The Histadrut views the protection of the lives of Israeli, Palestinian, and migrant workers and health and safety as a primary focus and activity.
Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David and the President of the Israel Builders Association Raul Srogo declared 2019-2020 as the year of safety in the construction industry.
In 2019 it was illustrated in various areas.
Following the Histadrut's ongoing efforts to reduce deaths and injuries of construction workers, many of them Palestinians and migrants, the Histadrut invested an extensive amount of financial and human resources and deeds in tackling this issue.
On 31.1.19, the Accountant General's Division in the Ministry of Finance added criteria to the government's contractors' database. According to the requirements, contractors found to have severe safety defects in their construction sites will be suspended from the government's contractor database for one year, during which they will not be able to participate in government construction bids.
On 20.5.19, an emergency meeting at the Histadrut Headquarters concluded with several immediate decisions. The parties agreed to establish a joint safety headquarters—furthermore, a half-day work hiatus on 23.5.19 at all construction sites to review and refresh safety procedures. In June 2019, all events and conferences planned for 2019-2020 in the construction industry focused on work safety, promoting new safety training for employers and construction workers, promoting principles for agreed legislation that will regulate all aspects of responsibility for safety in construction sites.
In June 2019, the Histadrut launched an information campaign in construction sites throughout the country as part of its struggle to protect the safety of the construction workers. In the framework of the campaign, which, representatives from the 29 Histadrut Regional Labour Councils in Israel visited construction sites, talked with the workers, and distributed information materials in Hebrew and Arabic on maintaining workplace safety.
