Category: Social Dialogue

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Projects, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Report 1st Regional Seminar Dublin 31 January 2013

Brussels, 5 February 2013

Joint EPSU-HOSPEEM Project “Promotion and support of the implementation of Directive 2010/32/EU on the prevention of sharps injuries in the hospital and health care sector”

Regional Seminar 1 – Dublin, 31 January 2013



Godfrey Perera, Chief Executive, HOSPEEM ; John Delamere, Head of Corporate Employee Relations, HSE ; Louise O’Donnell, Coordinator Healthcare Sector, IMPACT ; Tina Weber, ICF GHK (from left to right) during the opening plenary session

The first regional seminar with about 90 participants from 10 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom) invited to attend the event took place on 31 January 2013 in Dublin. It was jointly hosted by the Health Service Executive (HSE) representing the Irish hospital employers and IMPACT for the trade union side and organised by HOSPEEM and EPSU.

FINAL agenda (as of 24 January 2013) – in EN only
PDF - 327.9 ko FINAL Agenda Seminar (as of 24 January 2013) – in EN only



Impression from a working group with colleagues from Finland, Lithuania, The Netherlands and Sweden

An article has been written by the HOSPEEM Secretariat that you can read in the file below and soon on HOSPEEM’s homepage.

PDF - 231.1 ko Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Press Release HOSPEEM (05.02.13)

Read the report of the regional seminar, drafted by ICF GHK (Dr. Tina Weber) – in EN, FR and DE.
a) in EN
PDF - 336.7 ko Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – EN

b) in FR
PDF - 353.1 ko Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – FR

c) in DE
PDF - 361.4 ko Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – DE

We have uploaded below the slide sets (mostly in EN) to accompany the presentations given at the seminar.

Presentations

Provisional results of EPSU-HOSPEEM Survey on the state of the art of the use and implementation of Directive 2010/32/EU and the role of the social partners in the transposition of EU-legislation into national rules (Dr. Tina Weber, ICF GHK)
PDF - 641.4 ko Presentation Weber – EN

Finland
Irmeli Vuoriluoto, Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy), Helsinki
PDF - 363.3 ko Presentation Vuoriluoto – EN

Ireland
1) Esther Lynch, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Dublin
PDF - 949.1 ko Presentation Lynch – EN

2) Dr. Blánaid Hayes, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
PDF - 905.7 ko Presentation Hayes – EN

Lithuania
Živilė Mikalauskienė & Genovaitė Milošienė, Lithuanian Trade Union of Health Care Employees (LSADPS), Vilnius
PDF - 302.2 ko Presentation Mikalauskiene & Milosiene – LT + EN

The Netherlands
Dr. Paul Van Wijk, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam
a) in EN
PDF - 72.4 ko Presentation van Wijk – EN

b) in NL
PDF - 123.7 ko Presentation van Wijk – NL

Sweden
Prof. Dr. Ann-Beth Antonsson, Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Stockholm
PDF - 435 ko Presentation Antonsson – EN

Further reading :
Study on the prevention from injuries with sharps injuries (in SV)
a) Summary in EN
PDF - 103.1 ko Summary Information IVN Study Sharps Injuries – EN

b) Detailed information in SV
Stick- och skärskador inom hälso- och sjukvården – Förebyggande insatser för skador och smitta pga. vassa instrument

United Kingdom
Kim Sunley, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) / Ann Stansfield (Peterborough City Hospital) / Robert Baughan (UNISON), London / Peterborough
PDF - 1.3 Mo Presentation Sunley & Stansfield & Baughan – EN



Tjitte Alkema, Secretary General, HOSPEEM ; David Hughes, Deputy General Secretary, INMO ; Tina Weber, ICF GHK (from left to right) during the closing panel

You’ll find below a the file a short presentation of HOSPEEM and EPSUincluding a summary of the activities and outcomes of the sectoral social dialogue committee in the hospital and health care sector in 2012.

PDF - 341.8 ko Presentation HOSPEEM & EPSU + Activities & Outcomes 2012 SSDC HS

 
This project has received funding from the European Commission

Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – FR

Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – DE

Regional Seminar 1 Dublin Report ICF GHK (Tina Weber) – UK

Events, News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Healthcare employers & employees share their experience on implementation of the Sharps directive

The European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) organised the first regional seminar to promote and support the implementation of Directive 2010/32/EU on the prevention of sharps injuries in the hospital and health care sector. This project is funded by the European Commission.

