Labor Safety Issues in Georgia
By Inga Kakulia
Thursday, May 9
The group will study the labor safety issues in detail and will react accordingly. The decision was made on May 8th during the hearing of Human Rights Committee in the Parliament.
The idea has been in the works for a while especially after the intermediate reports presented by various departments highlighted the significant challenges in this direction.
The group, which will be composed of members of the parliamentary majority and minority, will monitor the implementations of labor laws. According to the Rules of Procedure, this group should present an analysis of labor safety challenges and their vision for improvement within two months. The thematic group will work within the framework of parliamentary supervision from May 9th until July 9th, 2019.
State agencies, NGOs, trade unions, business associations will be involved in the process of inquiries.
The Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, Sopio Kiladze mentioned that death at the workplace is worrying and that Parliament should ensure the safety of each worker. The opposition supports the initiative.
Labor safety has been a critical subject of the general discourse in Georgia for a while. Many tragic instances have occurred within the last years that have resulted in protests with various organizations alike demanding the increased attention towards this topic. In the research published by The Caucasus Research Resource Center at the beginning of April, the results showed that 64% of Georgian Population thinks that the labor safety standards are not being met in the country and considers this to be one of the main challenges in the working environment.
The NGOs have been actively involved in researching these instances and often advice the government on how to improve the situation.
Inspections from 2018 confirm that the situation is alarming. Out of the total of thirty companies, all of them failed to meet the obligatory standards fully. The results were made public by the Deputy Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs at the time, Tamila Barkalaia.
On March 7th, 2018 Georgian Parliament adopted a Law on Labor Safety to define basic requirements and preventive measures in terms of workplace safety for the employers.
The law applies to hazardous, hard, harmful and dangerous works, and the Government of Georgia shall determine the list of such works in agreement with social partners. The Law on Labor Safety obliges the employers to take appropriate measures for guaranteeing the availability of emergency medical services, fire safety, and evacuation protocols. The employees have to be permitted to leave the premises in case of emergencies under the direction of the relevant supervisors responsible for emergencies and evacuation.
But even after the Safe Labor Law, the accidents at workplaces kept happening. It was pointed out not only by the opposition and the NGOs but ruling party members as well.
It became evident that the situation required increased monitoring and additional changes so that the new law could bring change. The thematic group is a step towards achieving this goal and getting to know the subject better, beyond the laws and regulations.
One of the flaws of the safe labor law often pointed out by the NGOs, specifically by the EMC is that it focuses only on the high-risk jobs, neglecting the health hazards that occur during tasks that are not usually perceived as risky. Not only is the major problem the safety of the employees, their overall health and the long-term effects on workers healthy remains largely ignored.
But it is evident that the beginning step should be monitoring of the implementation of the safety laws and taking necessary precautions, as well as sanctions in case of violations.
As of right now, the inspections of companies operating in the high-risk working field require permission from the owner to conduct the inspection. The results showed that most of the companies have not yet taken the safe labor laws and the attached requirements into action.