Inspectorate: Work-Related Violations Drop Slightly
On its visits to 1,305 companies during the first quarter of the year, the Labor Inspectorate registered 4,538 violations, which it said is only a slight improvement compared to the same period of 2011.
The majority of the violations, 3,880, were related to employee health and safety. In the first quarter of 2011, the figure stood at 4,040.
The biggest improvements were seen in companies' implementation of internal controls, which was evaluated as either “fairly good” or “good” at 83 percent of the enterprises. According to Evelin Kivimaa, head of public relations at the inspectorate, the figure is 10 percent higher than it was in the first three months of last year.
The agency registered 429 breaches of work contracts and 299 incidents in which work and rest requirements of drivers were not met.
The number of work-related accidents during the quarter rose by 20 to reach 1,007. Accidents classified as serious dropped slightly - from 229 to 215. There were five fatal accidents registered in the first three months of this year, one more compared to 2011.
The inspectorate's labor dispute committees received 713 complaints during the period, 230 fewer than a year earlier.
Ingrid Teesalu