Title of the page
1. Laws and regulations those are related to activities of the SLI:
4. Statistical data on inspection visits:
5. Statistical data on violations and imposed sanctions:
6. Statistical data on accidents at work:
7. Statistical data on occupational morbidity
During the reporting period the staff of the State Labour Inspection (hereinafter SLI) participated in the process of adapting fifteen EU Directives on issues of labour legislation, labour protection, dangerous equipment, medicine and machinery, labour hygiene as well as the transportation of dangerous cargoes.
During the reporting period work was conducted and will be continued in 2002 in the work groups established by the Labour Department of the Ministry of Welfare for the formulation of draft Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, including draft regulations on issues of labour hygiene, construction, forest processing, electric safety and the technical supervision of dangerous equipment.
Latvian National Standards have been developed and EU standards have been adopted on pressure vessels and construction, draft standards have been prepared for the assessment of working environment risks at enterprises and on the colouring, size and other parameters of safety signs. The largest number of EU standards, totalling in 161 standard, have been adapted in the area of pressure vessels.
In compliance with the Work Plan of the SLI for 2001 as well as in view of the enactment of the new Law On Labour Protection, the procedure for conducting the internal supervision over the working environment as well as other new normative acts, the SLI formulated or actualised fifteen methodological instructions covering the operation of the Inspection with the aim of promoting the work of inspectors of the SLI, including instructions concerning the following: work with computers, loading unloading operations on the railroad, work with chemical substances and chemical products; work on construction sites, the working environment risk assessment at an enterprise, electric safety, issues of the registration and control of dangerous equipment as well as visual aids for lectures on the new Law On Labour Protection.
During the reporting period the SLI continued activities that had been started in the area of market surveillance. Methodological material for inspectors has been developed on the basis of normative acts on the compliance assessment and trade of equipment and other commodities in Latvia, on elevators, the safety of machinery, personal protective equipment. Additional activities are to be undertaken for the information of the community on the new function of the SLI in the area of market surveillance in Latvia. The situation in the said area of activity will be improved by the project Improvement of the working environment at private and privatised enterprises where the 4th component envisages activities stimulating the effectiveness of market surveillance and support to the respective entities of the SLI.
The staff of the SLI participated in the following project activities within the frame of co-operation projects effected together with working environment institutions of Sweden and Denmark:
- the Twinning Project of Sweden and Latvia Integration into the EU : Law Approximation (on the protection of the safety and health of employees working with chemical substances, on the procedure of conducting the internal supervision over the working environment, a draft booklet has been prepared on the procedure of conducting the internal supervision over the working environment and a training programme for labour inspectors);
- the Swedish Latvian project Use of Information as an Effective Method of Work(a booklet has been published Asbestos a Friend or a Hidden Enemy);
- Latvian Danish projects (illustrated booklets Work with the Computer and Your Health and Occupational Safety and Health in Construction as well as training seminars for state labour inspectors);
- the Nordic Support Project (a seminar for state labour inspectors on market surveillance problems concerning machinery and personal protective equipment as well as the experience of Finland and Sweden in this area).
As a result of the above co-operation projects the officers of the SLI acquired the knowledge necessary for conducting quality inspections at enterprises and motivating employers to address issues in line with requirements adopted by the EU.
The publication of information and recommendation booklets for employers and employees that contain information on safe and health friendly work methods and techniques stimulates the implementation of the new norms in practice.
Annually the SLI identifies its priority area of activity on the basis of the analysis on violations detected in the areas of labour safety, labour legislation, occupational health and the use of dangerous equipment. In 2001 the priority area common for the SLI was Construction and Repairs while each regional office of the SLI identified its own priority area of activity in line with areas of activities of the respective region.
In order to focus on the priority area common for the whole SLI Construction and Repairs 990 enterprises involved in construction were inspected and 5535 violations of labour protection were detected mostly work without personal protective equipment, compulsory medical examinations had not been performed, work places lacked protective fencing, dangerous equipment had not been registered or technical examinations had not been performed, employment contracts had not been filed or had been filed incompletely etc.
The summary of the operation of regional SLI offices in implementing the common priority of the SLI allows to conclude that there has been a decrease in the number of accidents in the construction industry, there has been an improvement in the level of competence among specialists of construction enterprises concerning issues of labour protection, equipment that is in the required technical operational condition is used for construction assignments.
1. Laws and regulations those are related to activities of the SLI:
1.1. Laws those regulate activities of the SLI:
· Law On Labour Protection (4 May 1993)
· Law On the State Labour Inspection (28 April 1939, last amendments in 1996)
· State Labour Inspection Regulations (14 March 1995, amendments in 1996)
· Law On Technical Supervision of Dangerous Equipment (24 September 1998)
· Labour Code (1972, with amendments).
