•  News
    • New one-off compensation amounts for accidents at work (3)
      As of April 1, 2022, new higher one-off compensation amounts for an accident at work or occupational disease apply. It is PLN 100 more for each percent of permanent or long-term health damage than before.
    • Revolutionary changes in employment and employment contracts from 1 August 2022 (4)
      The new Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union will change the way of concluding and terminating fixed-term employment contracts. New obligations will also be imposed on employers as regards concluding contracts for a trial period and terminating fixed-term contracts. But the changes that are to come into force on August 1, 2022 will also affect the content of contracts concluded with employees.
    • Health and safety trends in 2022: wellbeing, remote work, supply chain crisis (5)
      Many of us wonder what 2022 has in store for us. Although it is already April, the epidemic has passed, but the question in the health and safety industry is still heard, can it be even worse? Will this year prove to be as difficult as the previous year? Unfortunately, no one expected a war in our eastern neighbors, and no one can predict the future. By analyzing the events and facts, however, we already have a fairly good idea of what to expect in the near future.
    • Masks at the workplace. What about the company order to use them (7)
      From March 28, 2022, the order to wear masks ceased to apply - with some exceptions for entities in which medical activities are carried out and in pharmacies. In many workplaces, masks have been treated as personal protective equipment. Will the employer then be able to continue the order to use masks as prophylactic measures?
  • Case study
    • Scope of the accident documentation and the dissenting opinion of a member of the accident team (8)
      Not every document collected in the course of the accident investigation has to be obligatorily attached to the documentation. The hospital treatment card seems to be of significant importance for the ongoing proceedings. Other documents concerning side issues, having no special significance for the proper classification of the event and the adoption of adequate post-accident prevention, do not have to be an obligatory part of the documentation. A member of the accident team has the right to submit a dissenting opinion to the accident report, which he should justify. As a rule, in the event of a disagreement between the members of the accident team, the employer decides about the content of the accident report. In the article, we solve the problem of a reader who conducts her first accident investigation.
  • Questions and Answers
    • Where to locate the rail cutting station (10)
      Rail cutting is one of the welding works that are hazardous to health due to the emerging welding fumes, including carcinogenic (nickel, nickel oxide, VI chromates). Follow the provisions of the ordinance of the minister of health on chemical substances, their mixtures, agents or technological processes with carcinogenic or mutagenic effects in the work environment.
    • Which fraction to choose when exposed to chemical agents (11)
    • What qualifications to operate a central heating boiler (12)
      An employee employed in the operation of a natural gas central heating boiler with a capacity of over 50 kW, along with auxiliary devices, must have confirmed G2 qualifications (E in the scope of operation (G2 - group 2 energy devices, E - operation, scope of work - service-supervision).
    • What is the minimum and maximum humidity in the work room (12)
      The required level of air humidity has been determined only for work rooms in which stands are equipped with screen monitors. Relative air humidity should not be less than 40%.
    • Does an employee of the OHS service have to have health and safety tests (13)
      There is no need to send such an employee to the indicated tests.
    • Who pays for the initial medical examination of a candidate who has not started work (13)
      The costs of the initial medical examination are borne by the employer, even if the job applicant does not take up employment.
  • Subject of the issue
    • A simple way to prepare an analysis of the health and safety at work in a company (14)
      The confirmation of good health and safety is often the absence of serious accidents at work and the absence of occupational diseases. But the analysis of the health and safety status, described only with numerical indicators (statistics of the number, frequency and severity of accidents, the number of registered occupational diseases) does not show whether the company meets the health and safety requirements for all issues arising from labor law and specific provisions in the field of occupational health and safety. Carrying out the health and safety analysis is therefore quite a complicated task that may cause many difficulties. The article presents the process of preparing such an analysis step by step.
  • Court case law
    • Employment of convenience in jurisprudence (19)
      Employment of convenience is such employment in which the employee does not actually perform tasks in time and place and under the direction of a supervisor. The purpose of such an agreement is solely to cover the employee with insurance.
  • Health and safety service
    • Applications for rewarding employees - health and safety service 3rd entitlement (20)
      Each employee must comply with the health and safety regulations and rules. people who show the initiative in this respect should be properly promoted by the employer. The intermediary in this task may be an employee of the health and safety at work service, who, within the scope of his rights, has the possibility to apply to the employer for rewarding employees who stand out in their activities to improve health and safety conditions. Obviously, one should be guided by objective criteria so as not to be exposed to the allegation of unequal treatment. What else should you know when submitting such an application?
  • Accidents at work
    • Accident at work of a foreigner - notification to the superior and the National Labor Inspectorate (22)
      In the territory of the Republic of Poland, gainful employment may be performed by Polish citizens and foreigners. Accidents can happen with both. Recently, in the case of the construction sector, workers from the East constitute a more numerous group of victims. A serious, collective or fatal accident involving such persons must be reported. Under no circumstances can it remain for the exclusive knowledge of the aggrieved party and the employing entity. How to proceed in the event of such an event? What can be involved in concealing an accident?
  • Health and safety training - Experts respond
    • As an external company, do I have to keep training documentation (24)
      Detailed rules for the organization of training are set by the training organizer. The contract concluded with the entity providing the training (organizational unit conducting training activities in the field of health and safety at work) for the contractor should include all issues related to the training documentation.

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