GENERAL

EDUCATION
OF WORKERS
Safety: a team activity
HUMAN ERROR AND ORGANIZATION
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART REGARDING SAFETY
Who does what?
Tasks and responsibilities
SAFETY: OPPORTUNITY OR COST?
LET’S ASSESS THE COSTS
Direct costs
Indirect costs
Who do the costs fall upon?
THE ROLE OF COMPANY MANAGEMENT
The importance of managerial action
Investment in human capital
 INDEX

HUMAN ERROR AND ORGANIZATION Attention!

Legislative Decree no. 81 of 2008:
• identifies the subjects who must deal with health and safety in the
workplace and the responsibilities of each of them.
• establishes the prevention and protection service and establishes the
mandatory nature of the periodic meetings.
To better represent the organizational chart regarding safety, we can imagine
a pyramid.
However, we must not think of a “classic” pyramid with smooth walls (e.g. the
Pyramid of Cheops) which recalls the old pyramid-shaped organizational chart
“boss - employee”; rather we need to imagine a step pyramid (e.g. Saqqara
pyramid).

Safety is therefore no longer entrusted to the individual, but it is a team

activity!

The same thing must happen in the field of safety!

When a football team enters the field, everyone takes their position. This is
previously assigned by the coach following a precise strategy of his.
In order to know the positions occupied by each individual, it is necessary to
have a precise assignment of the roles.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
Any company organizational chart indicates the subjects, their responsibilities
and the hierarchical relationships that keep people together within the
company.

This tool makes it possible to keep the company structure and the tasks
performed by each one under control.
It is important that every company also has an organizational chart regarding
safety, which is useful for identifying those involved in occupational health
and safety.

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 INDEX

The subjects that make up the organizational chart, defined by the

“Consolidated Law on Safety at Work” (Legislative Decree 81/2008) are:
• Employer;
• Executive;
• Manager;
• Prevention and Safety Manager ;
• Persons in charge of the Prevention and Protection Service;
• Competent doctor;
• Workers’ Safety Representative;
• Emergency workers;
• Worker.
The Employer is always at the top, the employer who is the main guarantor of
the well-being of the workers; in fact, he/she has the complete responsibility
for organizing all work activities and the related safety measures.
The Executive, generally present only in medium and large companies, is
the person to whom the Employer has formally delegated some of his/her
powers. By reason of these delegations, he/she implements the directives of
the employer by organizing the work activity and supervising it.
The Persons in charge of the Prevention and Protection Service are
generally present in large companies and support the Prevention and Safety
Manager in carrying out his/her functions.
The Competent Doctor is specialized in occupational medicine and is
designated by the Employer, with whom he/she collaborates, for the
purposes of risk assessment, in the activities of prevention and protection of
risks and to carry out health surveillance.
The Workers’ Safety Representative is a worker elected or designated by all
the workers.
He/She has the task of representing them with regard to aspects related to
health and safety at work.
Emergency workers are the workers in charge of implementing fire

The Manager is a worker who is identified and appointed to supervise the

work activity and guarantee the implementation of the directives received,
checking that the workers carry out those directives correctly.

The Prevention and Safety Manager is that professional figure, internal

or external to the company, designated by the employer, to whom he/she
responds, to coordinate the prevention and protection service; he/she has
the responsibility of organizing and implementing all the activities necessary
to guarantee the safety and health of workers.

In small and medium-sized companies, most of the time this figure is an

external consultant or the service is carried out directly by the Employer, as
long as these figures meet certain requirements.

