Andrea Karina Villareal Zurita is born in Quito, capital of Ecuador, married and mother of a nearly three-year-old boy. He came to Spain at the age of seventeen to study in Valencia, where he graduated in Chemical Engineering and also studied a master’s degree in Occupational Risk Prevention. He has worked as a Safety, Quality and Environment Technician at Repsol in the Directorate of Safety and Industrial Environment (Downstream) and also as Head of Safety and Environment at the Lubricant Factory in Puertollano. Currently, she has been working at Plataforma Educativa for a little more than two years: she started working here as a worker provided by PREVINT (our Foreign Prevention Service), and after nine months (it must be the time she needs to become a house worker) she became part of the educational platform staff. Today we wanted to talk to her to tell us a few things related to her work that we had always had the cuckoo to ask. We also take the opportunity to approach Andrea as a human, with little more risk prevention than the daring of who asks and the caution of who answers.
Safety boots, helmets, prevention protocols… We hear you talking on the phone, but we don’t get an idea of the complexity of your work. Tell us what it consists of
I occupy the puesto of Coordinator of Occupational Safety and Health and my work consists of coordinating the preventive activities with the Service of Prevention Ajeno that had contratado (PREVINT), veil by the cumplimiento of the legal requirements in the area of the Prevention of Labour Riesgos (PRL), integrate the PRL to all the hierarchical levels and in all the areas of Educational Platform. In short, my main objective is to promover lugares of safe, healthy and productive work.
On June 21st, we received the visit of Ms. Montse Heredia, the director of the Intercomarcal Mutual Society . He came to deliver a certificate of zero accolades to the Gentis Foundation. What does this certificate consist of?
It consists in that Mutua Intercomarcal como entidad colaboradora de la Seguridad Social recognize the work and esfuerzo of Educational Platform to implement preventive medidas oriented to eliminate or decrease the riesgo in the installations and puestos of work, with the end to avoid the accidents at work.
“My main objective is to promote safe, healthy and productive work lugares”.
And what has been done to reach this level of excellence? (zero accidents?!)
Much of the internal management mejoras have been carried out, the training related to the specific riesgos of the work puestos has been reinforced, the evaluations of riesgos have been updated with the fine of mejorar the identification of the existing riesgos in the facilities and work positions, profiles of trabajadoras have been identified that requierate of a complementary training.
However, we can’t beat the guard. This reconocimiento is a pequeño éxito, but we have to continue working with a focus of mejora continues oriented hacia la excelencia
Is it an extraordinary thing that there is not a single accident in a company?
Yes, it’s decidedly something extraordinary. Lastimosamente, the work-related injuries are present in our day to day, it is a synth that hay aspectos in the system of prevention that debemos mejorar.
The Work-related Accident is an area of great importance, given estamos invirtiendo tiempo y esfuerzo con el fin de conseguir un tendencia hacia la Accidentabilidad 0.
And what is your day-to-day life like?
My day by day is demanded and rewarded. I motivate myself to believe that the esfuerzo y trabajo de todos are consequential that ayudan to mejorar the conditions of safety and health in the puestos de trabajo. The entidades of mayor staff are Resilis y Astres, sin embargo nuestro objetivo is applied preventive medidas in all the entidades with the end of reducing the accidentabilidad.
“I motivate myself to believe that the esfuerzo y trabajo de todos are consequential that help me to mejor the conditions of safety and health”
And finally, a somewhat personal comparison, if you allow me: I know you are a mother … What parallels do you think we can establish between a mother who looks after her child not to get hurt and a professional like you, that her job is to make the work of others as safe as possible? Is that the same attitude? is it about protecting or just setting rules, a framework for the activity of the company / child to develop safely?
The parallel that exists between me facet of madre and professional derives in the need to know how to communicate and hacerlo in such a way that it is hacer understands the mensaje. Por ejemplo: cuando mi hijo se sube en una mesa e tries to jump, the mensaje “no hagas eso” does not work, the boy must understand why it is peligroso and the achievements that tiene. Cuando le explico, que se puede caer y hacer daño en el cuerpo es cuando lo entiende y no lo vuelve hacer.
Sure?
I’m sure. But to what we íbamos: In a professional level it is a similar situation, we must be able to transmit the importance of work in conditions of safety with the fine of no poner in riesgo nuestra seguridad y salud personal.