Labor protection in agriculture from the point of view of the state

In the Russian Federation, despite the fact that a huge number of people are involved in agriculture, there are no effective laws that regulated many areas of the agro-industrial complex. Labor protection in agriculture is one of the issues that has not been resolved at the federal level at all today. And this despite the fact that there are 27898 agricultural enterprises all over the country. Almost two thirds of these enterprises have not only agrocomplexes, but also complexes for repair and maintenance of agricultural machinery (200 such enterprises have not just garages or workshops, they include repair and mechanical plants). This makes it possible to put such enterprises on the safety of jobs at the same time as medium and small-scale industrial production. However, labor protection in agriculture due to the adoption of several laws at the level of the state excludes any responsibility of managers and control over observance of the norms and rules of labor discipline. We are talking about the lack of a "Provision on the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia", which was issued and adopted in a new version of one of the main links (the department for labor protection was abolished), which is designed to ensure labor protection in agriculture. Now, labor protection in agriculture is placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Social Development and Health of the Russian Federation. However, this ministry does not deal with this issue at all, at least for the time being.

That is why when labor protection in agriculture is simply absent, the country is experiencing disappointing statistics of injuries in agriculture. And according to the same official statistics, almost every fifth trauma in agriculture occurs with a fatal outcome. The main branches of agriculture generally do not have specific documents that regulate their activities on these issues. For example, the terms labor protection in crop production and the organization of labor in livestock have long been forgotten and do not appear in official documents.

This situation, which undermines the importance of issues related to labor protection, directly contradicts the requirements of the Constitution and the Labor Code. Since in the section on social status the provisions on labor protection in the country as a whole are very clearly spelled out, and mechanisms for not only the federal level but also the smaller regional ones are described there.

Such a policy of state authorities (local and central executive authorities) does not contribute to improving the level of safety and protection of agricultural workers, including personnel working at enterprises engaged in the repair and maintenance of machinery and equipment of agro-industrial enterprises.

In this regard, in order to ensure that labor protection in agriculture was recognized at the official level and allowed to effectively regulate work processes in agricultural enterprises, a number of proposals were voiced. They say:

1. It is necessary in the new Regulation on the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation to review and restore the section concerning the duties of the Ministry of Labor Protection, taking into account the market economy.

2. Restore the department (service) to ensure labor protection in the industry, which must have its own units throughout the vertical from top to bottom, also taking into account market relations.

3. In the regions, the relevant ministry should pursue a permanent policy concerning the improvement of labor protection in enterprises, while focusing attention and tasks on medium and small agricultural enterprises, as well as small and private farms.

4. Constantly collect and analyze information on occupational injuries and occupational diseases in all branches of agriculture. After that, issue regulated documents with the results of such an analysis and proposals (requirements) to prevent such cases or aimed at reducing such incidents. To do this, it is necessary to create various brochures and manuals for enterprise managers and representatives of local executive authorities in the regions.

In addition to the above proposals, there are many others that we did not describe as they repeat the essence of the above written with the concretization of performers and mechanisms.