Port accessThe Basque Government Minister for Employment and Justice, María Jesús San José, visited the Port of Bilbao, where she saw first-hand the work prevention and safety measures the Port Authority has implemented. The minister was welcomed by Port Authority Chairman, Ricardo Barkala, and accompanied by the Vice-Minister for Employment and Social Security, Jon Azkue, and the Director of OSALAN (Basque Institute for Work Health and Safety), Alberto Alonso.
The Port Authority is a leader in work health and safety, and influences in the definition of incentive/bonus programmes for work risk-prevention in order to minimise work accidents in the different companies operating with Port licences. On the one hand, it has proposed a legislative modification in the Spanish Ports Law that allows for agreements affecting good preventive practices, and on the other, its Portu Osasuntsua-Puerto Saludable (A Healthy Port) project has been in operation since 2014: this integrates actions, programmes, campaigns and strategies that develop a work space to protect and promote the physical, mental and socio-cultural wellbeing of its employees. Since then, the project has achieved the recognition of the National Institute for Work Safety and hygiene (Spanish
acronym INSHT), AENOR (the Spanish Standards and Accreditation Association) certification and the three-star “Sello Gosasun” award – the highest honour conferred by Innobasque, the Basque Agency for Innovation; further awards include a special mention for the “Best Programme for Health Control” at the II “Premios Empresa Saludable” (Healthy Company Awards), the most prestigious in Spain in this field, and organised by PSYA, ORH-Human Resources Observatory and e-saludable.
