17,850 are the companies in the province of Treviso operating in temporary or mobile construction sites-we are referring to construction companies, installers, window and door fitters, companies active in the sectors of wood and furniture, metal carpentry and green – employing 67. 100 employees, the recipients of the measure that introduced the obligation to achieve having the requirements to obtain the so-called CREDIT PATENT that comes into force next October 1 – says Oscar Bernardi, president of Confartigianato Imprese Marca Trevigiana – Confartigianato since last March, the month in which the Decree was published, has made known its opposition to the establishment of the new mechanism, judging it to be cumbersome and full of uncertainties and gaps in its application, destined to produce no positive results in terms of reducing accidents at temporary or mobile construction sites. To date, people are still waiting for the implementing measures, of which only a draft is circulating, and the dedicated portal that were supposed to be released before the summer break to allow companies to take care of the preliminary investigation in time.
To ensure that entrepreneurs, with or without employees, do not arrive close to the deadline without having proceeded to verify that they meet the requirements necessary to make the request to the Ministry of Labor, the Association has scheduled three events in the area: the first was held in Asolo on August 27 and was attended by more than three hundred entrepreneurs; the other two are set for September 3 in the Dina Orsi auditorium in Conegliano and September 4 at the BHR Treviso Hotel convention center in Quinto di Treviso at 20.00.
The events are being held in collaboration with the Filca-Cisl, Fillea-CGIL, and Feneal-Uil trade unions in the province of Treviso and with the organizational support of Confartigianato Marca Trevigiana Formazione and the contribution of Edilcassa Veneto.
To obtain the credit-based license, which will be digital only, the company or self-employed person even without employees must be registered with the Chamber of Commerce, must have fulfilled safety training obligations, must have a number of documents proving that the company is in compliance with social security and tax regulations, and must have appointed the person in charge of the prevention and protection service. Each license has a minimum of 30 points, which can be increased based on the company’s seniority and investments in occupational health and safety. But points are lost in the event of an inspection finding for safety noncompliance or in the event of an occupational injury. When the score falls below 15, the company can no longer enter the worksite. The license is also suspended ex officio for 12 months in the event of a fatal accident attributable to gross negligence on the part of the enterprise or if the requirements stated to obtain it are not met or not true.
It is clear that the points-based license is based on a series of documents, requirements and fulfillments that are already mandatory for the company and available to those whose task it is to check – notes President Bernardi – Translating all this into a points-based classification that entails additional fulfillments adds nothing to safety and puts small companies in particular difficulty, because larger companies, qualified to access contracts over 1,033,000 euros (the so-called Soa third class) are exempt from the obligation. As an association, we are convinced that occupational safety is not protected with bureaucracy, but with compliance with rules that must be clear and enforceable, with joint bodies between business organizations and workers’ unions, with prevention and training that must begin as early as the classrooms, with the correct application of the sector’s national labor contracts, through business associations that spread the culture of legality, by cross-referencing the many existing databases to put in place an effective national prevention plan, with a strengthened labor inspection system and without unnecessary duplication of responsibilities. Only in this way, by creating an environment conducive to collaboration and listening, will we be able to make concrete progress toward greater safety at construction sites and workplaces.
The association system has already activated an advisory service for those companies that need to apply for a license to credits because from October 1 those operating on construction sites without the document will be sanctioned with a fine of no less than 6 thousand euros.