89.4% of tanneries and social parties, which have been interviewed, consider health and safety in tanneries to be a priority in the industry. The first outcome of “due diligence for healthy workplaces in tanneries”, carried out by Cotance, the European confederation of leather tanning associations, and IndustriALL, a trade union platform (supported by European Union as well), is a certification of awareness in the leather business: nobody is going to underrate the importance of being compliant with security standards in the workplaces. By no means. Furthermore, looking at the responses given by 238 parties, coming from all over Europe (including tanners, suppliers, leather products manufacturers, stakeholders), and representing the cross-section of a research project, presented today in Brussels at Cotance headquarters, we may assume that the implementation of safety tools in tanneries, alongside a subsequent compliance with them, are competitiveness factor in the market: in fact, 76.6% of manufacturers and retail groups claimed they would immediately, or after a couple of reminders at most, interrupt trade relations with their suppliers if they did not ensure suitable security standards in the company. Hence tanneries’ clients, who are currently monitoring safety conditions in the workplaces in all (23.3%) or over 50 per cent (30%) of their supplying tanneries, may prompt them, to a relevant extent, to implement their best practices. “The survey, carried out in cooperation with University of Northampton, has been showing a positive situation in Europe – pointed out Gustavo Gonzalez Quijano, general secretary of Cotance (in the picture) –. Yet, on the other hand, we still need to tackle a few discrepancies: operators will take advantage of OiRA, a recently updated interactive tool for the self-assessment of security standards in tanneries, a tool that aims at international successful collaboration”. “Attention to working conditions in companies has been traditionally a key factor in the Italian leather tanning industry, especially regarding its sustainable development – remark from UNIC – Italian Tanneries –. Thanks to a daily commitment, leather customers and consumers are given is being manufactured through a very low environmental impact, and in full compliance with security regulations about products and workers’ rights”.
In tanneries safety is “a priority and a key point”. Cotance presents the outcomes of due diligence
