Occupational Hygiene and Safety in Nicaragua
The hygiene and safety of collaborators in companies is an issue that regains special importance in the circumstance of the pandemic caused by Covid-19 in which we currently find ourselves. With the entry of the virus into the country, various economic sectors were affected, mainly those related to services, commerce and tourism.
The current national legislation on occupational hygiene and safety establishes a series of obligations and recommendations that the employer must take into account to preserve hygiene in the workplace, guarantee the health of their collaborators and avoid possible sanctions by the employer. Ministry of Labor (MITRAB).
In this regard, the General Law on Occupational Hygiene and Safety, Law No. 618 published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 133 of July 2007, and its regulations, Decree No. 96-2007 published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 196 of October 12, 2007 are intended to establish a set of minimum provisions that, in terms of hygiene and safety at work, the State, employers and workers must develop in the workplace, through the promotion, intervention, surveillance and establishment of actions to protect workers in the performance of their work.
Among the main obligations that the employer must fulfill by virtue of the regulations indicated above, is that of adopting the necessary and adequate preventive measures to effectively guarantee the hygiene and safety of its workers in all aspects related to work. As well as that of constituting in the workplace, a mixed commission of occupational hygiene and safety, which must be integrated with an equal number of workers and employer representatives.
As indicated in the reformed Ministerial Resolution on the Mixed Commissions of Occupational Hygiene and Safety in Companies published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 29 of February 9, 2007, the mixed commission of occupational hygiene and safety is a joint body of participation in the activities of protection and prevention of risks in the work center promoted by the administration of the work center through the management carried out by the technician in charge of attending to Hygiene and Safety in the Work Center. All mixed commissions must be registered with the Ministry of Labor and have internal operating regulations and an annual work plan. This last document must also be presented to the MITRAB authorities.
Among the main functions that this commission can carry out are related to the evaluation, determination and investigation of professional risks of the company; monitoring and control of compliance with the provisions adopted in the area of occupational risk prevention; propose to the employer the adoption of preventive measures, aimed at improving the levels of protection and prevention of occupational risks, among others.
The formation and/or activation of the mixed occupational hygiene and safety commission is an important tool available to employers that will allow, with the support of the company's collaborators, to take technical biosafety measures and other measures that are deemed pertinent. and are particularly suitable for the company. This translates into benefits such as cost reduction in the implementation of the measures and guaranteeing hygienic working conditions, aimed at avoiding the contagion and spread of COVID-19.