1.2. Laws, Regulations those execution is controlled by the SLI:
· Law On Compulsory Social Insurance against Occupational Accidents and Diseases (17 November 1995)
· The Cabinet´s Regulations No. 470 The order of Investigation and Registration of Accidents at Work (22 December 1998)
· The Cabinet´s Regulations No. 157 Regulations on Investigation of Accidents Involving Dangerous Equipment and the Order of their Registration (30 April 1996)
· The Cabinet´s Regulations No. 249 Regulations on Dangerous Equipment (7 November 2000)
· The Cabinet´s Regulations No. 86 Regulations on Compulsory Health Examinations and Training in Rendering First Aid (4 March 1997)
· The Cabinet´s Regulations No. 129 Regulations on Registration of the Dangerous Equipment (4 April 2000).
2. Staff of the SLI
Similarly to year 1999 the SLI had 181 job positions also in 2000, including 149 civil servants and 32 employees.
1.3. 162 job positions were occupied on 1 January 2002 or 90%, which included:
- total number of the State Labour Inspectors 120;
from them:
1.4. Senior State Labour Inspectors 33
State Labour Inspectors 87
1.5. Female State Labour Inspectors 52
from them:
Senior State Labour Inspectors 12
State Labour Inspectors 40.
1.6. Information on geographic location of the inspection services:
The locations of 7 regional inspectorates are the following:
1. Kurzeme Inspection with its centre in Liepaja;
2. Latgale Inspection with its centre in Daugavpils;
3. Zemgale Inspection with its centre in Jelgava;
4. Southern Inspection with its centre in Ogre;
5. Northern Vidzeme Inspection with its centre in Valmiera;
6. Eastern Vidzeme Inspection with its centre in Gulbene;
7. Riga Inspection covers Riga City, Riga Region and Jurmala.
3. Statistical data on enterprises controlled by the State Labour Inspection and the number of employees working at the said enterprises:
3.1. Number of enterprises under inspection 99 834;
3.2. Average number of employees at these enterprises per year 1 015 922.
4. Statistical data on inspection visits:
In compliance with Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers on quantitative indicators of institutions, in 2001 the SLI had planned to conduct 9 600 inspections of enterprises, in actual fact 10 120 enterprises were inspected, of which 711 were inspected more than once during the year.
The SLI continued to identify the new operating enterprises and to conduct their risk assessment. Thus the SLI has identified 38.5% or 38 484 enterprises of the total number of enterprises under its supervision; in comparison with 2000 the number of enterprises has increased by 6 181 enterprise.
The number of employees working at the identified enterprises 705 600, of which:
Women 341 201;
Teenagers 444.
5. Statistical data on violations and imposed sanctions:
5.1. During the reporting period inspectors issued 5555 orders for the total number of 61563 violations,
of which:
- violations of labour legislation 11 796
- violations of labour protection legislation 49 767.
5.2. Information on the classification of violations:
The analysis of the detected violations allows to conclude that:
1) 19.2% of violations are in the area of labour relations, which in comparison with 200 is by 0.9% less and indicates that, on the whole, labour relations at enterprises are improving. The main violations to be mentioned are as follows:
- failure to conclude employment contracts, incomplete or imprecise filing of contracts for employees (24.6%), the indicator remaining at the level of the preceding year;
- remuneration - related issues (17.6%), the number of these violations during the reporting period has increased by 0.9% that indicates that employers still persist in failing to comply with respective requirements of the Labour Code. As these issues have been emphasised in 58% of applications on all violations of legislation, the SLI plans activities in 2002 to address this issue, involving also the Employers´ Confederation and Trade unions.
2) 80.8% of violations are related to labour protection legislation, the main violations to be mentioned are as follows:
- 73.5% are of organisation character (labour protection instructions have not been developed, no practical instructions are conducted, employees are not provided training etc.);
- 26.5% are of technical character (lack of protective fencing, failure to comply with technology for the performance of the assignment, work stations with technical damages etc.).
The high proportion of violations of organisation character can be explained by the fact that in 2001 one of the main tasks for the SLI was to inspect those enterprises that until then had not been identified. Issues of organisation character will remain topical also in future as the new Law On Labour Protection, requiring significant changes in the organisation of labour protection at an enterprise becomes effective as of 2002.
