Perceptions of workers of the role of Maltese tradeunions in health and safety issues

Abstract

Issues related to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) form part of the domain of the trade unions, as workers’ representatives, and of the employers who have to shoulder responsibility for what goes on at the workplace. The Legislative framework governing and regulating OHS practices in Malta assigns specific roles to the employers and to workers’ representatives. How does this affect the psyche of the workers who ultimately are the main stakeholders in this issue? How are the provisions in the law being translated into practices and policies that affect workers’ perceptions and awareness at the workplace? Are initiatives and measures being taken to raise the level of awareness and alertness about OHS issues among the workers? These are the main questions being addressed in this paper through a quantitative survey complemented by data emanating from interviews with three actors who play a leading role in this field. From the data that emanate from the empirical study the indicators are that, by and large, the employers are putting into practice the principles underlying OHS practices and overall they are conforming to the provisions of the OHSA Act regulating and governing OHS practices and policies. Indeed most of the employees do not believe that there is wide gap between the principles governing OHS and the practicalities at the workplace. The trade union however is not seen by most employees as being the focal point about OHS issues. What the data emphatically points out is the need to raise the awareness of employees to a higher level so as to make OHS measures more effective.