Vatican Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo has blessed the headquarters of the city state's newly created Department of Health and Welfare. Catholic News Service reports that Cardinal Lajolo, president of the commission governing Vatican territory, presided over a Monday ceremony blessing the Vatican safety inspectors' new headquarters.
The offices are part of a total revamping of how the Vatican protects and safeguards the rights, health and safety of people who work on Vatican territory.
In December the Vatican announced a new law to improve worker safety and rights. Most Vatican regulations follow Italian norms, but the Vatican wanted to cut bureaucracy and customise rules to take into account the Vatican's unique situation, said Gianluigi Marrone, a Vatican City judge.
The law called for the creation of a new agency specifically dedicated to worker safety, he said in an interview published July 23 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
The agency was established this year and is staffed by a doctor, an engineer, an architect and an official from the Vatican's fire brigade.
The new regulations emphasise education and safety training courses and will require Vatican departments to compile and update lists of all workplace risks and workers' needs.
Some initiatives include providing better access for handicapped employees, and plans are in place to provide special rooms for nursing mothers and to help Vatican employees find day care for their children, Marrone said.
Workers' rights and safety regulations will extend to non-Vatican employees such as labourers working for outside companies subcontracted by the Vatican, the judge said.
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