Occupational health and safety - training for employers and employees
Safety training should be organised by the employer or an entity designated by the employer and authorised to provide training.
The employer should also repeat them from time to time during the period of work to remind and consolidate knowledge of health and safety, which also depends on the specifics of the job. The frequency should be adapted to the industry.
Training, and epidemics and pandemics
During periods of epidemics or epidemiological emergencies, it is acceptable for such training to take place online as far as the workplace permits.
Training must take place stationary in the case of:
- a worker in a labour position,
- an employee in a position where there is a risk of exposure to hazardous agents,
- of an employee who changes jobs,
- the pupil or student who is doing the placement.
Types of training
Health and safety regulations provide for two types of training:
- preliminary,
- periodic.
Initial training should take place before an employee commences his or her duties, and periodic training is designed to update and consolidate knowledge already acquired and to familiarise with new developments, if any.
Both initial and periodic training should take place during working hours and at the employer's expense. Once an employee has been made aware of the safety rules in force at the workplace, he or she is obliged to confirm this fact with his or her own signature.
Health and safety training is not required only if the employee changes workplace but continues in the same position.
Training for administrative staff–offices
Under the new legislation, health and safety training does not have to be given to administrative and office workers employed in companies where at most risk category three has been established. These groups have the least harmful factors to health and the lowest accident rate.
Activities with no higher than risk category three:
- manufacture of clothing and leather,
- printing,
- manufacture of computers and all kinds of electronics,
- retail trade, excluding car trade,
- aviation,
- information and communication,
- detective and security activities,
- education,
- cultural and entertainment activities,
- scientific activities,
- finance and insurance and real estate,
- gastronomy,
- administrative customer service.
Occupational health and safety service in the workplace
The existence of a health and safety at work service depends on the number of employees. If the number of employees exceeds one hundred, the employer is obliged to establish such a service. On the other hand, if there are less than a hundred employees, the employer is obliged to appoint one person to perform the tasks belonging to the service.
The employer himself can also fulfil this role, provided that he himself has received the appropriate training and does not employ more than twenty people in his company.
Scope of first aid in the workplace
Is it necessary to know how to perform first aid in the workplace? The Labour Code imposes an obligation on the employer to appoint a person responsible for first aid, as well as to act in the field of fire fighting and evacuation of employees.
The scope of these activities must be adapted to the workplace. Where a company employs only young people or people with disabilities, all these functions can be carried out by the employer.
On the question of whether any particular person should be responsible for giving first aid or being a trainer, there are no special regulations. What is important is that such a person is competent and that the knowledge he or she acquires and imparts is adapted to the place and the specifics of the work.
Training at our centre
You are welcome to attend the open and closed training courses on occupational health and safety that we organise throughout Poland.
Questions and Answers
What is a workplace health and safety service?
This is the designated group of people whose job it is to carry out health and safety training for employees and to monitor compliance. They are also the people who are simultaneously responsible for first aid and the proper evacuation of workers in the event of an accident.
What types of training are there?
We divide training into two types: initial training, which an employee must undergo before starting work, and periodic training, which should take place regularly in order to consolidate knowledge and to learn about new safety issues.
