KANBrief 1/25
Since 2000, representatives of accident insurance institutions, trade unions, employers’ associations and labour inspectorates in German-speaking countries have met annually at the “Alpines Kolloquium” (Alpine Colloquium for safety and health on construction sites) to share their experience. Organization of the colloquium rotates between the participating institutions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol and Liechtenstein.
The topics covered at the Alpine Colloquium are diverse, ranging from digitalization in the construction industry to climate change, personal protective equipment, hazardous substances and machine safety. One of the most significant challenges in this sector is presented by work performed across national borders, as it requires a large number of different national OSH regulations to be observed. For this reason, a sub-working group concerned with falls from a height was set up some time ago and tasked with publishing a joint paper setting out practical solutions to be applied across multiple countries.
The results of the Alpine Colloquium are made available to the relevant national bodies and, if appropriate, presented at EU level with the support of European sectoral associations. Discussion with the European social partners in the construction sector also takes place directly through the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW, Brussels) and the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC, Brussels). Involvement in the working groups presents a good opportunity for KAN to contribute aspects of occupational safety and health and raise awareness of them effectively at European level.
The announcement of revision of the Machinery Directive in 2019 placed machine safety on the agenda. The positive experience gained with the group addressing falls from a height prompted the Alpine Colloquium to set up a DACHSLI (an acronym of the German words for the German-speaking countries) group for machinery. To bring users of machinery together, the following institutions were invited to preliminary discussions:
The group’s tasks were discussed in depth at the first face-to-face meeting in August 2020. The group’s aim is to pool information and reach a shared opinion, in order in turn to introduce the topics addressed by the machinery group to the relevant bodies at national and international level. The optimization of personnel resources, in particular, is viewed as a positive effect, as all countries represented in the group are now finding it almost impossible to address all construction-related issues adequately at national and international level. In addition, if several bodies and/or countries present similar positions, it is more likely that the views of the users of construction machinery will be heard, as well as those of the manufacturers.
Two major topic areas dominated the first meeting: revision of the Machinery Directive, and standardization. For revision of the Machinery Directive, several small groups were consequently formed and tasked with drawing up positions on specific chapters. The positions were discussed again and optimized in the main group. During this groundwork, the group was expanded to include representatives of the market surveillance bodies in the individual countries.
Thanks to the high level of commitment shown by those involved, the opportunity subsequently arose not only for the results to be submitted to the European Parliament in writing, but also for them to be presented to the responsible Rapporteurs in person in online meetings. Furthermore, the results of work by the group for machinery were included in discussion at European level by statements by the FIEC, representing European employers in the sector.
Now that the new Machinery Regulation has been published, the focus is shifting to standardization, a topic area entailing substantially greater efforts. Standardization forms an important and indispensable part of the efforts to harmonize and support the Machinery Regulation and the free movement of goods in Europe and worldwide. Keeping track of the standardization projects and identifying those relevant to employee safety and health is of itself a major challenge. Since many standardization committees are composed primarily of manufacturers’ representatives, it is important for users of construction machinery also to be motivated to participate in the various mirror committees, to give them the opportunity to contribute their expertise and perspectives.
Martin Sonnberger
martin.sonnberger@porr.at