• The text-pretexts
  • I work, I don't hate
    In June, ATEST joined the ongoing social campaign "I work, I don't hate", run by the National Association of Workers of the Health and Safety Service. The association's branches are dealing with the problem of hate, which is increasing during the coronavirus epidemic and affects other professional groups - medics, teachers, miners, and their families. "I work, I don't hate" is a nationwide social campaign aimed at drawing the attention of employers and jobs [...]
  • Memoirs of a labor inspector from 1972-1977 (part 5)
    We present the memories of a long-term labor inspector - from the time when he supervised the forestry and timber industry in south-eastern Poland. In the first part (ATEST 1/2020), the author described, among other things, how the inspection organization looked like in the 1970s and how he started working there. In the second (2/2020) he introduced the education at the inspection school in Wrocław and the specificity of the inspector's work "in the field", and in the third and fourth (3 and 4/2020) he mentioned, among others several accidents he investigated as an inspector.
  • How to create a dream team supporting the health and safety department
    What would it be like if one day the OHS department grew from one or two specialists to a few or a dozen people? Ah… A dream. Systematically updated risk assessment, regularly reviewed instructions for safe work performance, constant and quick communication with employees, regular and carefully performed safety crossings, many reported near misses (ZPW), etc.
  • Up to date…
  • Accident while working remotely
    During the coronavirus pandemic, the legislator allowed employers to organize remote work for employees1. Due to the fact that the work performed in this way is beyond the direct supervision of the employer, accidents occurring during its performance may pose many procedural and evidentiary problems that must be resolved in the course of accident proceedings. Since the regulation contained in Art. 3 CovidU2 regarding remote work has been in force for a short time - we have not yet received decisions of the Supreme Court regarding the issue of accidents at work, nevertheless, many of the judgments regarding accidents at work issued in recent years resolve issues so universal that the conclusions drawn from them will be helpful in deciding on the qualification of a given event that occurred while working remotely.
  • Janusz Kaszyński
    People and events/who is who.
  • Wellbeing during a pandemic
    In response to the pandemic, this year's "Workplace Wellbeing Show" has been moved to the virtual world - as a series of free webinars. As a reminder: this trade fair for mental and physical well-being at work is held regularly in London. This time, they were held as an on-line event on May 18-22. On the first day, the webinars focused on mental health at work in the context of the struggle with the coronavirus. And this is the focus of the following account.
  • See, think, answer!
  • Handling devices - explanations of specialists
    On June 25, an on-line seminar was held, where issues related to handling equipment (UTB) with a load capacity of up to 250 kg in the light of the technical inspection regulations and legal requirements for safe work with the use of lift trucks were discussed. The seminar was organized by Faraone Poland, which invited the National Labor Inspectorate and the Office of Technical Inspection to cooperate.
  • "I work, I don't hate" conference
    "I work, I don't hate" is a nationwide social campaign aimed at drawing the attention of employers and employees to the serious social problem of hate related to the coronavirus and initiating effective anti-discrimination measures. June 22 this year an on-line conference devoted to this topic was held.
  • Golden Braces 2020
    We invite you to the 24th edition of the GOLDEN BRACES competition. The ATEST award statuette belongs to 73 people, including OSH specialists, lecturers, academics and authors of the best articles published in our monthly, as well as the best diploma theses. This year, two more people can join this noble group. Therefore, please propose candidates.
  • Railings - the position of the National Labor Inspectorate
    We come back to the issue of work at height and the interpretation of railings referred to in § 106 1 of the regulation on general provisions on health and safety at work. The labor inspection emphasizes that the railings indicated in the provision cannot be treated as other permanent structures or devices protecting the employee.
  • Machine overloads - factors
    This article is devoted to overloading machines. It is a continuation of the previous one (ATEST 4 and 6/2020), dealing with the fatigue of machine construction elements. These categories are related to each other and similarly difficult to supervise by designers, technologists and machine users alike. They have a direct impact on the level of safety when conducting production processes and maintaining them in a state of fitness.
