The obligation to
provide employees with so-called personal protective equipment is imposed by
the Labor Code (articles 2376 and 2377). An
employer must buy them, but only if, at the time of performing official duties,
his employees are exposed to dangerous and harmful factors.
Work clothes and shoes
are available to employed employees when there is a risk that their work may be
damaged or significantly dirty during work. When
they use their own work clothes, the code requires employers to pay them an
equivalent equal to its cost. Of
course, the employer must also provide them with specialist clothing when it is
necessary in a given profession.
According to the labor
code
Unfortunately, there are
no regulations or standards that would determine what personal protective
equipment or clothing and how much should be given to employed persons. This remains at the discretion of the
employer, who must determine this in consultation with the crew. The Labor Code also requires the
employer to make arrangements for equipping employees with work clothing and
footwear as well as personal protective equipment specified in the company's
regulations. This is not the end
of bureaucracy. According to the
law, the owner of the company must set up a card for each employee, in which he
will record the issuing of his work clothes and occupational health and safety
equipment. The employer is also
obliged to wash and repair workers' work clothing as well as repair and
maintenance of personal protective equipment. You
can also give employees an equivalent for these purposes. Unfortunately, employees can not wash
clothes that have been contaminated. An
example of this is coveralls used for removing cement-asbestos boards from
roofs.
What you need to buy
construction workers
This is partly regulated
by the ordinance of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of 26 September
1997 on general health and safety at work (Journal of Laws No. 129, item 844). It lists what is actually included in
personal protective equipment and what protective clothing is involved. Clothing is, among others, fleece
gloves and coveralls. Personal
protective equipment includes helmets,
knee pads, harnesses, protective masks, earmuffs and safety goggles. Of course, the clothes and equipment
given to the workers do not transfer to their property. More details can be found in the
regulation of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of 11 June 2002 amending
the Regulation on general provisions of health and safety at work (Journal of
Laws No. 91, item 811). It
contains a table in which hazards
are listed, at which the use of personal protective equipment is required.There
is also an enumeration table, at what works what protective measures must be
used.
To buy is not everything
You still need to use. The view of workers working with their
own health and life risk, without helmets, gloves, masks and protective glasses
is quite common. This is not due
to the company owner's oversights. Protective
equipment is usually only hidden in the magazine, sometimes unpacked at all. This state of affairs results from the
manager's negligence in building his duties.
