•  News
    • Inspection of employee sobriety - the Ministry of Labor has announced a change in regulations (3)
      The Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology is preparing a draft of new legal solutions that will allow employers to carry out preventive checks on employees for the presence of alcohol or drugs in the body. The draft also includes the introduction of a comprehensive regulation specifying the grounds for preventing an employee from performing work, who is reasonably suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
    • The position of the Ministry of Labor on periodic tests performed during an epidemic (4)
      Should periodical tests performed during an epidemic be repeated after its completion?
      The Ministry of Labor has answered this question.
    • New obligations of the employer - protection of persons reporting irregularities in the company (5)
      In December 2021, the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons reporting breaches of EU law (the Whistleblower Directive) will be implemented in the Polish legal system. Although it seems that there is still a lot of time, employers should start preparing for the implementation of the new regulations now.
  • Recipes with a comment
    • Vaccination against COVID-19 - employee's right or obligation (7)
      The SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is the most anticipated product in the last few months. Its relatively quick appearance (compared to the rate at which previous vaccines were developed) raises mixed feelings in some people and doubts about the benefit-risk relationship of vaccination. Fluctuations also apply to employers. The question arises: can an employer order employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19?
  • The subject of the issue
    • Safe work on the construction site. Protection against electric shock (8)
      There is a high risk of electric shock on site. Most of the activities take place in the open space and inside the buildings. In each case, we are dealing with a conductive substrate and approach to conductive structures. In addition, work is performed in conditions of increased humidity and often at elevated ambient temperatures. That is why it is so important to control the applied protection measures. What regulations and standards regulate electric shock protection? How to control their compliance in the changing situation on the construction site?
  • Accidents at work
    • Analysis of an accident - a fatal accident during the deposition of sewer manholes (12)
      The article presents an analysis of an accident at work, which occurred at a maneuvering yard, where an employee emptied the tanker with lime. What exactly happened and what were the causes of the accident in the opinion of the labor inspector?
    • Can the employee's conduct contrary to the OHS instructions be considered an accident at work (13)
  • Health and safety service - 22 tasks
    • Participation in the development of plans for the modernization and development of the workplace as a task of the health and safety service (14)
      The development of the workplace is a natural consequence and a desired direction enabling the achievement of the goals set by the employer. The development of the plant is related to its modernization, which cannot be carried out in isolation from safety issues. The duty of the health and safety service and the person employed in other work performing the tasks of this service is to participate in the preparation of plans for the modernization and development of the workplace and to submit proposals for including in these plans technical and organizational solutions ensuring the improvement of occupational safety and health. So what should be done in the 4th task of the OHS service?
    • Priority in employing OSH service workers (15)
      The provisions concerning the OSH service and its qualifications were introduced in order to adjust Polish regulations to the requirements of Art. I7 of Directive 89/391 (EEC. According to it, competent employees of a given plant have priority in employment as OHS services. What if there are none? Can the duties of the OHS service be performed by external specialists not employed in the workplace?
  • Questions and Answers
    • What standards should workers' chairs meet (16)
    • Does calling an ambulance release you from the obligation to draw up an accident report (17)
    • Is it possible to put a coal stove together with an oil stove (17)
  • Working conditions
    • When an employee performs work in special conditions (18)
      When determining whether the employee performs work in special conditions, it should be shown that these are work involving the removal of solid and liquid waste, as well as work in landfills and landfills, involving very heavy physical effort (effective energy expenditure in men - over 8,400 kJ , and women - over 4,600 kJ ) and full-time work.
  • COVID-19 and OHS
    • Trial evacuation during the coronavirus epidemic (19)
      According to the regulations, the owners or managers of facilities intended for over 50 people who are its regular users, not qualified to the ZL IV hazard category (residential buildings), are required to conduct a practical check of the organization conditions for evacuation from the entire facility. In the case of facilities where a group of more than 50 users changes cyclically (e.g. schools, kindergartens), such exercises should be organized at least once a year. What is the purpose of a trial evacuation and how to organize it correctly? Should evacuation conditions be changed during an epidemic?
    • Instructions on occupational health and safety for the operation of a manual pallet truck (23)
  • Health and safety training - Experts respond
    • On the basis of which program to train doctors (24)
      There is no longer an obligation to put the header stamp on the Initial Training Card. The regulations, however, say nothing about periodic training.
    • What trainings to conduct for the human resources director (24)

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