European Trade Union Committee for Education

In 2010-2011 as a result of the restructuring of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, negative trends could be identified in relation to occupational health and safety (OSH) in the education sector such as the abolition of the structural subdivision of the Ministry – the Unit on Occupational Health and Safety, the lack of coordination of activities related to OSH conducted by the educational authorities in regions of the Russian Federation, reduced responsibility of  the leadership for ensuring healthy and safe working conditions at the workplace in educational institutions.

In the light of the CEE Round Table in Bucharest on 19-21 October 2015, Mr. Yuri Shemelev, head of the occupational health and safety department and Chief Technical Labour Inspector of the Education and Science Employees' Union of Russia’s Central Council presented the state of affairs in the field of occupational health and safety in the Russian Federation.

As a consequence of the negative developments, the number of the professionals in the field of OSH had been reduced in schools and higher education institutions; only in 15% of education institutions risk assessments were carried out; there had been an increase in the number of occupational injuries (1345 of occupational accidents in 2010, out of which 28 were fatal); the number of occupational accidents among students had also increased. The ESEUR leadership addressed an official letter to Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, regarding the current OSH situation in the education system. Mr. Shemelev had recourse to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation calling for appropriate measures in exercise of overseeing the implementation of the occupational health and safety legislation by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

Issues related to accidents among children in the educational environment were addressed in the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the ESEUR initiative and highlighted by the mass media as well as reflected in proposals when drafting the law on “Education in the Russian Federation”. As a result of the measures undertaken a comprehensive and holistic approach to addressing issues on the preservation of life and health of education employees and students started to take shape in the education management system.

At present, the ESEUR’s occupational health and safety unit works actively with the re-established ministerial OSH Unit in the field of legal OSH regulation in the education system. Recently, such important legal acts as the Procedure for investigating occupational accidents involving students and the Regulation on the establishment and functioning of the OSH management system in education were revised and updated.  An incipient trend to reduce the number of occupational accidents among education employees (in 2014 -888) had emerged.  Specific evaluation of the working conditions that replaces the attestation of workplaces is gathering pace. The funding for OSH activities in education institutions has been increased (in 2014 – 11 billion rubles (EUR 159 427 857)).  At present, the ESEUR’s 55 employees at regional level form the technical labour inspection. Three significant projects were conducted. The first project consisted of monitoring research on health, operational conditions and lifestyle of education employees, in which 50.000 respondents took part. The second project consisted of the thematic inspection on the hygienic evaluation of the quality attestation of work places in education institutions, during which more than 8.000 institutions were inspected. The third one consisted of systematic training (once in 3 years) among all technical labour inspectors of the ESEUR in accredited training centers. The programme consists of 40-hours of training including a special programme of an independent expertise of working conditions.

“All above-mentioned measures undertaken by the ESEUR over the last years allow to improve the state of affairs in the field of OSH in education”, concluded Mr.Yuri Shemelev.