The seminar took place on 31 January in Dublin and was hosted by the Health Service Executive (HSE) representing the Irish health employers and IMPACT, the Irish Trade Union. The seminar was attended by 90 representatives of employers, employees, national authorities and other stakeholders from 10 countries.

During the seminar a presentation by ICF GHK was made to outline the first result of the survey on the progress so far in the implementation of the directive.

There were also presentations about the transposition of the directive in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom from practitioners and academia representatives. The speakers underlined the importance of continued work on the issue, investment in protective safety equipment, better training and reporting, and the role social partners should play at local, national and European level to prevent sharps injuries.

The presentations were followed by working groups who discussed how best to implement the directive. The groups comprised of employers and employees’ representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The findings gathered at the seminar will be published in the event report in mid-February on the webpage devoted to the project.

Further seminars in the framework of the project will take place on 7 March in Rome and on 16 April in Vienna. The final conference will be held on 20 June in Barcelona.
—–
For further information, please contact:

HOSPEEM:
Elisa Benedetti +32 2 229 21 58
Ewelina Pysklo +32 2 229 21 57
E-mail: hospeem@hospeem.eu

EPSU:
Mathias Maucher +32 2 250 10 93
E-mail: mmaucher@epsu.org

HOSPEEM is the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers Association. It regroups at European level national , regional and local employers’ associations operating in the hospital and health care sector and delivering services of general interest, in order to co-ordinate their views and actions with regard to a sector and a market in constant evolution. HOSPEEM is an individual member of CEEP.

EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions and the second largest federation of the ETUC, with 8 million public service workers from over 200 trade unions in 45 countries. They organise workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration. In health and social services EPSU members affiliate about 3.5 million workers.

This project is supported with funds from the European Commission

Social Dialogue Hospeem

Negotiation, consultation and autonomy of EU Social Partners – 20 years of the Social Partners' Agreement

The European Commission held a major conference on Social Dialogue in Warsaw on 24-25 November 2011 to commemorate 20 years of the social partners’ agreement.

The aim of this conference was to recall the process from the adoption of the European Social Partners’ Agreement of 1991 to the integration of the Maastricht Social Protocol into the Amsterdam Treaty (currently Arts 154 and 155) and to place it into the current context, assessing what changes it brought about both in EU primary and secondary law, how the consultation and negotiation process between EU social partners evolved, what concrete results it has led to, and an evaluation of the current state of social dialogue.

HOSPEEM and EPSU as representatives of the sectoral social dialogue committee participated in the session on “Implementation of agreements by Directive – Social Partners’ experience,” to speak about sharps. The session was then followed by a DVD on Sharps injuries produced by the European Commission.

European Commission video on Sharps injuries

  • To download the video click here

HOSPEEM Presentation – Agreement on Sharp Injuries – Godfrey PERERA

EPSU Presentation – EC 20 years ESD Directive – Mathias MAUCHER

Conference Programme

 

For more information contact

HOSPEEM: Elisa Benedetti hospeem@hospeem.eu
EPSU: Mathias Maucher mmaucher@epsu.org

 


Activities, Projects, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Implementation of multi-sectoral guidance on third party violence in the workplace

Introduction

This document provides a summary report of the discussions at the three regional workshops held as part of the project on the Implementation of the multi-sectoral guidance on third party violence in the workplace, in London on 9th May, in Rome on 14th June and in and in in Prague on 6 September 2011.

Background of the project

On 16 July 2010, EPSU, UNIEuropa, ETUCE, HOSPEEM, CEMR, EFEE, EUROCOMMERCE, COESS, representing the social partners of the commerce, private security, local governments, education and hospital sectors have reached an agreement on multi-sectoral guidelines aimed to tackle third-party violence and harassment at work.

These Guidelines have been developed following two major conferences organised with the support of the Commission in March 2008 and October 2009 at which the outcomes of a research on third-party violence were presented along with case studies and joint conclusions . Therefore, these Guidelines build on these initiatives and complement the cross-sectoral Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work of 26 April 2007.

The organisation which were party to the multi-sectoral guidelines subsequently decided to disseminate the guidelines and obtained funding from the European Commission for a project to assist with the translation of the guidance into all EU languages, for three regional seminars and a final conference to be held with the goal making the guidelines more widely known, sharing good practices in tackling third party violence in the workplace and encouraging national member organisations to think about how the guidelines will be implemented in each Member State. GHK Consulting was commissioned to assist in the moderation of these events and in the preparation of reports.

