OHS management in the Budimex Group
[GRI 403-1] [GRI 403-2] [GRI 403-3] [GRI 403-7] [GRI 403-8]
As a company from the construction sector, the Budimex Group considers the OHS area as particularly important. Appropriate regulations and care for compliance with the OHS rules constitute a key element of our responsibility towards the employees and important stakeholders, who expect that we will adhere to the highest standards during the performance of contracts.
Providing employees with safe working conditions is included in the basic values of the Budimex Group, and the OHS issues constitute one of the main areas of the CSR Strategy for 2021–2023.
Since 2019, Budimex has had the ISO 45001 certificate – Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. Mostostal Kraków also obtained this certificate. ISO 45001 assumes the engagement of all entities participating in the investment process in the creation of a safe workplace.
In the Budimex Group, in addition to the management systems, the ‘Ferrovial Minimum Health and Safety Standards’ are in force. Their main objective is to organise the construction process taking into account the principle that everyone – both employees of the Group and business partners of the constituent companies – should return to their families and loved ones after finishing work. The document further emphasises: ‘nothing should stop us from respecting the safety rules for which we must always find time’.
In addition to the Ferrovial standards themselves, the Group is implementing the ‘Safety Standards of the Agreement for Safety in Construction’, of which Budimex SA is a signatory and a founding member. They presuppose the unification of the approach to cooperation with business partners by the signatories of the Agreement, and impose rules for the safe execution of works aimed at improving safety on the signatories’ construction sites.
‘OHS Policy’ of the Budimex Group
The Health and Safety Policy of the Budimex Group is a commitment of the company’s top management indicating that
the Budimex Group uses experience, technical solutions and effective management systems to ensure safe and hygienic
working conditions on the contracts it executes, which effectively prevent accidents, near-misses and occupational diseases
of employees of companies and subcontractors and make it possible to maintain a high level of occupational safety.
The specific objectives of the aforementioned Policy are:
The FBSerwis Group is part of the Budimex Group and, like its owner, considers the area of health and safety to be of
key importance both in the context of contractual tasks and in every other area of its business. Adequate regulation and
attention to the observance of health and safety rules are an important element of FBSerwis’ responsibility towards its
employees, as well as other important stakeholders who expect the highest standards from the company in its operations.
Providing employees with safe working conditions is included in the basic values
The FBSerwis Group respects the ‘Health and Safety Policy’ of its owner.
Mostostal Kraków SA also applies the ‘Health and Safety Policy’ of its parent company and respects the health and safety rules established therein. In addition, the company has a separate Integrated Management System policy under which, in the area of occupational health and safety, it declares:
Occupational medicine
Budimex fulfils its obligations in the field of occupational medicine by referring its employees for preliminary and periodic examinations.
The companies of the Budimex Group have concluded contracts for the provision of occupational medicine with Medicover Polska Sp. z o.o., which is active in the provision of comprehensive medical services and, as a medical entity, manages, for example, the ‘Outpatient Care Centre’ enterprise, whose facilities are the basic units of the occupational medicine service. Medicover is entitled to provide healthcare within the meaning of the Act of 27.06.1997 on Occupational Medicine Services and to conduct medical examinations of employees and issue medical certificates pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare of 30.05.1996 on conducting medical examinations of employees, the scope _143 Budimex Group Integrated Report 2022 of preventive healthcare for employees and medical certificates issued for the purposes provided for in the Labour Code and other provisions of universally applicable laws, in particular the Labour Code.
Budimex SA commissions, and Medicover accepts, the provision of occupational medicine services for employee candidates and employees, in the scope of:
carrying out preliminary examinations of candidates for employees;
carrying out periodic and check-up examinations;
medical certification for the purposes provided for in the Labour Code and regulations issued on its basis;
monitoring the state of health of employees belonging to groups at particular risk, as well as adolescents, the disabled and women;
conducting analyses of the state of health of employees, in particular the occurrence and causes of occupational diseases and accidents at work;
participation in meetings of the occupational safety and health committees and issuing opinions to the post-accident committees;
collecting, storing and processing information on occupational risks and the state of health of employees covered by preventive medical care;
preventive vaccinations necessary due to the work performed – depending on the working conditions and types of risks – in accordance with the law, without the cost of vaccines.
In addition, an extensive package of medical benefits is available for
employees, including: a psychologist, psychiatrist and other specialists,
such as a dentist.
For candidates for employees and for Budimex Group employees covered
by the contract with the company, Medicover also performs examinations
for sanitary and epidemiological purposes, if they are necessary for the
employee/candidate to perform the duties at a specific work station.
A referral to a Medicover doctor for an employee or candidate for employee is issued by the employer. The referral provides information such as:
the type of examination to which the employee/ candidate employee is referred (initial, periodic, check-up or sanitary-epidemiological),
hygienic conditions of the work stations, in particular the results of measurements of noxious and strenuous factors carried out by laboratories (in accordance with the legislation in force),
identification of the work station(s) at which the employee/candidate is to work,
data on the way the work is performed, in particular forced body positions, monotonous movements.
On the basis of the referral, the employee/candidate is referred to the consultations and examinations necessary for the issue of the certificate.
Subsequently, on the basis of the results of the commissioned examinations and consultations, the doctor authorised to carry out occupational medicine examinations issues a certificate on the absence or existence of contraindications to perform work at a given work station.
As part of the process described above, the Budimex Group is obliged to:
- provide information on the existence of factors or onerous conditions that are harmful to health together with up-to-date results of tests and measurements of such factors;
- ensure the participation of Medicover representatives in Health and Safety Committee meetings;
- make available documentation containing the results of the control of working conditions, in the part concerning health protection.
Health care services are provided at Medicover Centres, Damian Centre and facilities cooperating with Medicover. The employer assists employees in making appointments for occupational health examinations by contacting the Medicover Helpline. In the case of commencement of work on a new construction contract, which is located far away from large cities where Medicover branches are located, Budimex, in cooperation with the company, requests Medicover to conclude a contract with medical facilities located near the construction site in order to facilitate access to medical services for Budimex SA employees.
OHS Committee and OHS Executive Committee
In the companies of the Budimex Group, OHS Committees operate with the participation of representatives of the
employees and the employer, who represents all employees. Their task is to carry out weekly OHS checks on all contracts.
Inspection information and recommendations are collected in one site for easy monitoring.
In late 2019/early 2020, in addition to the Health and Safety Committee, a Health and Safety Executive Committee was
established at Budimex SA on the initiative of the Company’s President, consisting of Company Presidents, Construction
Directors, Branch Directors and the Director of the Occupational Safety Office. This group takes strategic action on the
Group’s health and safety directions.
In line with the 2022 plan, four Committee meetings were convened during the period. Their regular focus was on discussing
the company’s current health and safety statistics and deciding on courses of action to ensure safe working conditions.
In the period covered by the report, the Committee appointed several working groups, whose aim was to:
Create a procedure and implement the Observation Programme in the Budimex Group,
Adapt and update the Accident Procedure and related documentation and processes,
Compile and standardise the scheme for conducting coordination meetings on construction sites,
Update and communicate vertical transport rules.
Employees at various levels of the organisation are involved in monitoring safety. The OHS services carry out OHS inspections on contracts. The team of internal auditors monitors the proper functioning of the security system by means of system audits. Compliance of the organisation of work on projects is verified by Site Assessment System audits. Since 2019, a group of management staff of Budimex SA has been conducting Senior Management Visits to build the culture of safety at all levels of the organisation. The Group’s employees also have access to an IT system that allows them to report all observations, incidents and accidents, which are then subject to analysis by the Occupational Safety Office.
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