A ceremony of awarding the winners of the Republican competition “the best enterprise (organization) of 200 for the creation of healthy and safe working conditions 2023”, held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of great leader Heydar Aliyev, took place in the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan.
World Labor Protection Day in 2024, established by the International Labor Organization – Chairman of ATUC, MP Sattar Mohbaliyev, Deputy Minister of labour and social protection of population Vusal Nasirli, head of the Department of Labour policy of the Ministry Fuad Heydarov, head of the State Labour Inspectorate Service Veli Guliyev, vice-president of the National Confederation of entrepreneurs (employers) organizations of Azerbaijan Zakir Azimov, ILO coordinator for Azerbaijan Yashar Hamzayev, chairmen of ATUC member, the competition was attended by the management of the winning enterprises and representatives of the media.
First of all, the memory of the National Leader of our people Heydar Aliyev and our martyrs, as well as those killed in industrial accidents, was commemorated with a minute of silence.
Speaking at the event, ATUC chairman Sattar Mohbaliyev said that the purpose of this competition, which has been held since 2009, is to create healthy and safe working conditions for employees, increase the responsibility of those responsible in this area and achieve more sensitive approaches of employers to labor protection issues.
According to him, 59 ILO Conventions have been ratified in Azerbaijan, and the requirements of the conventions are reflected in the codes of Labor, Civil, Criminal Procedure and administrative offenses: “on the proposal of ATUC, a draft law was prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of population for the ratification of ILO Convention No. 155 “on safety and hygiene” and submitted.
Last year, on February 1, President Ilham Aliyev signed the Law on the approval of the convention. In addition, the convention “On the basics of promoting occupational safety and hygiene” was discussed in the “Tripartite Commission on Social and Economic Issues” and we proposed the creation of a working group to study the possibilities of ratification. Work in this direction is already being continued.”
Sattar Mohbaliyev also noted that the fight against climate change is also relevant for trade unions, so the ILO and ATUC measures are planned in Baku in August and September this year.
The chairman of the ATUC stressed that during 2023, a public examination was carried out in 448 enterprises and organizations, and 1641 violations were identified: “274 submissions were issued to employers in this regard. Elimination of 86.59% of violations was achieved. As a result, 59 technological equipment and machine tools were brought to compliance with safety norms and rules, and the working conditions of 237 people were improved. Thanks to the public control carried out by trade union committees, labor protection commissions, technical labor inspectors of member organizations, 818 events were held for the correct and purposeful expenditure of funds allocated for labor protection, the number of attested jobs increased compared to 2022 by 11.89%, and the number of employees undergoing medical examinations by 6.36%”.
The chairman of the Confederation brought to the attention that 8 new labor protection cabinets and 718 corners were created in order to better organize propaganda work in the field of labor protection, thus the number of cabinets was increased to 61, and the number of corners to 2060: “over the past 15 years, more than 25,000 enterprises and organizations participated in this competition, 645 This means that employers of more than 25,000 enterprises have taken the initiative and activity to participate in the competition. During the competition, seminars, meetings, meetings and round tables attended by 2,331 people were organized in all cities and regions of the country, ATUC and its member organizations held educational events. More than 2,560 companies, organizations, workshops and 291 companies received documents from ATUC Competition Commission to participate in this competition. 67 of them were declared winners by the decision of the Executive Committee.”
At the end of his speech, Sattar Mohbaliyev congratulated the winners of the competition on behalf of the participants of the event and on his own behalf for this high achievement, and wished them success in their future labor activities.
Deputy Minister of labour and social protection of population Vusal Nasirli spoke about Labour Relations, labor protection, legalization, Healthy and safe working conditions, employers ‘and employees’ rights, legislative framework and forthcoming tasks in this area.
ILO coordinator for Azerbaijan Yashar Hamzayev spoke about the beneficial relations between the organization he represents and the trade unions of Azerbaijan, the importance of the organization’s conventions and the upcoming tasks within the framework of joint cooperation.
At the end, diplomas and gifts were presented to 67 winning enterprises representing the trade union in the fields, including The Trade Union Council of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which became the winner of the competition.