Harmful workplaces and threats to life

1. You must compensate for strenuous work, monotonous work and work in difficult, hazardous or harmful working conditions by appropriate work equipment, working and production methods and improvements in work organisation.
2. If your employees work in areas where hazardous substances are used or stored, or where technologies and equipment are used, the failure of which may endanger the life and health of a large number of employees, or in areas where there are special hazards and dangers that may immediately and seriously endanger the life and health of employees, you must comply with other special regulations.

In the first place, you must take such measures as will eliminate or minimise the danger to life and health.
Secondly, you must allow access to the hazardous area only to essential employees who have proper and demonstrable knowledge, training and equipment to ensure health and safety at work.

Working procedures and protective measures

1. You must determine safe working practices.
2. You must provide protective measures and, if necessary, protective equipment that employees must use.

Documentation

1. You must draw up in writing, periodically evaluate and update as necessary, an occupational health and safety policy. The OHS policy must include the objectives you want to achieve in terms of OHS and a programme for implementing these objectives. The programme in turn must include the specific process, means and method of implementation.

WARNING: Exception. This regulation does not apply to you if you have fewer than 11 employees.

• You must issue internal OHS rules and regulations and give instructions for their enforcement.
• You must draw up and keep up to date a list of work and workplaces that are either prohibited or specifically hazardous to certain groups of employees. This applies to underage workers, pregnant women, mothers up to the end of the ninth month after childbirth and breastfeeding women.
• You must also keep and retain the prescribed documentation, all records and records relating to OHS for five years from the date on which the last entry was made in them.

Classification of employees

1. You must assign employees to work, having regard to their health, ability, age, qualifications and competence, so as to ensure their health and safety at work. You must not allow them to do work that is not appropriate to their health and ability and for which they do not have the age, qualifications and evidence of competence.
2. You must also ensure that the employee’s individual physical abilities are assessed when manually handling loads.

Health surveillance

1. As an employer, you are obliged to ensure that health surveillance is carried out in relation to your work in accordance with section 26, including medical preventive examinations. You must do so at regular intervals, taking into account the nature of the work and the working conditions in the workplace. You must also do so if the employee requests it.

Independent employees and detached workplaces

1. You must take care to ensure occupational health and safety also for employees at detached workplaces.
2. You must also take care to ensure the health and safety at work of employees who work alone in the workplace and of special groups of employees who are exposed to specific hazards.

Breaks and remuneration

1. You must provide breaks to employees for health and safety reasons.
2. You must not use pay that could result in a safety or health hazard when increasing work performance in work where employees are exposed to an increased risk of injury or other damage to health.

Personal protective equipment for work

1. you must draw up a list of the personal protective equipment provided. You must draw up this list on the basis of a risk assessment and an assessment of the hazards arising from the work process and the working environment.
2. You must provide the necessary effective personal protective equipment free of charge to employees whose life or health requires it and you must keep a record of its provision.
3. You must keep personal protective equipment in usable and working condition and ensure that it is used properly.

Compensation for employees

1. If employees work in an environment where clothing or footwear is subject to extreme wear and tear or extreme pollution, you must provide them with work clothing or footwear free of charge.
2. You must provide employees with free drinking water if required by an internal regulation for the protection of their life or health. You must also provide them free of charge with the washing, cleaning and disinfecting agents necessary to ensure physical hygiene.

Employees of another employer and entrepreneurs in the company

1. You must ensure that employees of another employer and individuals who are entrepreneurs (tradesmen) who will carry out work at your workplaces and premises are given the necessary information and instructions on health and safety at work applicable to your workplaces and premises.
2. You can only arrange to work with a natural person entrepreneur (sole trader) if that natural person entrepreneur (sole trader) has provided you with the necessary proof of competence to carry out the work.

Smoking in the workplace

1. As an employer, you are obliged to issue a ban on smoking in workplaces where non-smokers also work. You also have a duty to ensure that the ban is complied with.

Employer’s responsibilities

1. To ensure OHS, you must inform the Preventive and Protective Services (Section 21) in writing about the employment of an employee for a fixed period of time and also about the employment of an employee temporarily assigned to you under a special regulation.
2. As an employer, you must ensure the health and safety of all persons who are present with your knowledge at your workplaces or on your premises.
3. The employer’s OHS obligations must be carried out by senior employees at all levels of management. These tasks are an equal and integral part of their job duties.
4. The employer who is an individual entrepreneur (sole trader) and the statutory body of the employer who is a legal person are obliged to ensure that the necessary preventive measures and protective measures are taken after notification pursuant to Sections 12(5) and 22(8). If life or health is in imminent danger, they shall act without delay.
5. Although your employees have a duty to ensure OHS and to take the necessary measures, this does not affect your duty as an employer to comply with OHS.

OHS costs

1. The employer must bear the costs of ensuring OHS, you must not pass these costs on to the employee.