The social partners from Central Government Administration (Trade Union’s National and European Delegation and European Public Administration Employers) added their signatures to the Multisectoral Guidelines on 17 December 2018, at the Liaison Forum in Brussels. Find the press release here

FULL TEXT: Summary report regional workshops | Multisectoral Guidelines Signed (guidelines also available in FR/DE/BG/CZ/DK/EE/EL/ES/FI/HU/IT/LT/NL/PL/PT/RO/RU/SK/SL)

Social Dialogue Hospeem

European Social Partners in the Hospital Sector met Health Commissioner John Dalli

Godfrey Perera, Secretary General of HOSPEEM and Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, General Secretary of EPSU met yesterday Commissioner John Dalli to discuss cooperation between DG SANCO and the recognised European Social Partners in the hospital and healthcare sector.

The meeting built the foundation for co-operation with the social partners in the hospital and health care sector. Commissioner Dalli stressed the importance of involving the social partners in the European health policy debate, underlining that the social partners can make a crucial contribution to discussions based on their practical expertise.

Both HOSPEEM and EPSU underlined their keen interest of becoming involved in planning, implementation and follow-up to the Joint Action on EU Health Workforce Planning, as a first common priority. In this context, the social partner representatives referred to the Framework of Action “Recruitment and Retention”, signed on 17 December 2010, constituting the key reference document to develop concrete action to tackle staff shortages and qualification needs now and in the future. In the meeting with Commissioner Dalli, EPSU and HOSPEEM also presented the Code of Conduct on Ethical Cross-Border Recruitment and Retention in the Hospital Sector, adopted on 7 April 2008, and explored how this social-partner-based document could be better promoted at European level, in parallel to the complementary WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, adopted in May 2010.

“We need a balanced approach to mobility of health care staff” said Godfrey Perera, HOSPEEM Secretary General. “We cannot sustain a situation where the more affluent countries in the EU benefit to the detriment of the exporting countries, such as Latvia or Romania.” Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, General Secretary of EPSU, concurred in saying: ”Investing in health care is investing in the future of a country. The health status of a nation determines its economic performance. Health care staff are extremely motivated to do a good job. This motivation should be built upon to enhance the employment of both younger and older staff now and in the future.“

Commissioner Dalli concluded the meeting by stating that he looked forward to working closely with the Social Partners in the future.

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The Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector was set up in 2006. EPSU and HOSPEEM have agreed on a number of joint texts and are involved in projects to promote a properly functioning social dialogue across Europe. The most prominent example of successful negotiations is the Framework Agreement on the prevention of sharps’ injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector concluded by HOSPEEM and EPSU on 17 July 2009, later incorporated in Directive 2010/32/EU of 11 May 2010, currently transposed into national legislation. For EPSU and HOSPEEM European integration is very much linked to universal access to health care for all, based on solidarity and equity.

HOSPEEM is the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers Association. It regroups at European level national , regional and local employers’ associations operating in the hospital and health care sector and delivering services of general interest, in order to co-ordinate their views and actions with regard to a sector and a market in constant evolution. HOSPEEM is an individual member of CEEP.

EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC with 8 million public service workers from over 200 trade unions are members. They organise workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration

Activities, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Social Partners' Joint Work Programme 2011-2013

European Sectoral Social Dialogue in the Hospital Sector

EPSU-HOSPEEM Joint Work Programme 2011-2013

In the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector on both 18 December 2010 (Plenary Meeting) and 31 January 2011 (Working Group) EPSU and HOSPEEM reaffirmed their commitment to continue their work and partnership approach as developed in the context of their first two joint work programmes 2006-2007 and 2008-2010.

The main general tasks for HOSPEEM and EPSU will remain in the coming three years to strengthen the social dialogue in the hospital sector at European, national, regional and local level and to take up our responsibilities as the recognised social partner European organisations for employers and workers in the hospital sector.

The third joint work programme covers the period from 2011 to 2013. There is ample evidence from the second period 2008-2010 that a three years work programme is instrumental for the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee to discuss, plan, implement, complete and follow up on agreed priorities. Halfway through this period, in autumn 2012, the Committee will take stock of the work accomplished by then and assess its outcomes in order to – where appropriate – adapt planned activities and/or update priorities. The EPSU-HOSPEEM Work Programme 2011-2013 sketches out planned activities and projects under the European Sectoral Social Dialogue in the Hospital Sector.

