Working on / Prevention of occupational hazards

The Sectorial Programme for the Prevention of Occupational Risks was born in late 2003, as part of ASPAPEL’s Strategic Plan and in co-operation with trade unions FIA-UGT and CCOO FSC, with the aim of achieving a significant reduction in accident rates in the sector by improving knowledge and application of existing POR legislation, of procuring the full involvement of company management and personnel, of increasing communications both internally and externally, and of improving the quality of the safety training provided to workers.

To achieve the stated objectives, a series of actions or activities specified in the Diagnosis of the Situation in the Sector in terms of POR 2005 (in Spanish) have been carried out or are in progress at the moment, including the....

Model Guidelines for Prevention Planning
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Handbook for Improving Safety in Paper Machines Download document (in Spanish)

Audiovisual Catalogue of Critical Situations and Preventive Measures
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Handbook of Behavioural Safety Observations
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...as well as technical assistance for their effective implementation in mills.

In 2010, it was also decided to update the above Diagnosis to assess the results obtained so far, on the basis of which to plan new actions for the future, through the project called

Diagnosis +5 POR
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In 2011, two Handbooks have been elaborated, with the auspicies of the Pulp and Paper Industry Observatory, and the collaboration of FSC-CCOO and FITAG-UGT trade unions:

Manual for safe handling and storage of raw materials and finished product in the paper industry
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Preventive Resource Manual
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The main achievements of these activities carried out under the Sector Programme for the Prevention of Occupational Risks are:

• Establish sector-wide benchmarks in key areas such as POR management systems, machine safety, specific training on work permits and behavioural safety.
• Attain high involvement of companies in the sector in POR projects.
• Improve relations between employers, unions and workers, who co-operate to achieve common goals in Health and Safety.
• Undertake significant efforts in terms of POR communications to strengthen internal dialogues between member companies, the image of the sector and our relations with other institutions.

These achievements have become apparent in the sector’s accident statistics, with an average 21% drop in accident frequency rate and 24% in the near-miss rate in 2004-2009 compared to the period 1999-2003.