- There are changes in the Labor Code regarding, among others, equal treatment and mobbing (3)
A mobbed employee will be able to claim compensation regardless of whether the employment relationship is ongoing or whether it has been terminated by the employer. The Parliament is working on amendments to the Labor Code regarding, inter alia, provisions on mobbing and equal treatment. These changes are to make it easier for employees to implement employees' rights, while at the same time they do not impose additional obligations on the employer.
- Soon the change in the provisions regarding the rights to service forklift trucks (4)
Soon, the vagueness of regulations regarding the acquisition of rights to service forklift trucks should disappear. The Ministry of Enterprise and Technology has prepared a draft amendment to the new, recently in force, new regulation on occupational safety and health with the use of power-driven trucks. The proposed changes are intended to dispel interpretative doubts regarding the requirements for operators servicing motorized trucks.
- Proper equipment of the crane cabin and lighting of the work area (5)
On May 16, the deadline for employers to provide adequate equipment for tower cranes and quick-assembly cranes has passed. On this day, two provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology of October 22, 2018 on occupational safety and hygiene when operating tower cranes and quick-assembly cranes, for which 6 months were extended, vacatio legis entered into force.
- Who should guide the workbook of the forklift truck? (5)
Does the new regulations regarding forklifts require a book of operators to register who operated on the day?
- Additional obligations for employers related to the medical examination of employees (6)
From May 4, 2019, the employer has the right to request not only a current medical certificate from the newly hired employee, but also a referral for the research on the basis of which it was issued.
- Who can check the employee's sobriety? (7)
How to check the sobriety of an employee in accordance with current regulations? Can an employer or a person designated by him / her examine the employees with a breathalyzer?
- Dangerous office work?
The care for safe and hygienic working conditions in every enterprise should consist in particular in collecting and processing reliable information on the threats and occupational hazards associated with them at all workplaces, including office workplaces. Conclusions resulting from the occupational risk assessment provide the basis for taking appropriate measures to reduce the likelihood of accidents at work.
- How to prepare for conducting dangerous fire works (10)
When can we talk about dangerous fire works and do I need to issue a written permission to do such work each time?
- Disabling an object from use does not release the fire instruction update (11)
Are fire safety instructions updated in facilities that are not currently in use?
- How to properly mark the emergency stop button? (12)
According to the PN-EN ISO 13850 standard, an empty yellow background without descriptions should be placed under the "STOP - Failure" button. What should be done in the case of an emergency stop in a forklift? It has a yellow part, but the bottom of the button is missing a yellow background. None of the manufacturers cooperating with us use the additional designation of this button. Should we, therefore, equip our emergency switches with a yellow background?
- Does the request to rectify the post-accident protocol interrupt the limitation period of the claim for damages? (13)
An action to establish that the incident was an accident at work, as well as a request to establish that an already recognized accident occurred in circumstances other than those indicated in the post-accident report, or that the cause of the accident were not circumstances excluding the employer's liability for the consequences of an accident at work, i.e. a request to rectify the post-accident protocol, interrupts the limitation period of the claim for damages.
- The contractor can be charged with OSH obligations, but only under a bilateral agreement (14)
Many employers hire employees under contract. In such cases, a question arises as to which occupational health and safety obligations - listed in Article 211 of the Labor Code - the employer-principal may charge natural persons performing work on a different basis than the employment relationship? Can the client expect from the contractor to carry out preliminary medical examinations, OHS training or purchase of personal protective equipment on their own?
- Does the SIP competence reach only selected issues in the field of occupational safety and health (16)
The work is under the control of state institutions, such as the National Labor Inspectorate, as well as under the control exercised at the level of the plant - by social labor inspectors (in establishments in which such social supervision was established). It is worth being aware that, as in the case of PIP inspectors, the control competences of social labor inspectors refer to the entire labor law, not just narrow selected issues in the field of health and safety.
Aktualności BHP (OSH News) - full list