Top10 NEWS September 2017 of health and safety, fire protection & environmental protection

Personal data protection The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in April 2016, will come into force on 25 May 2018 and it is evident already that it will introduce many significant changes.

Currently binding data protection regulations have been in force since 1997 and have run out of date in an era of digital media. Hence the need for a regulation that is ‘technologically neutral’, i.e. up to date regardless of the technological progress.

The new regulations will cover all business organisations processing personal data; however, they will mostly affect those dealing with Big Data analysis, particularly in the context of individual profiling.

- Many businesses question certain provisions of the Regulation as not giving sufficient regard to the interests of the business while protecting the individual too much, and in many cases regardless of whether their permanent place of residence is within the EU or not – says legal advisor Izabela Kowalczuk-Pakuła in an interview for PAP Technologie.

The enforcement of the new regulations is to be aided by severe fines of up to EUR 20 million, and in the event of businesses – up to 4% of the total annual turnover for the preceding year.

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Office work environment The work environment is shaped by microclimate conditions, such as: temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting and noise. As they impact the worker’s comfort, they must conform to the OHS and fire protection standards: 

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Microclimate – the temperature in premises where permanent sitting work is performed must not be lower than 18oC, in the summer the range 23-26oC is recommended, whereas in the winter - 18-22oC; Air humidity – the humidity at workstations with computer monitors should be above 40%. Too dry air in the office is conducive to the gathering of undesired electric charges (risk of electrostatic discharge) and dust, which increases the proneness to infection and allergy.

Ventilation – should ensure the exchange of air of at least 20m3 of fresh air per person per hour, and where the cubature is less than 20m3, then the exchange should not be lower than 30 m3 of fresh air per person.

Air-conditioning – is not necessary in our climate zone. Where in place, it should be kept in a good technical condition.

Noise – the admissible level of noise in an office is 65 dB. The noise generated by photocopiers, telephones or fax machines does not normally reach levels which would cause hearing impairment; it may only be burdensome.

Lighting – should be natural daylight, where possible, evenly spread across the room, with the intensity of 500 lx with computer monitors.

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An employee has a right to know the OHS rules Each employer is under an obligation to take special precautions against the hazards to the life and health occurring in the workplace, inter alia by providing the employees with relevant knowledge in the area of OHS rules and regulations.

The Court of Appeal in Łódź in a judgment of 17 January 2013 in a case involving an employee seeking damages and disability compensation held that "the principle of ignorantia iuris nocet will not apply to employees where their employer has failed to provide them with sufficient information in this respect.”

A production worker, working under a mandate contract, suffered an accident while operating a buzz saw resulting in a 10% health impairment. The Regional Court deemed it an accident at work and affirmed the worker's claims by awarding PLN 50,000 in damages for moral harm, PLN 530.44 in damages and PLN 4.250 in capitalised monthly disability compensation, due to a loss of working capacity and increased needs.

It was found during the proceedings that the injured had neither been given workstation instruction, nor had he been instructed on the use of a buzz saw. As the most material breach on the part of the defendant was deemed a failure to train the injured on OHS rules. Consequently, he did not know that he should not operate a buzz saw while holding the processed material in both hands wearing gloves. Also, he did not have the proper equipment allowing the safe performance of the work.

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Accidents at car service stations A mechanic working in a garage is exposed to many hazards as a result of slipping, falling, being pressed, cut, electrocuted, burnt or having dangerous substances or chemical compounds get into one’s eyes.

In a garage an accident occurred during repair works on a car's LPG installation.

As a result of gas explosion, a 28-year-old mechanic was burnt in the face and both hands in the second degree. The inspector found out subsequently that the accident may have been brought about by the worker’s ignorance of explosion hazard or negligence thereof. Besides, the mechanic made the repairs without having checked whether the defective installation did not cause danger.

On account of the failure to meet the OHS regulations, as well as labour law, the labour inspector fined the employer as the accident had been contributed to by negligence of the part of the garage owner.

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Reporting an accident at work Each employer must ensure the safety of those employed by him by complying with the OHS and fire protection laws, including the provision of adequate initial and periodical training. Should an accident occur at work or on the way to work, the employer is under an obligation to inform the OHS inspector thereof.

Upon occurrence of an incident qualifying as accident at work, a post-accident report must be drawn up providing details of the accident, i.e. what, and in what circumstances, happened.

On notice of accident, the employer must appoint a post-accident team, composed as a rule of an OHS inspector and an employee representative, to enquire into its circumstances as well as making a qualification of the incident as accident at work.

Failure by employer to appoint a post-accident team, despite being informed of an accident, is punishable with up to 3 years' imprisonment.

Employers are under an obligation to submit IWA reports to ZUS providing information on the number of accidents registered in a given calendar year, for which the report is submitted. The number affects the level of accident insurance contribution established by the ZUS.

