estate Department, IT Center and Filaret Typography.

Mr. Erol Gadea also mentioned that he hopes that al these data to be gathered as soon as possible in order to make the centralization, which is extremely necessary, which ulterior will be sent to the Ministry of Labor". Work volume is big, there are necessary a lot of expertise, at every place of work, for every handcraft, fact that implies the utilization of a pretty large budget. In every rail region within CFR-SA exist a regional inspector for the circulation safety and work protection that supervises locally the development of the activity in this field. Three times a year, we organize meetings and we analyze together the events and the work accidents recorded and we establish a plan with the measures for the improvement of the future activity. My cooperation with the regional inspectors is permanent, but most parts of each month I am in territory, and they can contact me, at every hour, on my mobile phone. Additionally, in case of certain events or accidents I have to go to the place of the event in the shortest time, in order to determine the causes and the circumstances in which the respective accident happened. Afterwards, a file is drawn up, according to a special methodology, in conformity to the Law no. 90/1996."

As the recent analysis performed by the General Inspectorate for Safety Circulation and Control shows, on July, 2001 have been recorded two work accidents, one with temporary incapacity to work, and another one mortal. On Galati Rail Region area a II IFTE plumber from Marasesti LC District, CE Adjud has been deadly injured while he was trying to uncouple the short circuit system, after the completion of the current repair works at the LC, falling down from almost 6.5 m. The accident occurred because the worker did not assure himself with the safety belt from a fixed point. It is regrettable.

Within CNCF CFR SA the protection measures are stipulated in different norms and stressed in detail in the new work contract for 2001-2002. According to this document CFR-SA administration has the following obligations:

- providing environment conditions (lighting, microclimate, noise, vibrations and trepidation, temperature, airing humidity, etc.) in the accepted limits of the legislation in the field;
- arranging social annexes (lockers, bathrooms, sanitary groups);
- diminishing, till the gradual elimination, of the polluting emanations;
- providing daily hygiene of the spaces with its own personnel or specialized firms;
- providing and granting hygienic sanitary material;
- providing and granting fortifying food for the organism resistance.

If the administration tries hard, in the limit of the existing funds, to provide the necessary conditions, it has to be shown that the employees also have their obligations regarding work protection: to respect and to apply the specific rules and norms. We understood that there is a very strict program for the instruction of each employee once he is hired, which is followed by his familiarization with the place of work and with the effective activity that he is going to perform, as well as the risks and the eventual noxious emanations at which he can be exposed to in his activity. During the time there are developed other instructing processes meant to remind him and in the same time to keep the employee informed about any changes within the place of work, the training that are performed three times a year, at every six months or annually, according to the requirements.

Mr. Gadea used this occasion offered by our magazine in this article to share us his opinions, based on his experience in work protection field at the railway for over 25 years of service. Thus, we found out that the majority of the accidents happen due to a reduced number of factors, the hurry and the confidence in their own experience which is, generally, the basis of the accidents happening of the employees with considerable years of service and also lack of attention caused, unfortunately, by personal problems.

Mr. Gadea considers that it is very important that a person to have a normal familial life, to be healthy and to have a sufficient salary in order to satisfy his needs. Any problem in the family, medical or material can affect the psychical state of an employee and can lead to the accidents at the place of work.

Human psychology is a subject that interests especially Mr. Gadea, who told us that such aspects have been very important for him in his professional activity, as well as in privacy, being also a football referee for 30 years now, period when he had the chance to study human behavior in various phases. "I tried to read the human being, to watch him through its own behavior, to realize what he is thinking and doing. I also assisted football matches where one of the teams was representing the railway and I could not help myself noticing that on the stadium all the football players are alike. A good opportunity to notice on my own the variety of human manifestations was that when I was kidnapped and hindered to lead a football game, being the only kidnapped referee in Romania".

"My activity in work protection field started, I can say, due to a happening Mr. Gadea confessed us. After graduating the faculty I was assigned at the RCT Installation Site within Craiova Rail Region, as equipment engineer. There, besides my current activity, the chief of the site put me in charge with the work protection (PM). In order to be able to convince the people to respect PM norms and, especially, to wear the protection equipment I started to take pictures with them when they were not wearing it and put them on the wall gazette. Appreciating this method less conventional, but which gave results, the chief of the department sent me to the installation department, were he assigned me only with work protection, and since then this remained my field of activity".

We asked PM central inspector if he still apply the methods less conventional in his profession development. "No, I could not, but I am still concerned with the training method by visualization, which was left aside lately. There were mobile cabins, namely couches transformed in cinema halls, which circulated through the country and showed work protection films, offering the possibility to train the employees with a greater impact then the theoretical training. We are also trying to organize training courses for all PM inspectors meant to improve their knowledge in the field. Presently there is in development stage a post-university course that I am teaching, together with other eight colleagues in the territory, unfolded under the aegis of MMSS, and the National Institute for Work Protection and Polytechnic Institute from Petrosani, its theme being the legislation and the assessment of the risk level".

Work protection activity is in continuous evolution, our legislation in this filed being changed in order to align it to the requirements of the European Union.

In the same time, the norms specific to the railway must be adapted, operation which, as we can notice, is in development phase, and Railway Journal magazine will try to keep its readers informed with any news that will occur in this respect.

 

Ileana Statie