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

High temperatures and employer obligations In summer the outside temperature often exceeds 30 ° C. Work in enclosed areas without an effective ventilation or air conditioning system, becomes a serious problem for both the employee and the employer at that time. Employee is exposed to so-called `heat stress`.

Occupational health and safety regulations do not specify the upper limit of the temperature at which work may be performed, but the employer, in accordance with the provisions of § 30 of the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997 on general health and safety at work regulations (Journal of Law 2003 No. 169, item 1650, as amended) is required to provide a reasonable temperature, depending on the type of work performed - for example while performing light physical jobs or in offices, not less than 18 ° C (291 K).

Work in high temperature is referred to as hot-microclimate work and is classified as hazardous work. In order to ensure proper working conditions, air exchange should be ensured in rooms. Therefore, it is very important to design and operate proper ventilation.

When working at high temperatures (above 28 ° C) the employer must provide employees with cold or hot drinks that should be available throughout the work shift to meet the needs of the employee.

Noise hazard at workplace Noise affects the human body in many different ways. It is a factor that affects health, well-being and efficiency. Over time, acoustic trauma can cause hearing loss. Noise is considered to be any auditory stimulus, present at a particular place and time, that is undesirable or that can be burdensome or harmful to the body as it increases the risk of an accident.

Obligations of employers to control exposure to noise and to prevent its effects are contained in the Ordinance of the Minister of Economy and Labour of 5 August 2005 on occupational safety and health in work involving noise or mechanical vibration, which implements the provisions of Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 February 2003 on minimum health and safety requirements regarding exposure of workers caused by physical agents - noise.

The fight against noise in the production plant should be carried out already in the preliminary design phase. On the other hand, in already existing workplaces, noise sources must be eliminated and reduced by using silencing solutions and organizational measures.

These include: acoustical-insulating enclosures, acoustic dampers and screens, industrial sound insulation enclosures, sound absorbing materials, active noise reduction and personal hearing protectors.

The majority of accidents are in the industrial sector According to GUS (Central Statistical Office) data, in the first quarter of 2017 nearly 30 percent of industrial accidents occurred in the industrial sector. 4,894 events were reported, of which 60 were severe and 4 ended with death. 4,830 people suffered health impairment. As compared to the corresponding period of 2016, this number decreased by 221 accidents.

Most of this type of events took place at work related to the production of food products - 886 accidents. It is important, however, that there was not one fatal result, although eight were serious. 659 accidents have been reported in the sector related to the manufacture of metal products. One ended with the death of an employee, 11 with serious injuries, and 647 with a slight injury. In the third place was the manufacture of rubber and plastic products, where 413 accidents occurred, including 4 heavy and 409 light ones.

The industrial sector is developing dynamically. We can observe this on the basis of employment statistics - only 5.148 million people were employed in the industry in the first quarter of 2017, that is 154,000 (3.1%) more than in the corresponding period in 2016. It is worth noting that the increased number of employees has not had a major impact on the accident rate in the industry.

In order to reduce the number of accidents, emphasis should be put on the training and education of employees. In the industrial sector, due to the factors that can lead to tragic events, this is extremely important. That is why training in occupational health and safety, a well-prepared workplace and current information on hazards are necessary.

Changes in health and safety regulations concern research laboratories On June 30, 2017 a regulation amending the regulation on occupational safety and health related to exposure to electromagnetic fields came into force. This concerns the accreditation of testing laboratories that perform EM-field measurements in the work environment.

According to the changes, entities that have been issued accredited testing laboratories certificate for EM-field measurements by December 31, 2016 may perform measurements by adapting the existing EM-field evaluation methods if the method: • was published by 30 April 2017 and the entity has requested or will request to update the scope of accreditation taking into account this method by 30 June 2017, or • has been or will be published after 30 April 2017 and before 30 June 2017, and the entity has requested or will request to be updated by 31 August 2017; • will be published after 30 June 2017 and the entity will request an update of the scope of accreditation taking into account this method within 60 days of its publication.

In the event that the method for a given EM-field source type is not published by this time, it means that the possibility of carrying out the measurements after 30 June 2017 is maintained. Entities that were not issued accreditation certificates for testing laboratories by 31st December 2016 may perform measurements of a particular field-EM source type from the date of obtaining the accreditation certificate to the measurement method for the EM-field source type.

The new Water Law On July 18, 2017, the Sejm (the lower house of the parliament) adopted the Water Law Bill. If the bill is adopted in the current wording, most of the provisions of the law will enter into force on January 1, 2018.

The new regulations are expected to meet the preconditions of the Water Framework Directive, which will allow the use of € 3.5 billion of European funds, including flood protection investments. The European Union has set a deadline for all member states to enact new legislation in this regard by the end of June 2017. Therefore, in order not to lose EU grants, the Senate must adopt the law as soon as possible.

The bill implements a total of eight EU directives – i.a. those on sewage and nitrates – and introduces amendments to 45 existing laws. It also envisages the establishment of a new institution of the State Water Management "Wody Polskie” (Polish Waters), which will manage all public waters on behalf of the State Treasury.

The draft also includes the introduction of a fee for "reduced natural retention" - a new tax on rain and thaw. So the fee will affect everyone who uses larger buildings. In practice it concerns cooperatives or housing communities, as well as all warehouses, large-area stores or office buildings. With one exception - fees need not be paid by churches and religious associations.

