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The Origin of the Vision Zero – the Concept of the World Prevention Strategy

"Vision Zero" is a strategy of prevention in the field of occupational safety, developed by International Social Security Association – ISSA, which Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS) belongs to since 1991.

The Strategy was developed by health and safety experts, occupational medicine experts, employers, managers, employee representatives, labour inspectors, and others from around the world.

The Agricultural Social Insurance Fund runs the International Section of the ISSA on Prevention in Agriculture. The Fund joined the international campaign promoting the Vision Zero in 2018, thus became the official Partner of Vision Zero.

Vision Zero Strategy(VZS) in Agriculture Sector in Poland

The main goal of VZS in the agricultural sector is to reduce the number of accidents at work and occupational diseases, which is linked with the creation of better working conditions and improvement of farmers' health. The VZS is based on the belief that accidents at work and occupational diseases can be eliminated through the use of appropriate prevention strategy.

For Agricultural Social Insurance Fund, which has been actively conducting prevention activities in the field of work safety on farms for over 25 years, the promotion of VZS will emphasize the importance of such activities implemented by the Fund, and will also contribute to strengthening of the image of the Fund in this field.

An innovation in this strategy is drawing attention to three dimensions in human work: safety, health and well-being, which have a key impact on the occurrence or non-occurrence of accidents, injuries or diseases caused by work. The strategy is based on 7 Golden Rules, the use of which helps to design the work environment in a manner that will reduce the risk of undesirable events, i.e. so that nobody loses life or health at work:

• Rule 1: Take Leadership – Demonstrate Commitment
• Rule 2: Identify Hazards – Control Risks
• Rule3: Define Targets – Develop Programmes
• Rule 4: Ensure a safe and healthy system – be well organized
• Rule 5: Ensure safety and health in machines, equipment and workplaces
• Rule 6: Improve Qualifications – Develop Competence
• Rule 7: Invest in People – Motivate by Participation

 

While prevention activities to date have focused on ensuring safety and health, Vision Zero supplements these two pillars of prevention with an underestimated, sometimes even forgotten element affecting the occurrence of accidents at work, which is person’s well-being. Research results prove that fatigue, stress, mental health and organization of work are important factors that affect the safety of activities performed at work.

Each enterprise, hence each farm, may find its own best way to implement individual rules. Thanks to this flexibility, these rules may be used in any workplace, enterprise or sector of the economy around the world, hence also in agriculture.

The Vision Zero Strategy is to highlight the importance of actions taken by institutions providing social security. Reducing the number of accidents at work and occupational diseases will guarantee better working conditions, as well as healthy society. It will have a positive impact on the economic side of living conditions and it will also contribute to the reduction of institution's expenses on sickness benefits.

The implementation of the Vision Zero Strategy in the agricultural sector in Poland emphasizes the importance of the Fund's prevention activities aimed at further reducing the number of accidents at work and occupational diseases, thereby creating better working conditions and improving farmers' health. Popularizing VZS assumptions in the agricultural sector in Poland will contribute to strengthening the message of prevention activities implemented by KRUS.

Currently, international ISSA prevention sections are working on materials related to the VZS, which will make possible to apply it in every sector of the economy (more information: http://visionzero.global/resources).

ISSA launched world campaign promoting Vision Zero Strategy at the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health 2017 in Singapore