Health and Work Safety is a concerning issue and it is required an institutional mobilization (Photo & Video)
31/05/2019In Kosovo, cases of workers injured as a result of workplace accidents have increased, with a large number of them experiencing fatality.
According to statistics, 2018 was the year where 143 workers suffered injuries in the workplace, as a result 23 of them lost their lives, mainly in the construction sector. These statistics are of concern for the Faculty of Civil Engineering and infrastructure at UBT, and that’s why this faculty organized a forum on “Safety and Health at Work – How to Face this Challenge in Kosovo”.
Part of this forum were a large number of institutional officials, experts, professors and students, who held an open discussion and drew their conclusions regarding this issue. The underlying purpose was to develop the improvement of safety and health at work.
The UBT Rector prof. dr. Edmond Hajrizi emphasized that there is an urging need to raise awareness among companies and workers regarding the consequences of accidents, injuries at workplace and the necessity of creating a modern system to avoid dangers in working facilities.
“Unfortunately, there is an increasing number of accidents in the workplace and this is unacceptable. This number has trespassed all the normal limits and it is a responsibility of the whole society to take preventive measures to minimize as much as possible these cases.” – emphasized Hajrizi.
Furthermore, Hajrizi underlined that workers in the sector of construction are obliged to obey rules, such as wearing hard hats and protective clothing.
Whereas, Director of Academic Affairs at UBT, dr. Muhamet Ahmeti highlighted that UBT is consistently working to shape the future engineers. According to him, UBT has incorporated the best study programs, regarding aspects of safety at work.
“The success of a construction company doesn’t rely on the financial profits, but it depends on the minimal number of accidents that occur in that object. Indeed, the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Infrastructure has paid a particular attention to these issues in many subjects. However, there has been done progress in this regard and I’d like to point out that study visits of our students in these objects.” – said Ahmeti.
Professor Agim Shaqiri elaborated the topic: “EU Approach to Work and Safety at Work” whereas the other topic: “Risk Assessment in workplace and working facilities- Methods” was tackled by professors, Muhamet Ahmeti and Hazir Cadraku.
In the framework of this forum, UBT professor Cadraku claimed that there have been carried out numerous researches in this field and has been concluded that there have to be taken measures, regular observations, preventive measures, training sessions for workers and employees.
The stakeholders who participated in this debate were officials from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Labor Inspectorate, who tackled various issues and provided solutions related to the avoidance of risks in the workplace. Among others, they primarily emphasized the importance of taking preventive measures and regular monitoring.
The Faculty of Civil Engineering at UBT has organized and is consistently initiating debates to raise awareness among citizens and companies about issues related to health and safety at work.