How to foster the development of soft skills of your staff? Soft skills have significant impact on effective work performance. One way to improve such skills is through training. Numerous studies have shown that own experience makes up for 70% of our soft skills with another 20% being acquired through the guidance and advice from more experienced people, including colleagues, and the remaining 10% being due to training. In planning staff development all possible measures should be taken into account. The most frequently used tools include: 1. Own experience, i.e. changing or expanding one’s scope of duties, role turnover, on-the-job training, assinging employees to project teams and coaching. 2. Guidance from others. That includes mentoring or developmental guidance. 3. Training. Here there is a wide range of choice. In addition to traditional training, an employee may be offered e.g. participation in industry-related conferences and seminars, graduate or postgraduate studies. There are several questions for an employer to consider before making a final decision on the choice of a developmental tool: In which direction should the employee develop? How great is the competence lag? How much time can be invested in the employee/team development, and, last but not least, What is the budget at your disposal? High-competence employees should not be neglected, for they could seek new challenges outside your organisation if not provided with adequate development possibilities in their current roles.
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The Ministry of Environment to amend the act on waste Poles increasingly frequently gather dangerous waste without a valid permission, at random places, in proximity of human dwellings, thus posing a hazard to the environment. Therefore, three MPs posed a relevant question to the Ministry of Environment: asking whether works were underway on any amendments to eliminate such dangerous activities. Deputy Minister Sławomir Mazurek said that a bill was being drafted in the Ministry of Environment to amend the act on waste and certain other statutes. The intended provisions set out, among other things, that waste register will only be kept via an electronic Product, packaging and waste management database (BDO). This entails that a driver transporting waste will be required to keep a confirmation, generated by the system, that a waste handover sheet was created. Resignation from the collective waste handover sheets is also being planned. The changes also aim at real-time – online (rather than only periodical) verification of the transported waste against the information on the waste handover sheet generated in the database. This instrument may be used both during spot checks of waste transports and remotely by the relevant authorities. As regards communal waste management, the changes are supposed to tighten up the system of waste reception and circulation.
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Why does HR and payroll outsourcing pay off? Outsourcing is becoming increasingly popular year by year. Many businesses use professional services in this manner. The reason is prosaic – time and money savings. HR and payroll services, due to the difficulty in ensuring compliance with the law as well as the complexity and volatility of labour law and social insurance provisions, often pose problems to business owners who, rather than focussing on their business operations, spend a considerable amount of time trying to keep abreast of the regulations. Therefore, it is not advisable to do it on one's own, as the consequences of incorrect activities may prove detrimental to the business, particularly in financial terms. An experienced professional can swiftly and efficiently complete the missing documentation, make the necessary calculations and promptly handle any urgent HR or payroll-related issues. Moreover, they can provide, at any time, practical and detailed advice on those areas. Why is it worth outsourcing such services from professionals? Save time. Rather than having to analyse the ever-changing regulations, sign a profitable contract. You will have more time to spend developing your business. Save money. Reduce the costs involved in maintaining the existing positions, cut the spending on HR and payroll applications or legal advice. Rest assured that the services are provided in compliance with the law. Gain access to know-how and experience of your professionals. Avoid the mistakes you could make lacking proper competences.
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Fire inspection qualifications Auditing the employee safety regulations is a task of an OHS specialist. But who can carry out fire protection inspections and what qualifications should they hold in this respect? Under the act on fire protection of 24 August 1991 (consolidated text: Dz. U. 2017, item 736), the above tasks can be undertaken by:
Persons not employed at fire protection units who hold an undergraduate degree in fire-fighting or have completed graduate studies at the Main School of Fire Service in safety engineering specialising in fire safety engineering. Persons not employed at fire protection units who have completed a minimum of secondary or secondary vocational education and hold a fire protection inspector qualifications or fire technician qualifications.
Practice has shown that the fire protection responsibilities in the workplace rest with OHS inspectors holding valid fire protection inspector qualification certificates. The act on amending certain statutes regulating the conditions of access to certain professions of 5 August 2015, which entered into force on 30 November 2015, provides that persons who have not graduated the above mentioned courses of study will lose their existing qualifications to perform fire protection tasks. Fire protection inspectors’ qualifications must be renewed, at least every 5 years, on the prescribed terms.
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A civil-law contract and accident at work Those employed on civil-law contracts are not always covered by accident protection and not all accidents at work involving such employees must be reported to the State Labour Inspectorate. The act on social insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases of 30 October 2002 contains a definition of accident at work involving persons employed on civil-law contracts. According to the definition, such an accident comprises: expedient event, external cause, harm to the person resulting in injury or death, accident occurring during the duration of the accident insurance cover, the accident occurring during the performance of work on an agency contract, mandate contract or services agreement, to which the provisions relating to the mandate contract apply under the Civil Code. For an accident to be deemed accident at work involving a person employed on a civil-law contract all the conditions must be satisfied jointly. Art. 234 (2) of the Labour Code requires that an employer notify immediately the relevant regional labour inspector and prosecutor of any fatal, serious or collective accident at work, or any other accident causing the above effects related to work, if it may be deemed accident at work.
