Six leading European construction bodies sign Bilbao Declaration, which aims to substantially reduce number of construction deaths in EU.
A landmark declaration was signed at the European Construction Safety Summit today to lift health and safety standards in the industry.
The Bilbao Declaration signed by the Dutch presidency and six leading construction bodies sets out five key actions:
- To integrate health and safety standards into procurement policies
- To ensure health and safety is taken into account at design and planning stages
- To use site inspections and other techniques to encourage more compliance
- To develop guidelines to help small- and medium-sized enterprises comply with legislation
- To stimulate higher standards of health and safety with dialogue and agreements on training and accident reduction targets.
According to the European Agency for Health and Safety at work almost 1,200 construction employees are killed in the workplace every year, with the annual financial cost of accidents at work more than 鈧�75 billion.
The six construction bodies signing the declaration were: European Construction Industry Federation; European Federation of 好色先生TV and Wood Workers; European Builders' Confederation; European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations; Architects' Council of Europe and European Council of Civil Engineers.
