The six companies responsible for handling baggage at Schiphol Airport can face a hefty fine if they do nothing to make their staff’s work easier.
The companies already received a visit from the Labor Inspectorate earlier this year, which then determined that employers had to do more to physically spare their baggage handlers. Because nothing has changed months later, the Inspectorate is now threatening to impose a penalty.
The punishment employers risk differs per company. The highest penalty that the Labor Inspectorate wants to impose on one of the companies is 65,000 euros per month. The baggage companies now have just over two weeks to respond to the regulator’s announcement. As soon as that period has expired, the Inspectorate will decide how high the final amount will be and the penalty will take effect.
Use of lifting aids
In March this year, the Inspectorate published two long-awaited reports on working conditions at the airport. In it, she not only judged the baggage companies, but also the companies responsible for refueling aircraft, guiding passengers and catering on board. They all had to invest heavily to improve the working conditions of their staff, the regulator concluded.
The baggage companies had to immediately provide staff with more technical aids to move suitcases. By this, the Inspectorate was referring, for example, to the use of lifting aids. According to the inspectors, baggage handlers lifted at least twice as much weight per day, both in the basement and at the planes, according to the inspectors. “There is a greatly increased risk of back problems,” the report said.
‘Danger to health’
After the study was published at the end of April, the Inspectorate visited the companies again. Then it turned out that employees still did not have access to lifting aids, or that the systems were not used, because they slowed down the work. As a result, workers are exposed to physical stress that poses a ‘danger to the health and safety of workers’.
In the future, baggage handling at Schiphol must be fully automated. The Inspectorate has given the baggage companies another two years to do this, the supervisor made clear in March. According to the companies, this is impossible. It is Schiphol that decides on the buildings, and the airport does not want to start building a new basement until 2026. They then applied for an extension.