Agriculture has been the main sector of the Ukrainian economy for several years and accounts for more than 40% of export revenues. Since 2014, Ukraine has consistently been among the world's top five exporters of major crop products, making it one of the guarantors of food security in the world [1].
The latest technologies not only ensure economic growth but also have a significant impact on the level of security in the industry. Modern technologies are based not only on an economic component, but above all, innovations are aimed at achieving the maximum social effect for employees, because one of the priority aspects of social development in civilized countries is based on minimizing the risks of incapacity for work in production.
Deepening organizational turmoil and the development of different forms of ownership require a new attitude to the problems of occupational safety in agriculture. Today, there are no significant changes in the organization of working conditions and safety at agricultural enterprises. According to the official website of the Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine, in 2022, the number of victims of accidents at agricultural enterprises according to H-1/П certificates amounted to 211 people, of whom 50 cases were fatal [2].
Small businesses are defined by the Commercial Code of Ukraine, namely:
- business entities of any organizational and legal form and form of ownership, where the average number of employees for the reporting period (calendar year) does not exceed 50 people;
- microenterprise entities – business entities of any organizational and legal form and form of ownership, where the average number of employees for the reporting period (calendar year) does not exceed 10 persons.
Most of the small enterprises engaged in agricultural production are farms. As of January 1, 2022, 48,860 farms were registered in Ukraine.
The state of occupational safety and health in such agricultural formations has a number of peculiarities, as the organization of production processe s in small farms differs significantly from the organization of production in large enterprises.
This is due to the small areas under cultivation and the small number of employees. The scope of work performed and the seasonal nature of the work encourage employers to minimize the cost of maintaining employees. The entire cycle of technological work in agriculture – tillage, sowing, crop care, handling of agrochemicals and pesticides, harvesting, loading and unloading, and feed preparation - is performed by farm workers with a minimum amount of agricultural machinery and equipment. One employee combines several professions and specialties, for example: machinist, mechanic, welder, etc [3].
From the point of view of labor protection, it is necessary to highlight a number of features of labor protection (LP) activities of farms:
- lack of labor protection specialists in the company's staff. Farms are trying to survive in the face of fierce competition, which manifests itself in maximizing savings on everything. Unfortunately, the costs of production safety are included in the list of cost-saving measures in the first place;
- forced co-operation (moonlighting). A small business manager performs several managerial functions. The production result is in the foreground as a condition for economic survival. Occupational health and safety is always pushed to the second or third plan, because sometimes there is simply no time to deal with it;
- low professional level of industrial safety training of managers and employees. The absence of such training is explained by the fact that occupational health and safety training on farms is conducted formally;
- lack of a risk-based approach to preventing hazards. Problems of occupational disability (injuries and occupationally related morbidity) are addressed in the order they arise, rather than in a long-term perspective. Implementation of occupational safety and health measures becomes urgent only after an accident has occurred or in the event of an order from a State Labor Service inspector.
To resolve problematic issues related to working conditions and safety, the following steps should be taken:
- to provide for the mandatory development of an occupational health and safety management system for farms (OSHAS). Given the complexity of such a development, it is necessary to formalize the requirements for such a system by minimizing the volume of the document while maximizing the loading of the necessary information. The OSHAS Regulation should be concise without unnecessary formal superstructures, specific and clearly structured. Other documents - regulations, instructions, lists, protocols and other documentation - are included in appendices;
- to provide for the presence of a hired labor protection specialist in the structure of the agricultural formation, who performs his duties on the basis of a civil law agreement;
- the labor protection workload should be evenly distributed among the specialists who are on the staff of the enterprise;
- if the enterprise cannot perform some tasks or functions of the OSHAS (for example, occupational safety and health training), it is necessary to cooperate with other farms.
Based on the principles outlined above, the «Regulation on the Occupational Health and Safety Management System» for a farm should consist of the main document and annexes.
The main document should address the issues of management technology, tasks, management functions and regulatory and legal regulation of LP, hazardous and harmful production factors arising in the course of work, the mechanism for implementing the main tasks of LP, labor protection management and the procedure for employee interaction, planning of LP activities, accounting documents, the procedure for their maintenance and storage, and risk assessment.
The appendices should include a description of the farm and the structure of the OHSAS, the LP management scheme, the tasks and functions of the LP management, a civil law agreement with the head of the LP service and a number of provisions: about the labor protection service; the labor protection commission; duties and responsibilities of LP management employees; the procedure for training and testing of LP knowledge; the procedure for providing employees with special clothing, footwear and other personal protective equipment; medical examinations; incentivizing employees for the proper performance of work in accordance with LP requirements; internal audit; operational control; briefings; special training and testing of knowledge on fire safety issues.
Depending on the organizational and production structure of the farm, the following are developed:
- job descriptions of employees;
- labor protection and fire safety instructions;
- documentation for planning occupational health and safety measures;
- collective labor agreement;
- the procedure for certifying workplaces in terms of working conditions;
- a list of regulatory documents related to labor protection.
The farm manager should be able to easily obtain all the necessary occupational health and safety information and organize an effective management system aimed at minimizing the risks of incapacity in his enterprise, and not a collection of disparate occupational health and safety measures for a formal report to the regulatory authorities. In this case, it is possible to ensure the social orientation of the company's activities and, as a result, the possibility of achieving maximum dividends in production activities.
References:
1. Українське сільське господарство може «витягти з кризи» всю економіку – експерти: URL: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/ukrainian-apk-can-support-all-economy/31070474.html (дата звернення 11.03.2023 року).
2. Розподіл кількості потерпілих від нещасних випадків за даними актів Н-1/П, пов'язаних з виробництвом, за найбільш травмонебезпечними галузями економіки підприємств, де стався нещасний випадок, за 2022 рік: URL: http://www.fssu.gov.ua/fse/doccatalog/document?id=985080 (дата звернення 11.03.2023 року).
3. Охорона праці у фермерських господарствах: URL: https://rozivska-gromada.gov.ua/news/1626852277/ (дата звернення 12.03.2023 року).
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