MOSCOW, October 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for a comprehensive approach to ensuring proper working conditions at hazardous jobs, including the preservation of bonuses for special conditions.
“All this should be monitored in the most attentive way,” Putin said at a meeting of the government on Thursday.
Putin declared that number of necessary changes to the regulatory framework had already been made. In addition, from September 1 the attestation of workplaces and working conditions can only be conducted by independent accredited organizations with the participation of trade unions.
Speaking of compensations, Putin said that their size from 2004 to 2010 more than doubled to grow from 49 billion rubles to 102 billion rubles.
Putin pointed out that more than 5 million people in Russia were employed in hazardous conditions.
"This is a consequence of the imperfect structure of our economy, a reflection of the technological backwardness of many industries," he said. "That is why it is important to consistently pursue a policy of introducing innovations and modern environmental standards," said the head of government. "Poor employment and areas of risk to the employee must be banished from the economy," he said.
Putin acknowledged that today it was impossible to completely close down production facilities with hazardous conditions.
"But it is our duty to reliably guarantee the rights and legitimate interests of workers, to create a system that would protect human health and life and, on the other hand, that would not allow unscrupulous employers to contain costs on the safety standards and ignore environmental requirements," he added.
"We need comprehensive steps - from the introduction of educational programs for health and safety in high schools and vocational schools to enhancing the operation of monitoring and watchdog bodies," said the prime minister.
Putin recalled that because of the unsatisfactory state of occupational safety and health direct economic losses each year reached 2 trillion rubles, or 4.2 percent of the GDP.