HOSPEEM-EPSU-Work-Prog-2011-2013-Overview | HOSPEEM-EPSU-Work-Prog 2011-2013-Annex-1 | HOSPEEM-EPSU-Work-Prog 2011-2013-Annex-1

News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Social Partners signed a Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention on 17 December 2010

Press Communication

This framework constitutes an important basis for social partners at European and national levels to develop concrete action to tackle staff shortages and qualification needs now and in the future.

“Our framework shows that social partners can produce practical results that will improve health care delivery in the interest of patients, health care providers and workers. To have the right workforce planning mechanisms in place is key from an employers’ perspective in the health and hospital sector. Innovative workplace designs can be supported by ICT-instruments, actively involving the healthcare workforce and their representatives.” says Godfrey Perera, HOSPEEM Secretary General.

The chief executive of HOSPEEM also warned against short-sighted cuts in health expenditure in the context of the current crisis. “It not only takes a long time to train qualified staff, but also requires the necessary resources. We therefore should deal carefully with these resources.”

“Our healthcare systems cannot function properly without a well-trained and motivated workforce. Their contribution must be recognised also in their terms and conditions of work,” stresses Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, EPSU General Secretary. She underlines the added value of facilitating full-time work and integrating fix-term and agency workers into the regular workforce. “This objective we need to pursue over time through concrete steps. We see it as our task to make the healthcare and hospital sector an attractive workplace for women and men. We therefore need measures for improved work-life balance in the sector.”

The social partners have agreed to develop joint model initiatives, supported also by the collection of case studies and good practice.

They also committed themselves to jointly monitor relevant European legislation and policies and to embark on follow-up action on the implementation of the Code of Conduct on Ethical Cross-border Recruitment and Retention in the Hospital Sector.

Download Press Communication

News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Meeting with Minister for Health Didzis Gavars

Press Release

Meeting of the Minister for Health Didzis Gavars with Godfrey Perera, Secretary General of European hospital and healthcare employers’ association

(Riga) – “The involvement of health care sector NGO’s in the decision making of high importance issues gives an opportunity for eventually best problem solutions. Therefore the proposals and warnings from professionals should be taken into account in the development process of next year’s budget. In my opinion, the health care budget should not be subject for further decrease and taking into account all the financial possibilities in future the health care budget should make 4% of the GDP in order to stabilize the health care sector”, said the Minister for Health of the Republic of Latvia Didzis Gavars in the meeting with Godfrey Perera, Secretary General of the European hospital and healthcare employers’ association and Jevgenijs Kalejs, the Chair of Latvian Hospital Association.

During the meeting there were discussions on the situation in the field of health care in Latvia and as well as in the European Union. The Minister for Health of the Republic of Latvia emphasized that there should be further actions taken in order to increase the efficiency of the health care sector by developing out-patient care. As well as during the meeting there was stressed the need for continuing the work together with social partners on the development of National Human resources program, that would in a long term grant access to health care services from highly qualified health care professionals.

During the meeting the implementation of the not yet adopted proposal for a Directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare was pointed out as one of the main challenges on the European Union level.

News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

European organisations agree on measures to counter workplace violence

Press release

Eight European organisations of social partners have today adopted joint Guidelines setting out the practical steps that can be taken by employers, workers and trade unions to tackle problems of thirdparty violence in a range of different service sectors. The guidelines have been agreed by CEMR, CoESS, EFEE, EPSU, ETUCE, EuroCommerce, HOSPEEM and UNI Europa, all sectors which face the challenge of violence originating from members of the public.

The European Working Conditions Survey shows that almost one in ten workers in the EU report having suffered violence, bullying or harassment at work in the previous year (results 2005 survey).
According to the survey, carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, third party violence at the hands of clients, customers or patients is more common than violence from work colleagues. Threats of violence and actual violence from third parties are most common in a variety of sectors.

The eight sectors are increasingly concerned about the impact of such violence since it not only undermines the health and dignity of individual workers, but also has a very real economic impact in terms of absences from the workplace, morale and staff turnover.

The Guidelines are the outcome of a two-year process supported by the European Commission to assess the issues through research, workshops and the exchange of best practices.The Guidelines aim to:

– Increase awareness and understanding of employers, workers, their representatives and other public authorities (e.g. health and safety agencies, police, etc) of the issue of third party violence
– Demonstrate the commitment of social partners to working together and sharing experiences and good practice to help prevent and manage problems of harassment and/or violence instigated by third parties and reduce the impact on employees’ health and well-being, sickness absence and productivity.
– Provide employers, workers and their representatives at all levels with Guidelines to identify, prevent manage and tackle problems of work related harassment and violence instigated by third parties.