The Ministry of the Environment estimates that the price per 1 m3 of water will rise by between 5 gr in rural areas and 50 gr in big cities. Water price rises are also to be expected by i.a. beverage manufacturers. Fish farmers, farmers (if they use more than 5 thousand litres of water per day), power plants or heat and power generating plants will also pay more.

Changes in waste segregating system will also affect businesses The new waste segregating system has been in force since 1 July 2017. The changes have been introduced by reason of EU regulations which assume that Poland will have reached the recycling rate of 50% by 2020 and they also involve preparations for re-use of: paper, metals, plastic and glass. Failure to fulfil these requirements in 2020 will entail imposing severe financial penalties on Poland.

Businesses will also be affected. The changes concern the method of collecting the waste and the fee for doing so: either in a communal or individual way. In communes there will be a transitional period, which means that until 31 December 2017 the waste bins must be properly marked and till 30 June 2022 they will have to be replaced with the new ones.

In case of individual waste management, the owner of a real property should sign a new contract with a communal organisational unit or with a business that receives the waste and that is recorded in the register of regulated activity.

The contract concluded between the parties should be adjusted to the changes and also to the local legal act, i.e. the regulations for maintaining cleanliness and orderadopted in the territory of the commune and simultaneously relating to the Regulation of the Minister for the Environment of 29 December 2016 on detailed method of separate collection of chosen waste fractions (Journal of Laws of 2017, Item 19).

The evacuation plan for disabled workers The owner, manager or user of the facility, i.e. typically the employer, should guarantee to the employees the fire safety at the highest level possible. A very important element is the evacuation plan, needed especially when the users of the facility are disabled.

The requirements concerning length and width of escape routes, their course and labelling, assembly site in case of an evacuation, and also obligatory training (so called test evacuations) are laid down in the regulations of the Minister of Interior and Administration on fire-protection of buildings and other building structures and areas of 07 June 2010 (Journal of Laws No. 109, Item 719) and the regulations of the Minister for Infrastructure on technical conditions which must be fulfilled by buildings and their location of 12 April 2002 (Journal of Laws of 2015, Item 1422).

The requirements for buildings, e.g. for hospitals, in which disabled people constitute a significant majority of users (hazard category ZL II), were established in the provisions. In other cases, the matter of disabled people's fire safety has been left to people responsible for the building, most often to employers.

In organising evacuation of disabled people, the employer should pay attention to the kind and degree of disability, the age of a disabled person and possible use of other workers' help for evacuation purposes.

PIP: every third person audited infringes occupational health and safety provisions PIP's report of 2016 revealed numerous cases of non-compliance with occupational health and safety provisions, especially in the area of training, medical examinations and possession of personal protective equipment.

What draws attention is the increase in the number of accidents at work involving Ukrainian citizens. In 2016 labour inspectors examined 75 accidents reported to PIP. In these accidents 7 people died and 20 were seriously injured.

An analysis of causes of accidents at work conducted by the inspectors shows that the most common organisational causes were:       

inappropriate training in the area of occupational health and safety and ergonomics, lack of training, insufficient vocational training, lack of instructions concerning the safe use of tools, machines or devices, inappropriate superiors' instructions, inappropriate division of labour and flawed coordination of collective actions, lack of supervision of employees.

Appropriate supervisory and management's involvement in occupational health and safety as well as employees' participation in such assessments have crucial meaning in the effective management of occupational safety.

Also the increasing number of foreigners working off the books was highlighted in the report. In this case the lack of access to data of foreigners staying in Poland prevents labour inspectors from conducting effective checks.

EU-OSHA on 3D printing and monitoring employees Work and workplaces evolve continually under the influence of new technologies, working materials and processes, changes in the composition of the workforce and labour market, and new forms of employment and work organisation. These changes may entail new threats as well as security and health challenges to employees. In order to make workplaces safe and healthy, it is necessary to anticipate the risks and take appropriate measures.

One of the most important purposes of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is the identification and release of reliable data concerning new and arising threats to the occupational health and safety (OHS) that will satisfy the needs of decision-makers and researchers by permitting effective action to be taken at the right time.

EU-OSHA published two new experts' reports examining the use of specific types of technology at workplaces. 3D printing and its potential risks were under discussion, especially in the area of responsibility, materials used, flexibility of employment and monotony of work. The second report focuses on monitoring employees' well-being by using technology, which is a crucial phenomenon in many workplaces.

Should the air in the office meet the microbiological standards?

OHS regulations do not establish biological agent limit values in the working environment as opposed to chemical (NDS) or physical (NDN) agent limits.

The Expert Team for Biological Agents of Inter-ministerial Committee for NDS and NDN defined them as micro- and macro-organisms as well as structures and substances made by these organisms. When existing in the working environment they have a harmful effect on the human body and may cause diseases and discomforts of professional origin.

The classification and list of harmful biological agents is set out in Annex 1 to the regulation of the Minister of Health on harmful biological agents existing in working environment and health protection of workers potentially exposed to those factors of 22 April 2005 (Journal of Laws No. 81, Item 716, as amended).

Harmful biological agents can be grouped in terms of the kind of pathogenic influence on the human body:  agents causing contagious and invasive diseases (e.g. viruses, bacteria, fungi),  biological allergens (e.g. vegetal and animal particulates),  biological toxins,  carcinogens,  biological vectors, i.e. arthropods transmitting germs of transmission diseases (e.g. ticks).

Sources of biological pollution in office air can be both users of those premises themselves (people), organic dust, materials collected in the buildings and the HVAC equipment.