Malta Police Association unhappy with exclusion from health and safety law

The MPA's letter to European Commission points out that the EU directive on Health and Safety at the workplace excludes employers from its general obligations only with regards the specific activities, but that the Maltese legislator had completely excluded the Police force in implementing the directive

The Malta Police Association has said it is unacceptable that government has failed to implement the EU Directive on Health and Safety at the Workplace with regard to the Police.

The Association has written to the European Commission earlier this week, pointing out that the EU directive in question excludes employers from its general obligations only with regards the specific activities that are incompatible with the Directive. However, the Maltese legislator had completely excluded the Police force when it came to implement the directive into local law.

This shortcoming has led to a number of unaddressed health and safety concerns, which the Occupational Health and Safety Authority lacks the power to act on, the association said.

The MPA lamented the fact that this had not changed, despite rulings by the European Court of Justice clarifying the correct interpretation vis-a-vis the police.

If the government was not going to take appropriate care of the Police under normal circumstances, it stood to reason that even less protection of health and safety could be expected in exceptional cases, the association said.