5.3. Number of imposed sanctions:
In 2001 state labour inspectors have held 664 employers administratively liable for violations of regulations on labour, labour protection and the use of dangerous equipment, and they have imposed fines on 664 employers for the total amount of LVL 24 985. In comparison with 2000 the number of employers who have been penalised, has decreased by 9.5% that allows to conclude that employers have started to pay increasing attention to addressing labour protection issues at the enterprise.
5.4. Information on the character of sanctions:
During the reporting period administrative penalties have been imposed for employing people without concluding employment contracts, for violations that have resulted in group accidents, for issues of remuneration for work.
In cases when the employer failed to pay the administrative fine imposed, materials were sent to the Bailiffs´ Office for the enforced collection of the fine.
If, upon inspecting enterprises and sites, factors that are dangerous or hazardous for employees´ health and life are detected, state labour inspectors take the decision on suspending the operation of structural units or sites of the said enterprises. During the reporting period the SLI suspended the operation of 1 enterprise, 24 production units and 602 equipment units, including 413 dangerous equipment. It can be concluded that still equipment, machinery are used that have not undergone technical examination, that have not protective fencing, dangerous equipment is used without due re-registration etc.
6. Statistical data on accidents at work:
During 2001 the SLI registered 1 314 statements on accidents at work places where employees were injured, including 68 fatal accidents, 413 employees had suffered severe injuries or injuries of average severity, 833 employees had suffered light bodily injuries. The comparison of the above data with the respective data for 2000 allows to conclude that the number of victims of accidents has decreased in 2001 by 94 cases or by 6.7%, the number of employees who have suffered severe injuries and injuries of average severity has decreased by 61 case of 12.9 % while the number of fatalities has increased by 19 cases or by 38.8%. Thus, irrespective of the overall decrease in the total number of accidents the number of fatal accidents has increased.
The analysis of the dynamics in the number of victims of occupational accidents per 100000 employees (1995 2001) allows to conclude that the number of occupational accidents tends to decline (see Diagram 1).
Diagram 1
During 2001 state labour inspectors investigated 474 accidents, i.e., 36% of the total number of registered accidents while the rest of accidents are investigated by employers at their enterprises and statements on the investigation of accidents are registered with the SLI.
Unfortunately, employers still failed to comply with Clause 32 of Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 470 On Procedure for the Investigation and Registration of Accidents at Work, failing to notify the SLI about the accident that had taken place in due time.
Over the last three years the SLI has developed good co-operation with medical institutions, the State Social Insurance Agency, the Police and the State Revenue Service in discovering concealed occupational accidents.
Due to activities undertaken by state labour inspectors and the above cooperation as well as better information of employees, 102 concealed accidents at work places have been discovered during the reporting period. It is by 50 accidents or 64.5% more than discovered in 2000. Guilty parties have been held administratively liable.
The analysis of accidents at work allows to conclude that employees have suffered injuries most frequently in following cases:
· while working with timber processing equipment (22.2%);
· when using equipment and mechanisms (10.3%);
· while performing construction assignments (7.6%);
· during loading unloading operations (6%);
· while using car transport (5.6%).
The most frequent causes of injuries suffered as a result of accidents at work are as follows:
· contacts with a moving part of the equipment or mechanism (31.7%);
· falls as a result of slipping or tripping (13.2%);
· the impact of falling objects (13.0%);
· falling of people from the height (11.2%)
· the impact of transport vehicles in motion (9.1%);
· the physical impact of other persons (4.5%).
The main causes of accidents that should be mentioned include:
· failure of employees to comply with requirements of labour safety, including failure to comply with labour safety instructions, to use safety equipment or personal protective equipment, the choice of inappropriate working techniques, tools or instruments, failure to comply with the technology for the performance of the working assignment, work in the condition of alcoholic intoxication;
· dissatisfactory organisation of work and related failings, including, failings in the management of work, insufficient control over the safe execution of the assignment; dissatisfactory training of employees, maintenance of the territory and the work place;
· dissatisfactory conditions at the work place, including imperfections in the construction of equipment, machinery, work stations; damaged equipment, instruments or tools; dissatisfactory maintenance of the territory of the enterprise and work places;
· violations of traffic rules;
· violence at the work place, the physical impact and attacks of other persons.
Occupational accidents have most frequently occurred in the following industries:
· in timber processing and the manufacture of wooden products 319 victims or 24.3%;
· in food industry 110 victims or 8.4%;
· in construction 97 victims or 7.4%;
· in transport 78 victims or 5.9%
· in engineering and metal processing 73 cases or 5.6%
The distribution of victims of occupational accidents by length of their in service time shows that most frequently accidents have occurred to employees whose length of in service time is not yet one year 464 people (35.3%) and with the length of the in service time from 1 to 3 years 366 (27.8%). The above data allows to conclude that employees with short periods of in service time, upon starting to work, are not provided sufficient training and instruction on labour safety issues.
