Legal Protection of Work - Employee Health and Safety Training

Safety in the workplace is first and foremost the responsibility of the employer, but also of the employees - training and putting knowledge into practice.

The employer has an obligation to:

• regularly train employees in health and safety rules,
• familiarise workers with the safety rules relevant to their work,
• issue instructions and guidance on work safety,
• provide the employee with protective clothing free of charge if the nature of the work requires it.

Workplace health and safety training falls into two categories:

• Initial training - the employee should receive this before starting work,
• Periodic training - regular training to remind and consolidate acquired knowledge of health and safety at work.

Such a course should take place during working hours and all costs are to be borne by the employer.

Health and Safety Service:

• 

  in cases where a company has more than one hundred employees, the employer is obliged to set up a health and safety service to deal with safety training and to make sure that everyone complies with the rules discussed.
• if the company has less than one hundred employees, the employer must appoint a person responsible for the training of the employees and their compliance with the rules, who will act as a health and safety service.
• However, if a company has up to twenty employees, the employer may act as the person responsible for training and compliance with health and safety rules. Also, if the persons employed are exclusively minors or disabled, the employer also performs this function. 

First aid in the workplace

According to the Labour Code, in addition to the obligation of health and safety training, the employer must designate a person or group of persons who will be responsible for providing first aid in the event of an accident and who will be able to respond in the event of a fire or the need to evacuate employees from the workplace.

Training for administrative and office staff

Some workplaces, e.g. in an office, have a lower hazard category and are therefore excluded from compulsory health and safety training. Such places include establishments with no higher than a third hazard category, where the accident rate is low, as are the health risks. These include:

• garment manufacturing,
• leather production,
• gastronomy,
• computer and electronics manufacturing,
• education,
• cultural and entertainment activities,
• detective and security activities,
• finance and insurance,
• property market,
• administrative and office work. 

Should the person appointed to provide first aid have specific qualifications?

It is essential that the person responsible for administering first aid has had the appropriate training and is fully competent in what they do.

Finally, some important information:

• The employer is obliged to provide health and safety training,
• an employer must not allow an employee to carry out a job if that employee does not have the required qualifications and has not received health and safety training,
• Failure to implement the rules is punishable by a fine,
• breach of rules and regulations by the employee may result in termination of the contract,
• if the employer neglects the health and safety obligation, the employee can terminate the contract immediately.

Questions and answers

Who has a duty to train employees in health and safety?

It is the duty of every employer to train the employee in the health and safety rules of the workplace. In turn, it is the employee's responsibility to space them.

Do all sectors require health and safety training?

There are some jobs that fall under the third hazard category at the most and, therefore, there is no obligation to have safety training for them. This category includes, for example, administrative and office work, catering, detective work or finance.

Who can provide health and safety training?

Depending on how many people the company employs, it must be a specialist health and safety service, an employer-designated employee, or the employer itself if it employs no more than twenty people.