EU-OSHA Report Assesses Contractor Safety Systems
One that the report indicates works for principals is a Dutch system that certifies companies following independent audits of safety and environmental programs and performance.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has produced a new report, "Promoting Occupational Safety and Health Through the Supply Chain," that assesses the usefulness of various systems to ensure contractors perform well in terms of safety and environmental protection. The agency, currently in the midst of a related Healthy Workplaces Campaign, undertook the project intending to examine how the increasing use of outsourcing by companies affects occupational safety and health and how these should be managed and promoted.
The report was created through an analysis of literature on the subject, current government policies, and case studies.
"Our working together for risk prevention campaign is based on the idea that OSH is not just the responsibility of some people in the workplace, but that we create the safest working conditions when we are all involved. Nothing better illustrates this than businesses working with their supply chains to help keep workers safe," EU-OSHA Director Christa Sedlatschek explained.
One of the systems favorably mentioned in the report is called Safety Checklist Principals and abbreviated SCP/VCO in the document. This is a Dutch system that certifies companies following independent audits of safety and environmental programs and performance.
The report says while there are considerable differences between sectors and between companies of different sizes, successful attempts to encourage businesses to promote safety and health throughout their supply chains often involve a mixture of regulation and market-based measures and initiatives and clear rewards for environmental and socially responsible behavior.