SafeWork

National Partners

CENTIMFE – Technological Centre for the Mouldmaking, Special Tooling and Plastics Industries Ÿ www.centimfe.com

CEFAMOL – Association of Portuguese Mould Manufacturers Ÿ www.cefamol.pt

AZEMOLDES Ÿ www.azemoldes.pt

INTEPLÁSTICO Ÿ www.inteplastico.pt

ITJ Ÿ www.tj-moldes.pt

MARINHA GRANDE CIVIL PROTECTION is a local authority. Ÿ www.cm-mgrande.pt

Rationale

Moulds and Plastics industries have a promising future due to its constant technological development, the constant modernization and innovation on equipments and processes and to the investment in skilled HR.

At the same time that these parameters aim to reinforce competitiveness and to increase the sector’s productivity, challenges emerge for differentiation factors where investment is needed, as it is Safety Health at Work (SHW).

However, SHW is still a developing field that, until now, didn’t have a highlight position in the organization and management of SMEs. SMEs shall create conditions to integrate SHW in its daily management. This way, SHW would be placed at the same level of the other responsibilities, preventing the professional risks and removing them from the basis or decreasing its effects.

This attitude attempts to decrease accidents at work in number, regularity and consequences, since they are, sometimes, deadly or may cause permanent damages. In real situations, it’s necessary to create conditions to (re)integrate these workers or other handicapped people.

Concerning Moulds and Plastics, several risks to which the workers are exposed can be identified, namely:

1. Professional risks related to the Working Environment:

- Exposure to dust, heat and gases;

- Noise;

- Vibrations;

- Bone and muscle injuries related to incorrect posture, physical effort, repetitive work and/or bad organization of workplaces;

- Mechanical risks (cuts, crushing, steel plate falls, incorrect use of equipment, etc).

2. Safety Conditions (workplace and surface, tools, machine protection, storage and transport, signs, maintenance, roads, etc). In addition to dangerous work conditions are the existence of architectural barriers that block the access of handicapped people to workplaces in this sector.

3. Low productivity rates and lower profitably than European countries characterise this sector. The increase of profitability it’s linked to material aspects (equipment), immaterial (organization), but with psycho-social and organizational consequences that affect the workers health, such as:

-Intense work rhythms;

- Decreasing of rest breaks;

- Increasing of responsibilities;

- Fatigue and work dissatisfaction;

- The existence of “high moments of work” usually incites stress/anxiety.

4. Sectors strongly centralised on shift work (SW). Several studies demonstrate that there’s a relation between SW and accidents at work, absenteeism, humour and sleep disorders.

5. Sectors with high rates of labour loss due, mostly, to the absence of a correct risk evaluation in SMEs and to the lack of a prevention policy.

6. The insufficiency of sensitizing/motivation and adhesion of workers and businessmen to safety behaviours.

7. Experts in the sector don’t have knowledge and/or proper training about safety behaviours, legislation or procedures related to SHW.

8. It doesn’t exist the knowledge of danger and “not knowing” is the worst danger for the workers health and safety.

Beneficiaries

§ SME managers and SME workers;

§ Partner entities staff;

§ SME and partners entities;

§ Local community;

§ Handicapped /victims of accidents;

§ Young students.

Objectives

§ Promote Awareness Campaigns for safe behaviour – risk prevention;

§ Raise the skills of workers of Moulds and Plastics SMEs concerning SHW area;

§ (Re)organize work at SMEs to prevent and control the risks;

§ Seek to implement a SHW policy, 3 SMEs, as display action–Good Practices;

§ Enterprise Forum – aims to create a cooperation and relevant SHW inform networks;

§ Identify opportunities to re(integrate) handicapped /victims of accidents;

§ Awareness Campaigns promoting the conciliation of professional-personal life.

Activities

1. Sensitization of target groups for the importance of SHW;

2. Opportunity equality;

3. Development of an auto evaluation tool of risks;

4. Study and implementation of conducive actions for the development of an Internal Management System of SHW;

5. Digital repository: legislation and information about SHW;

6. Creation of “Enterprise Forum”;

7. Transnational Activities;

8. External Evaluation.

safework.cefamol.pt