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Fuel station owner's obligations Fuel stations are entities using the environment and hence required to satisfy a number of requirements and obligations imposed on them due to the operation specifics. The operation of a fuel station results in: gas and dust being emitted to the air, production of dangerous waste or other waste, introduction of industrial liquid waste, e.g. from a car wash, to the sewage system. As a result of the above impact, the station manager is required to undertake certain specific actions. On account of gas and dust emissions:
Submit a report, on an annual basis, to the Voivodship Marshall on environmental use and calculate the relevant charge. Fee exemption does not exempt one from the reporting obligation. File the report with the National Emission Balancing and Management Centre (KOBiZE); Draw up relevant environmental documentation, i.e. report an installation not requiring a permit.
On account of waste production:
Hand over, by way of waste handover sheets, the waste to entities holding relevant administrative decisions permitting the collection of waste of a given type; Keep quantitative and qualitative records of waste in accordance with the waste catalogue issued by the Minister of Environment (Dz. U Nr 112, item 1206). Submit, once a year, a report on the amount of the waste produced.
Operating a car wash requires a water-law permit.
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Overworked doctors attract attention of the State Labour Inspectorate (PIP) Given the frequent cases of doctors being overworked, the State Labour Inspectorate has carried out audits of compliance with labour law and occupational health and safety at health care units. The auditors detected numerous violations of the regulation on working hours. In some 23% of the entities audited (33 public and 18 non-public) the employers failed to ensure to their medical personnel adequate daily rest, and in 11% - weekly rest norms. This pertains mainly to doctors, nurses and laboratory diagnosticians. There were instances of doing 14, 16 and even as many as 24 hours of work per working day without prescribed rest. 662 employees (out of the 5165 audited) worked an aggregate of 57,715 hours in excess of the prescribed daily working time limits. The auditors discovered instances of medical personnel doing continuous work of the same kind at the same place on the basis of multiple legal relationships. One doctor worked, remained on duty and standby, during which they were called in to the hospital, for an uninterrupted 120 hours without prescribed rest.
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Is every long-lasting illness developed in relation to work an occupational disease? The list of occupational diseases set out in the regulation of the Council of Ministers on occupational diseases of 30 June 2009 (Dz.U. 2013 item 1367) specifies which chronic disease can be deemed occupational disease. An important criterion is the result of work conditions assessment. A current or former employee who suspects that the symptoms of an illness occurring in them result from occupational disposure agents should contact the physician providing prophylactic occupation healthcare to them. The physician will then issue a written report on suspected occupational disease to the local state sanitary inspector and labour inspector. The report may also be submitted at the request of a dentist or a vet who has, in the course of their practice, noticed symptoms suspicious of occupational disease. Then, the relevant local authority representative directs the employee in question to a relevant diagnostic unit in order to carry out examinations and diagnose the illness. They must also notify the employer. The diagnostic process factors in the working conditions assessment and an unquestionable or probable causal link between the illness and the agents occurring in the work environment or the manner in which the work is performed. The disposure assessment relating to the suspicion of an occupational disease covers the entire term of employment of the applicant.
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10 principles of safe lift maintenance and repair Under the regulation of the Council of Ministers on the types of technical equipment subject to technical supervision of 7 December 2012 (Dz.U. z 2012 r., item 1468), personal, personal-cargo and cargo lifts are subject to technical supervision and must carry a valid decision permitting the use, issued by the Technical Supervision Office (UDT). The UDT, in collaboration with the Polish Association of Lift Producers (PSPD), has drawn up principles of safe personal, personal-cargo and cargo lift maintenance and repair. 1. User’s obligations: Obtain a decision permitting the lift to be used, Subject the lift to periodical technical examinations, Ensure proper technical condition, maintenance and servicing of the lift. 2. Maintenance provider’s obligations: Have relevant qualifications (UDT examination passed), Use personal protective equipment and wear individual protection. 3. Manhole security: Fix the protective harness to the fixing point in the engine room,
4. Determination of the dangerous zone:
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Post lift maintenance notices on storey-stop doors, Secure the place against unauthorised access, Secure the access to the dangerous place, Fit a fence or railing if there is a risk of falling from a height,
5. Deactivating the lift: Turn off power supply in vibrating/moving sections, Apply a lock preventing third parties from turning on power supply, Make sure that the lift cannot move. 6. Electric bridges: Switch the lift off operation, Indentify precisely the disabled circuit on the circuit diagram, Use properly approved 1-metre colour cable, Check all security devices upon disassembly. 7. In the shaft bottom: Take over control of the lift, Switch off power supply of a given section and apply the lock to prevent accidental operation or send the cabin to the top floor, Enter via the lowest door or manhole. 8. Security against falling off the cabin: Wear a security harness, Stand in the centre when travelling in the lift and press STOP upon finish. 9. Counterweight: Go down, not up, Never work on a lift that has no control box, Fix a support of adequate length. 10. In the shaft bottom and shaft head: Eliminate the cabin movement and counterweight, Apply special cabin supports in order to mechanically immobilise the cabin, Apply protective measures preventing third parties from switching on the installation.
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