Drills and demonstrations at hundreds of sites throughout Poland

On 18 - 24 May, at hundreds of sites throughout Poland, the second edition of the Week for Safety will take place. This is the biggest safety-related project on the Polish market. This year, the motto of this initiative is "Safety - a common cause". It is organized by the Agreement for Construction Safety - an informal association of companies leading on the Polish market of general contracting, concluded in 2010 with the goal of eliminating fatal accidents on Polish construction sites. Currently, the Agreement includes 10 construction companies Bilfinger Infrastructure, Budimex, Erbud, Hochtief Poland, Mostostal Warszawa, Mota-Engil Central Europe, the Group of Polimex-Mostostal, Skanska, Unibep and Warbud.

Activity of the Agreement does not only focus on a group of signatories, who employ more than 20 thousand employees and implement contracts throughout the country, but also on a large group of subcontractors who account for 70 percent of the workforce carrying out the investment.

The Week for Safety is a campaign aimed at promoting safe work, addressed to all construction workers of the signatories, including subcontractors. This is the second edition of this event. The last year's Week for Safety was a success, mainly thanks to the ingenuity of the organizer and commitment of the participants. The activities at construction sites of the signatories to the Agreement were participated by approx. 40 thousand of own workers and workers of subcontractors. Each company carried out activities drawn jointly on the basis of the "Books of ideas" at their construction sites. These included demonstrations of personal protective equipment, rope rescue and aquatic equipment drills, using fire extinguishers, evacuation of the site, workshops on handling power tools, training in first aid and many more. Similar initiatives will also be undertaken this year. Examples of the activities do not exhaust the possible ideas for the organization the Week for Safety. Additional information and materials that can be used to promote security can be found at www.porozumieniedlabezpieczenstwa.pl.
The Week for Safety is one of many joint projects of the signatory companies. The already completed include the common model Instructions for Safe Execution of Works, the standards supporting the development of them, uniform occupational health and safety requirements for subcontractors in all companies, periodic training and the obligation to use safety glasses.

Support of organizations related to the construction industry which engage in the activities of the Agreement is very important in the quest to improve safety in the industry. The group includes: the Chief Inspector of Labour, the National Labour Inspectorate, the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians, the "Budowlani" Trade Union, the Polish Association of Construction Industry Employers, the Federation of Building and Woodworkers "Solidarity", the Polish Chamber of Civil Engineers, and from 2014 - the Social Insurance Institution and the National Association of Workers' Health and Safety Service .

The Week for Safety organized by the signatories is a very important element in promoting the culture of safe work in the construction industry. We strongly encourage all those for whom human health and life is the highest value to take up such initiatives .