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prevention and fire fighting measures, evacuation of workplaces in case
of serious and immediate danger, rescue, first aid and, in any case, the
management of emergencies.
The Worker is any person who enters a company, a construction site, an
office, for any reason and with any type of contract or assignment, even for
very short periods of time, who must comply with specific legal obligations.
As on a football field, even in the field of safety there are precise rules to
follow.
The individual players, in our case the subjects of safety, must assume the
role assigned to them.
When you start playing, EVERYONE MUST PLAY THEIR PART!
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART REGARDING SAFETY
Who does what?
A corporate system of the organization of safety must not be based on
“orders”, but on the articulation of functions that guarantee the technical
skills and powers necessary for checking, the assessment, management and
the control of risk.
The definition of the roles and responsibilities of all the actors is the premise
for everyone to be an active part in the management of company safety.
Management must believe in and work for safety.
For the correct management of the system of safety, all of the subjects and all
of the structures must be involved:
• Prevention and safety manager;
• Persons in charge of the prevention and protection service;
• Competent doctor;
• Workers’ Safety Representative.
These figures contribute to proposing interventions necessary for improving
the levels of health and safety in the workplace and for implementing the
proposed solutions.
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INDEX
It is also essential to favor specific moments in which subjects can confront
each other on the issues of prevention and protection from risks.
Tasks and responsibilities
• Responsibilities: consistent with the organizational and functional scheme
of the company.
• Tasks: both organizational and operational, inherent to safety activities
and with the related responsibilities.
• Functions of all those involved.
This information must by all means be disclosed to all company levels.
The company organization for safety is based on the support, commitment,
knowledge, experience and involvement of workers and their representatives.
Involvement is extremely important in order to:
• favor the election of the workers’ safety representative;provide access, to
all interested parties, to risk assessment, documentation and all of the basic
information;
• guarantee the training of workers; managers, officers and emergency
workers;
• gather useful information for the purpose of organizing the periodic mee-
tings and subsequent obligations.
All this in order to implement:
• preventive consultation for risk assessment;
• the definition of preventive measures;
• the management of the periodic meetings.
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SAFETY: OPPORTUNITY OR COST?
Knowing the data due to the lack of safety at work is very important!
Worldwide, as reported by the International Labor Organization, every year
there are:
270 million accidents at work of which 350,000 fatal ones and 160 million
cases of occupational diseases.
In Europe, 5,200 workers lose their lives every year and about 14% of workers
have more than one injury per year.
In Italy, INAIL (the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work)
receives an average of 2,500 accident reports per day. About 3% of those are
fatal.
270
milioni
The International Labor Organization, based
in Geneva, is the United Nations specialized
Agency on labor and issues of social policy.
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INDEX
Every year, fatal accidents at work exceed one thousand and occupational
diseases affect about 25,000 workers.
Therefore, the role of company management is decisive, which, also in light of
the data on accidents at work, must assess all possible business risks and the
effectiveness of the prevention, protection and control measures adopted.
The organization must continuously deal with the adaptation of its safety
management system, both regarding its methods and regarding its models of
assessment.
It is important to emphasize that security can become an opportunity and
influence the “business” model.
It is also important to know the costs that can be caused by failure to adopt
safety measures.
LET’S ASSESS THE COSTS
Implementing safety involves a considerable economic and organizational
commitment at the company level.
Ignoring it certainly does not bring benefits!
Direct costs
These are the costs incurred by companies resulting from an accident and
they represent 45-60% of the total cost.
Direct costs are:
1 - Expenses attributable directly to professional injuries:
• first aid;
• transportation of the injured person;
• grants awarded to the injured and/or his family;
• administrative and legal paperwork;
• pay to injured people during their absence from work;
• remuneration to workers who replace the injured person;
• reduction of the efficiency of the disabled worker.
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 INDEX

2 - Material damage related to the accident: Companies may experience:

• damage to structures, systems and machinery; • a negative impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of work;
• loss of production; • a loss of resources, both material and those of know-how;
• overtime work to make up for the loss of production; • a loss of staff confidence and a consequent worsening of the corporate
• training of substitute staff; social and organizational “climate”;
• low initial performance of the worker taken on to substitute the injured • an increase in costs (fines, increase in insurance premiums, replacement
person. of machinery, research, selection and training of new personnel).
• an increase in expenses regarding organizational management;
3 - Economic losses related to: • an increase in expenses related to the management of judicial procedures.
• increase in the insurance premium;
• legal fees. Investing in safety is useful and positive!

Indirect costs According to a study by the International Social Security Association, for every
euro invested in occupational health and safety there is an economic return
In addition to the obvious and direct costs, there are a number of indirect of 2.2 euros.
costs such as:
• damage to the image of the company;
• dissatisfaction of the company’s customers due to possible disservices;
THE ROLE OF COMPANY MANAGEMENT
• decrease in the mood of the staff and in their sense of belonging.
Management can try to prevent injuries and occupational diseases in the
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has estimated that a workplace:
direct cost of 1 corresponds to an indirect cost of 11. • undertaking to implement and circulate a system for the management of
health and safety by adopting effective strategies;
Su chi ricadono i costi? • developing consolidated systems for the management of safety and he-
alth issues;
The costs of non-safety mainly fall upon: • monitoring the effectiveness of those systems;
• people; • providing a good example, always following all safety procedures;
• companies; • motivating staff to help ensure a good level of safety and health.
• the countrywide system.

People may experience:

• a loss of physical health;
• a reduction in the quality of life;
• a psychological and social impact;

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 INDEX

The importance of managerial action

In order to implement a concrete system for the management of safety, with consequent business success, it is essential for the company management to be aware of its
role.

Protecting employees against injuries and sharing prevention issues with workers is not only a legal and moral obligation, but above all an indicator of an economy with
good prospects for growth and prosperity.

Always considering the implications of safety and health in the business processes and working methods becomes an essential element of the business organization.

Investment in human capital

Safety is achieved by investing in the human component, or by managing human capital in terms of:
• development of the skills and abilities of individual workers;
• participation in and involvement of workers in models and choices defined by the top management.

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