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Employer’s obligations towards disabled employees An employer employing disabled employees must ensured that their workplaces, and access thereto, are adequately adjusted to the needs and capabilities of such employees resulting from their disability - so states section 48 of the regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy on the general regulations on occupational health and safety of 26 September 1997.

For employees with mobility disorders, the employer must ensure adequate with and manner of door opening, additional equipment enabling such employees to move up and down the stairs or reach their workstation otherwise. Moreover, sanitary and hygienic equipment, such as: toilets, showers and washbasins and access thereto, in accordance with technical regulations must be properly adapted to the needs and capabilities of such employees resulting from their disability.

Not only the work environment should be adapted to the degree of employee’s disability, but also the tools and work materials used by them.

Disabled employees are entitled, depending of the degree of their disability, to additional benefits, such as shorter working hours, additional breaks and greater holiday entitlement, as well as restrictions on working in special conditions.

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An employer may decide to not admit a 'tired' employee to work Employees’ psychophysical performance may be reduced not only as a result of substance abuse. It may also be caused by increased workload, intensive work, overtime or sleeplessness.

Such factors may lead to an extreme exhaustion of an employee’s body, or even under certain circumstances – to their death. Whereas, work under the influence of illegal substance is forbidden.

When an employee is in the state of extreme exhaustion, their employer has a right to refuse to admit them to work, even though they are apparently fit for it, i.e. not being under the influence of any substances. Such a decision will be justified, for under Art. 207(2) of the Labour Code: “It is an employer’s obligation to protect the health and life of his employees by providing safe and hygienic work conditions, making proper use of the latest advancements in science and technology.”

In particular, an employer must organise work in a manner ensuring safe and hygienic work conditions and ensure that the OHS rules and regulations are complied with in the workplace, and to issue instructions to remove any irregularities in that respect and to monitor the compliance with such instructions.

Moreover, an employer should prevent employees from being exhausted as a result of, e.g., too frequent overtime work or too intensive work pace.

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Plastic bags to improve air quality?

The improvement of air quality in Poland is currently a hot and ‘burning’ issue.

During the conference entitled “How to solve the smog problem”, which was held on 18 September of this year, Mateusz Morawiecki, Minister of Development, promised that the money from elimination of plastic bags will be spent to improve the air quality in our country.

- We are aware that there are people who cannot afford to exchange their stoves. – said Minister Morawiecki. This problem is to be solved by subsidies financed from the so called recycling charge for plastic bags sold in shops.

Morawiecki also stressed that the smog problem pertains to us all. He emphasised that the Government is already running the Electromobility Programme to establish an electric mobility ecosystem, i.e. convenient conditions for everybody to use electric vehicles, including in particular public transport, based on both electric buses and other electrically driven means of transport together with the recharging infrastructure. Moreover, he announced that the money from the recycling fee will be first of all spent on the exchange of household stoves.

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School noise and OHS The studies carried out by the Central Institute of Work Protection – National Research Institute (CIOP-PIB) indicate that the key strenuous factor in the school environment is noise. High noise levels of 80-85 dB measured in the halls during breaks and at sport halls may cause hearing impairment in both students and teachers.

The noise levels in the classroom are between 53-77 dB and depend on the kind of class. An average background noise levels in the classroom, i.e. the noise infiltrating the classroom from all noise sources, amounts to 40-50 dB thus exceeding the border values (35-40 dB) set out in the national and international regulations for undistorted speech reception.

The studies show that the noise levels in primary schools are, on average, by 5-6 dB higher than those at secondary and high schools.

Due to the noise and in order to ensure better understanding of their speech, teachers are forced to speak up. This leads to increased vocal efforts and voice disorders in teachers.

School noise may also adversely affect the hearing (result in temporary shift in the hearing threshold), distort reception and comprehension of speech. As a strenuous and stress-provoking factor, it may cause irritation, tiredness, problems with concentration, in both students and teachers, and consequently affect the teaching and learning processes.

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Amendments to the Labour Code?

The government has been working on a new Labour Code for a year now. The intended changes include liquidation of the holiday entitlement and restrictions on discretionary bonuses - says money.pl portal.

Currently, an employee is entitled to 20 or 26 days off work depending on the length of service. Following the changes, the number of day may change - it may be reduced to 20 days or extended to 30. All will depend on the agreement between the employer and employee, and the entire holiday will be taken during the year for which it was granted.

During the holiday, an employee will be forbidden to work for another employer or be employed otherwise. All this period is to be dedicated to rest.

The legislator also intends to limit the practices of employing workers at minimum wages and paying the remaining part of remuneration as discretionary bonuses. For this purpose, a percentage share is to be established of those parts of remuneration that are at the discretion of the supervisor.

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