Bonum Certa Men Certa

Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (LOHSEC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 12, 2024,
updated Jul 12, 2024

EPO Local Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (LOHSEC)

THE EPO's staff representatives in The Hague, or LSCTH for short, have just circulated a publication about the situation under António Campinos. This one focuses only on the Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (LOHSEC).

The message to staff said:

Dear Colleagues,

On 27 May 2024, Staff Representation met with the administration in the Local Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (LOHSEC) in The Hague.

Among the topics addressed were the nurse capacity after the retiring of Anne and Hilde, Office-wide sickness statistics, access to GP services in The Hague, the situation of the parking capacity, the location for bicycles and the evacuation plans under the new low-presence situation in the buildings.

In particular, staff representation enquired how many nurses were working at the moment and with what presence in premises, about what the Office could do for helping new colleagues finding it difficult to register at a GP practice, enquired about the changing locations and capacity of the bicycle parking facilities and the new plans for evacuation with the low presence of evacuation wardens.

Where any bicycle parking facilities ever used by Benoît Battistelli or was some so-called 'presidential bicycle' just a 'false flag' in Munich, serving to justify Battistelli breaking the law by bringing weapons to the Office (armed guards)? It's probably too late to ask about it and nobody in EPO management ever gets punished for crimes, no matter how severe.

Anyway, here is the report, which is dated this week:

Staff Committee The Hague
Comité du personnel de La Haye
Personalausschuss Den Haag

Rijswijk, 11 July 2024
sc24006hp

Report on the meeting of the LOHSEC The Hague

On 27 May 2024, Staff Representation met with the administration in the 71st Local Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee of The Hague. Among the topics addressed were the nurse capacity, office-wide sickness statistics, access to GP services, the situation of the parking capacity, the location for bicycles and the evacuation plans under the new low-presence situation in the buildings.

Present members appointed by the President were F. Brunelle (Chair), F. Zacca, D. Schüder, E. Schmitz, J. de Bruin, K. Lievens, Y. Hofstede and A. Kirch.

Present members appointed by the LSCTH were I. Larrañeta Reclusa and J. Raposo.

The official minutes were taken by Anne-Cathrine Crignon and will be published subsequently here.

During the meeting which lasted from 10:30 to 11:30, the following seven points were discussed:

1. OHS reported that since the previous week, a second external nurse has joined working on Mondays and Wednesdays. This adds to the in-house nurse working four days a week and the already present first external nurse, who is working Tuesday to Thursday. It was also reported that the office-wide organized lectures on ageing and menopause were well attended.

2. OHS reported on the last office-wide sick leave statistics presented to the COHSEC. While there is a positive trend, from 12.78 total sick days per head (April 2022 – March 2023) down to 12.04 total sick days per head (April 2023 – March 2024), the level is 2 days above the pre-pandemic levels. It was reported that the number of staff who is never sick has increased. Overall, DG1 has a slightly higher level of sick leave and there is an increase in 2023 in upper limp disorders and stress related health issues.

3. The Staff Representatives pointed out that the statistics were blind to the cases of colleagues who do not register sick leave while being sick.

4. OHS indicated that there is no contract in place between any GP service provider and the EPO. It is up to the individual to find a GP. The Staff Representation is receiving feedback from new colleagues indicating that getting registered in a GP practice is becoming difficult. The administration of the EPO indicates that no specific agreement is foreseen, and that we need to adapt to this situation in the Netherlands.

5. The Staff Representation requested a plan for the foreseeable retiring of an Office doctor and the Administration indicated that this was a central topic, and therefore a point for the COHSEC.

6. New electric outlets for electric motorbikes are foreseen to be installed by the end of June, and the Administration reported that temporary measures will be put in place for bike parking during the upcoming works.

7. Following a request from the Staff Representation, the Administration confirmed that the situation of the wardens is being reassessed (less wardens present on any given day because of New Ways Of Working). The EPO premises in the Netherlands are compliant with the safety rules in the Netherlands, confirmed the Administration.

Kind regards,

Your staff representatives

Remember the safety issues associated with the building.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025