The Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) and the German Association for Social Security Policy and Research (GVG) have for the past eight months been partners in an EU Twinning Light Project. This Project is coming to an end this week.

The project entitled “Strengthening the Administrative Capacity of the National Labour Inspectorate” had a budget allocated to the OHSA of ? 154,000 (Lm 66,112) and started last September.

Speaking during a press conference to mark the successful completion of this project, the Minister for Social Policy John Dalli commented on the intrinsic link between occupational health and safety (OHS), the well-being of society and the competitiveness of the country and said that occupational accidents and ill-health cost countries 4% of their GDP.

“If we were to apply this figure to Malta, we are talking in the region of ? 215 million annually – monies which could easily be circulated into the economy in a more effective way. A laissez-faire attitude in OHS levels creates a significant barrier for the creation of a standard functioning business environment,” Minister Dalli said.

The Hon. John Dalli said that consensus on what needs to be done in the area of OHS had been reached for a number of years and it was high time to take this unity of purpose a step further and finally move towards serious and real action at all levels to improve OHS standards.

“I fear that the scale and common acceptance of this in Maltese society rule out any immediate improvement to be achieved unless real action is taken,” Minister Dalli concluded.

Dr Mark Gauci, the Chief Executive Officer of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority observed the aptness of marking the end of the Twinning Light Project on Europe Day and particularly during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue with the slogan ‘It’s not them and us: It’s you and me’.

“This slogan can also be applied to the area of occupational health and safety. High standards of OHS should apply across the board, irrespective of nationality, social status or type of employment. During the last few years, we have in fact seen some steps in this direction – not enough for comfort but at least encouraging,” Dr Gauci said.

Since joining the European Union, Malta had to adopt a significant acquis in the area of OHS which continued to increase over the years to reflect new and emerging risks. This meant higher levels of protection and a better workplace environment with less hazards and risks but also brought about new challenges.

“In this light, the OHSA felt the need for guidance on how to effectively implement these as well as to learn and exchange ideas with other entities which have a longer experience in OHS. This was the rationale behind this Twinning Light project, which the German Association for Social Security Policy and Research (GVG) secured,” Dr Gauci explained.

The Twinning Light project covered areas such as vibrations, safety of work equipment, noise management, ventilation, electromagnetic frequencies, optical radiation, major accidents involving dangerous substances (what is known as Seveso II), biological and chemical agents as well as the development of an operations manual.

“Officers from the OHSA also have had the opportunity to travel to Germany to see the practical implementation of the theory discussed, as of course the trainers from Germany have had the opportunity to come to Malta and ’see us in action’. I believe that all in all, this has been a very positive experience for both sides,” Dr Gauci concluded.

The Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Malta, Ms Ingeborg Beggel thanked all the persons involved in the project for their work which led to the successful implementation of the project. H.E. Ms Beggel stressed the importance of Twinnings and Twinning Light projects to assist new EU member states build their administrative capacity while implementing and adhering to the acquis. Having been one of the founding members of the European Union, Germany had a long time to adapt to the system and make the necessary arrangements required. This made it possible to make its experience available and to help new member states from repeating its own mistakes.

“Twinnings are not one-way systems. In exchanging views and in getting to know the specific conditions of Malta as a small, highly populated island state, I am sure the German experts have gained valuable knowledge which they can use back home and which allows them to understand better the challenges smaller EU member states are facing,” H.E. Beggel said.

Germany and Malta have also concluded with success other twinning projects in the areas of justice, the maritime sector and waste management, thus further consolidating Maltese-German relations. This was underlined by the German Federal President Köhler’s visit to Malta last year who emphasised the historic links between the two countries as well as the cooperation in both international fora and on a bilateral level.

“German investors started coming to Malta many decades ago and are now playing an important role in Malta’s economy. Moreover, German tourists are the second largest group of visitors arriving in Malta, thus contributing directly to one of Malta’s most important economic sectors. On the other hand, after joining the EU and the Euro-zone, Maltese companies are also discovering the German market for their Maltese products,” H.E. Ingeborg Beggel said.

While congratulating the two entities for their valuable work, the Deputy Head of Mission augured that more projects between Malta and Germany would be initiated and successfully concluded.

Speaking also during the press conference was Mr Tom Grenz, the project leader on the part of the German partners GVG which is a non-profit umbrella organisation of German institutions which has been actively shaping the system of social security in Germany since 1947.

“The project was organised and implemented as open and participatory as possible to achieve utmost mobilisation and efficient resource management of existing knowledge, experience and skills. We gathered expertise from various German OHS institutions, ranging from the Federal Ministry and several Länder Ministries, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Occupational Health, Fire and emergency department, from the German accident insurance institutions and last but not least even from the State Institute for Environment, Monitoring and Nature Conservation (from Baden-Württemberg),” Mr Grenz said.

Altogether 17 German experts conducted short-term missions on the implementation of the project over more than 130 expert days.

“The feedback and impressions I received from our experts were always positive. Although the OHSA is a rather young institution and has limited human resources taking into account their official work tasks, we believe that it is on a very good way to further improve the occupational health and safety situation in Malta. The staff is well skilled and highly motivated and the established structures are well functioning,” Mr Grenz said.

“However, to continue this way they need strong political and public support. And this goes also to the representatives of the press. Occupational health and safety is an interesting topic also for the broader public and it is up to you to bring this topic closer to the people; not only with negative headlines on accidents, more with incentives how to improve the health and safety conditions with easy and simple measures,” Mr Tom Grenz concluded.