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Contractors Reject Decree Stating That Job Site Security Is the Responsibility of Companies

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• Within the framework of the National Occupational Safety and Health Plan for the period 2024-2028.

After the Association of Forestry Contractors filed a complaint in 2022 against the Chilean state for alleged non-compliance with International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 187, related to occupational health and safety—given the more than 490 attacks suffered over a decade, 22 of which have been recorded this year—and conciliation meetings with the government were held during 2023, this productive sector expressed its dissatisfaction with the decree enacted by the government, which will remain in effect until 2028.

From the contractors' analysis, the regulation holds companies responsible for implementing safety measures at job sites.

The ILO convention, to which Chile is a signatory, states that "workers must be protected from unjustified consequences if they judge it necessary to interrupt a work situation because they believe (...) it poses a danger to their life or health."

The manager of the Forestry Contractors, René Muñoz, argued that "we maintain that the state must include public security in its National Occupational Safety and Health Policy, but the decree places the responsibility on forestry, transportation, and other companies to address external violence affecting workplaces."

Although the Undersecretariat of Social Security of the Ministry of Labor committed to providing its version on the issue, it had not been received by the time this edition went to press.

Source: subscription edition ofEl Mercurio