7. Statistical data on occupational morbidity
During 2001 323 new cases of occupational diseases were diagnosed (besides in two cases additional diagnosis were confirmed), i.e., by 44% more cases than during the preceding year.
The number of detected cases of occupational diseases in Latvia in comparison with the preceding years is presented in Diagram 2.
The year when the occupational disease has been registered does not always coincide with the impact of working environment risk factors on employees. The analysis of cases of occupational diseases in 2001 in comparison with the preceding years allows to conclude that they are related to continuous work in conditions hazardous for health.
The first largest group is diseases of the skeletal muscular conjunctive tissue system 55% of the number of detected occupational diseases. The main factors to mentioned are ergonomic working environment risk factors, physical overloads, and unfavourable microclimate.
Employers do not always send employees to compulsory medical health examinations as prescribed by Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 86 (04.03.97) On Compulsory Health Examinations and Training in Providing First Aid, thus the diagnostics of occupation diseases of the skeletal muscular conjunctive tissue system is belated and no timely rehabilitation activities are undertaken. Work places are not arranged in a correct manner from the ergonomic point of view and risks in transferring weights are not established.
The second largest group is consequences of poisoning and other external impact 19% of registered occupational diseases. The number of these occupational diseases has increased by 41%. It includes the detection of 36 cases of the vibration disease and 22 cases of intoxication.
The vibration disease has been mostly registered for drivers of car transport, tractor drivers and fellers of trees working in forest processing. All drivers of transport vehicles have worked for extensive periods of time under the impact of vibration and unfavourable meteorological factors, in forced postures, sitting in ergonomically incorrect work places (seats without amortisation, without possibilities of regulating the height, depth etc.).
The third largest group is diseases of the respiratory system 15% of the detected and confirmed cases of occupational diseases, although in comparison with 2000 the number of these diseases has decreased by 36%. The analysis of the structure of this group shows that there has been an increase in the number of patients of bronchial asthma.
4% of the diagnosed cases of occupational diseases are infective and parasitic diseases; skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases, nervous diseases and tumours constitute respectively 2% each.
The distribution of occupational patients in percentage terms by group of occupational diseases according to groups of systems of organs given by the International Classification of Diseases is presented in Diagram 3.
Diagram 3. Distribution of occupational patients by group of occupational diseases
The analysis of cases of occupational diseases in sectors of economic activity shows that like in the preceding years, the largest number of occupational patients is in processing industries 40% (in 2000 32%), followed by the transport and communications industries 20% (in 2000 28%), health and social care 11% (in 2000 2%) and agriculture and forestry 10%.
The assessment of the structure of professions of occupational patients allows to conclude that the largest number of occupation patients 15% is found among tram, trolley-bus drivers.
Employees of health care rank second - 11%.
The third largest group of occupational patients is constituted by drivers of transport 6% (in 2000 4%). In most cases these are men of the retirement age from the liquidated rural farms and enterprises. These employees do not undergo compulsory health examinations either.
The analysis of the age structure and gender of occupational patients allows to conclude that 54% of patients are women (in 2000 58%) who have been diagnosed an occupational diseases most often at the age of 45 54, men - at the age of 55 64. 2% of occupational patients are 18 24 years of age.
The analysis shows that as concerns the length of the inservice time in the case of the impact of risk factors in the group of 21 30 years of inservice time there are 37% of occupational patients (in 2000 33%), in the group of 16 20 years of inservice time 17% (in 2000 12%), up to five years of inservice time 10% (in 2000 4%).
The assessment of occupational diseases by group of consequences allows to conclude that 52% of occupational patients continue work in the same profession, 11% work at a different work place with the impact of another hazardous factor, 31% do not work.
The analysis of the above said as well as the increase in occupational morbidity over the recent years, allows the SLI to conclude that there is no training institution in Latvia that would train specialists on labour protection. Thus enterprises and companies are not provided with specialists who could provide consultations to employers in the area of labour safety, health, who could formulate the plan of the internal supervision of the working environment, establish working environment risk factors at work places, determine which risk factors must be prevented or reduced as prescribed by Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 379 On Procedure for Conducting Internal Supervision of the Working Environment.
Neither are employees sufficiently competent in establishing working environment risks that would help them undertaken preventive activities in the area of occupational safety and health. At many enterprises working environment risk factors continue to have an unfavourable impact on the health of employees however there are no compete data on the spread of various working environment risk factors at enterprises.