The Guidelines complement the cross-sectoral agreement on violence and harassment at work, adopted in 20074.

CEMR, CoESS, EFEE, EPSU, ETUCE, EuroCommerce, HOSPEEM and UNI Europa will work together to implement the Guidelines in all member states.

FULL TEXT: Multisectoral Guidelines Signed

(FULL TEXT also available in FR/DE/BG/CZ/DK/EE/EL/ES/FI/HU/IT/LT/NL/PL/PT/RO/RU/SK/SL)

Press release: Press Release Signature guidelines 30 Sept 2010

Social Dialogue Hospeem

Multi-sectoral guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work

Eight European Sectoral Social Partners; HOSPEEM, CEMR, CoESS, EFEE, EuroCommerce, EPSU, UNI Europa and ETUCE reached an agreement on a set of “Multi-sectoral Guidelines to Tackle Third-Party Violence and Harassment related to Work” on 16 July 2010.

The social partners from Central Government Administration (Trade Union’s National and European Delegation – TUNED and European Public Administration Employers – EUPAE) added their signatures to the Multisectoral Guidelines on 17 December 2018, at the Liaison Forum in Brussels. Find the press release here

The aim of the Guidelines is to ensure that that each workplace has a results-oriented policy which addresses the issue of third-party violence. The Guidelines set out the practical steps that can be taken by employers, workers and their representatives /trade unions to reduce, prevent and mitigate problems. The steps reflect the best practices developed in our sectors and they can be complemented by more specific and/or additional measures.

According to EU and national law, both employers and workers have obligations in the field of health and safety. Although, the duty to ensure the health and safety of workers in every aspect related to the work lies with the employer, the employees also have a responsibility to take care, as far as possible, of their own health and safety and that of other persons affected by their actions at work, in accordance with their training and the instructions given by their employer. Employers also have an obligation to consult workers and/or their representatives and allow them to take part on all questions relating to health and safety at work. This reflects awareness that, in practice, a joint approach to health and safety is the most successful.

The signatory social partners from the local and regional governments, healthcare, commerce, private security and education sectors are increasingly concerned about the impact of third-party violence on employees because it not only undermines an individual’s health and dignity, but also has a very real economic impact in terms of absence from the workplace, morale and staff turnover. Third party-violence can also create an environment that is unsafe and even frightening to the public and service users and therefore has a wide negative social impact.

Work-related third-party violence and harassment can take many forms. It could:

a) Be physical, psychological, verbal and/or sexual b) Be one-off incidents or more systematic patterns of behaviour, by an individual or group c) Originate from the actions or behaviour of clients, customers, patients, service users, pupils or parents, members of the public, or of the service provider d) Range from cases of disrespect to more serious threats and physical assault; e) Be caused by mental health problems and/or motivated by emotional reasons, personal dislike, prejudices on grounds of gender, racial/ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or body image. f) Constitute criminal offences aimed at the employee and his/her reputation or the property of the employer or client which may be organised or opportunistic and which require the intervention of public authorities g) Deeply affect the personality, dignity and integrity of the victims h) Occur at the work place, in the public space or in a private environment and is work related. i) Occur as cyber-bullying/cyber-harassment through a wide range of information and communication technologies (ICT).

The issue of third party violence is sufficiently distinct from the question of violence and harassment (among colleagues) in the workplace, and sufficiently significant in terms of its impact on the health and safety of workers and its economic impact to warrant a distinctive approach.

Although there are sectoral and organisational differences with regard to third-party violence faced by workers in different occupations and workplaces, the key elements of good practice and steps to tackle it are common to all working environments. These elements are: a partnership approach; clear definitions; prevention through risk assessment, awareness raising, training; clear reporting and follow-up; and appropriate evaluation.

With the support of the European Commission the multi-sectoral social partners organized two major conferences in Brussels on 14 March 2008 and 22 October 2009 at which the employers’ and trade unions’ research into third-party violence was presented along with case studies and joint conclusions. These Guidelines build on these initiatives. They complement the cross-sectoral Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work of 26 April 2007. The way in which particular services are organised and provided reflects national, regional and local circumstances. Where social partners are already implementing the measures set out in these Guidelines the main action to take will be to report on progress made.

The multi-sectoral social partners recognize that the employers and workers have professional, ethical and legal obligations to third parties as well as to each other.

FULL TEXT: Multi Sectoral Guidelines on Third Party Violence

(also available in FR/DE/BG/CZ/DK/EE/EL/ES/FI/HU/IT/LT/NL/PL/PT/RO/RU/SK/SL)

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