3.2 Social Responsibility Health and safety at work
COMMITMENT AND MOTIVATIONS
At VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. we readily acknowledge that health and safety must be one of our core commitments to society, to our employees and to those of the subcontractors we work with. This commitment is set out in our Occupational Health & Safety Policy..
At VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. we have clearly identified our reasons for investing in the creation of a safe working environment for our employees and those of our subcontractors:
- Obligation to safeguard employees' health and safety.
- Full compliance with the requirements of the relevant applicable legislation.
- Creating “H&S culture” among all subcontractors.
- Response to society's growing awareness and public opinion.
- Assure continuity of business based on H&S management that stands out in the market.
H&S PLANNING MODEL
VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. has its own H&S service, functionally integrated in the System Department, whose qualified staff work full time on health and safety in the workplace, industrial hygiene and ergonomics, and applied psychosociology. Occupational medicine is outsourced to an external OHS service.
Every two years, as required under the H&S Services Regulations, a legal audit is carried out of OHS management and the suitability and sufficiency of the material and human resources made available in order for such management to be consistently implemented.
H&S MANAGEMENT
VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. has an OHS management system that consists of a framework document - the organisation's H&S Plan - and a set of general management
procedures oriented towards meeting our key obligations in this area, with a view to achieving a high level of health and safety at all our workplaces.
These documents define the structure, means, responsibilities and duties, as well as guidelines for OHS-related action, supplemented and customised at each site according to the definition of the compulsory H&S plan.
Document management for the OHS management system, drafting, revision and the distribution of procedures and records is carried out via the IT tool Inc@web, which assures fast, secure access and constant updating of all the relevant information.
The OHS management system is voluntarily subjected to annual certification auditing, taking as the frame of reference the standard OHSAS 18001.2007 “Occupation Health and Safety Management Systems”, carried out by an internationally recognised accredited certification entity.
TRAINING
In accordance with one of the commitments acquired regarding OHS, based on our conviction that training is the most effective mechanism for creating a health-and-safety and education culture by adopting “safe behaviour”, for many years now VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. has made a sustained effort in this area, strengthened by the coming into effect of the fourth Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Construction Sector, which defined the “adequate and sufficient training” to be given to all workers both in general and specifically for their jobs.
In 2008 VIAS Y CONSTRUCCIONES S.A. obtained certification by the Construction Employment Foundation as a “recognised training entity”, in order for acceptance of the training given to the company's employees with its own resources to qualify for accreditation when applying for the new professional construction card (TPC).
Now that this certification has been achieved, and based on the guidelines in place for some time to define an annual OHS training plan , the necessary training courses have been and will continue to be organised.
The designated OHS resources involved in implementing the management system and responsible for enforcing compliance with OHS activities and fostering safe behaviour among our employees, as set out in the Health and Safety Plans, all receive basic OHS training .
