Russia's Transport Minister For Rehabilitating Labour Protection System, Ravaged By Years Of Economic Decline

The system of labour protection, ravaged over years of economic decline, must be restored, said Russian Transport Minister Sergei Frank on Monday at a collegium of his ministry. The RIA Novosti correspondent quotes him as saying that in labour protection on transport a system approach is required, as well as a structured system ensuring the meeting of financial, economic and other goals. Its formation must be completed in the first half of 2002. Igor Voloshko, deputy chief of the department for social development and cadre at the Transport Ministry, reported that in 2000 the ministry operated a range of earlier prepared programmes for improving labour protection. Now work is under way to prepare such programmes for the 2002-2005 period. The traumatic-injury rate on transport is still high, he said. In automobile transport in 2000 as many as 5,869 people got injuries, or 53.5 percent of the cases of industrial accidents on transport. In road building and maintenance 1,114 accidents happened. Here, the level of industrial injuries increased by 20 percent.