Over half of serious accidents at work are due to employer or joint fault, Labor Inspectorate

About 55-60% of the serious accidents at work, including the fatal ones, occur through the fault of the employer or through joint fault, says state general labor inspector Dumitru Stavila. Asked by Info-Prim Neo to comment on the statements of the vice president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions Oleg Budza, who said that in many cases, the Labor Inspectorate and the employer reach an agreement after a work accident is investigated, Dumitru Stavila said that representatives of the salary earner can also participate in the investigation of accidents at work, alongside the labor inspector and the commission set up by the employer. “The Labor Inspectorate is not the last institution that investigates accidents. Each of the sides involved can challenge the report on the investigation results according to the rules of the disputed claims office, if they do not agree with it,” the state general labor inspector said. According to him, three employees of the Labor Inspectorate have been fired over corruption since 2006. Dumitru Stavila said that the Prosecutor’s Office seldom sanctions, starts legal proceedings and sends the cases to court. Most of the times, the cases are closed because they do not include the components of an offence. Most of the labor accidents happen in construction, processing industry, agriculture and transport. In 2008, the Labor Inspectorate investigated 45 accidents at work with lethal outcome.