  • About (non) professional risk
    As a long-term employee of the OHS service, I decided to share the reflection that came to me in recent weeks. I started my adventure with occupational health and safety at the end of the 90s, that is, at a time when the analysis and estimation of occupational risk shyly entered the regulations and practice. How many interpretations, forms and formulas were there then. You could come across both one-page studies for employees who perform particularly dangerous work, as well as 100-page studies for office positions, containing 99 pages of introduction and terminological explanations, and finally in a few sentences to communicate the possibility of stumbling and falling on this [...]
  • Our laboratory was designed mainly to work with SARS viruses
  • The health and safety industry helps educate behavioral practitioners
    Upon graduation, the graduate is a specialist fully ready for professional work - this is possible thanks to the cooperation of the academic community with industry organizations. The University of Technology and Humanities in Radom decided to involve practitioners in the education of its students.
  • Another amendment to the Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/436 on the list of standards harmonized with the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
    Since last year, changes to the list of standards harmonized with the Machinery Directive 2006/42 / EC have been carried out in the form of an implementing decision of the Commission (EU). ATTEST 12/2019 discusses the content of the first Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/436 of March 18, 2019 on harmonized standards for machines. European Commission above by the decision, it published three lists in the Official Journal of the European Union: new standards harmonized with the Machinery Directive (Annex I to the above-mentioned decision); harmonized standards subject to the Machinery Directive (Annex II to the above-mentioned decision) and standards withdrawn with effect from the above-mentioned dates (Annex III to the above-mentioned decision). The decision in question in 2019 was amended twice by decisions 2019/1766 and 2019/1863 (the content of the changes is presented in ATTEST 2/2020). On April 1, 2020, the European Commission published Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/480 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/436 on harmonized standards for machinery developed for the purposes of Directive 2006/42 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.
  • The future of the e-retail sector from the point of view of occupational health and safety (1)
    Lesson 127 Below is the first part of the article "The future of the e-retail sector from the point of view of occupational health and safety". E-commerce is convenient, profitable and gives the buyer more options. For the seller, this involves many challenges, requiring additional logistics to deliver goods directly to the customers' door, low margins resulting from easy access to online price comparisons, and pressure to provide so-called a positive customer experience throughout the purchasing process. The following article discusses some of the possible future health implications for e-commerce workers.
  • Coronavirus information/time
    Pilot research experiment. Representatives of three research centers from the Śląskie and Opolskie voivodeships will check whether health care workers who come into contact with coronavirus-infected people on a daily basis have developed immunity to SARS-CoV-2. They will also check the impact of health and lifestyle on the risk of infection. The pilot research experiment will consist in performing serological tests on approximately 300 health care workers from selected hospitals from the Śląskie and Opolskie voivodships. The medics will have their blood taken for tests twice - every two weeks to eliminate the risk of conducting tests in the so-called window, which is the time when a serological test may produce a false-negative result.
  • Qualification of an accident at work as severe
    The statutory definition of a "serious accident at work" is included in Art. 3 sec. 5 of the Accident Act. The qualification of an accident at work as "severe" is determined in the first place by the effects occurring immediately after the injury (loss or violation of the basic functions of the body), and then by the longer-term consequences of the injury (persistent after treatment and rehabilitation) in the form of an incurable or life-threatening disease, permanent mental illness, total or partial incapacity to work in the profession, or permanent, serious disfigurement or distortion of the body.
  • Assessment of light glare at workplaces
    Lighting in construction workplaces is assessed in terms of many criteria, including taking into account the reduction of glare, which may cause fatigue and human errors resulting in material losses, accidents, etc.
  • Everyday technique
    Low-emission aluminum is present at every step. In high-rise construction, aluminum profiles are hidden, cars have aluminum rims and body elements, aluminum appears in the housings of our laptops and pots in the kitchen. Due to the growing popularity of this material and its widespread use, Hydro Extrusion is improving industrial solutions based on it.
  • Hand skin care during an epidemic
    Recent weeks have shown us how important it is to take care of proper hand hygiene. During the epidemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus, many of us began to pay special attention to washing and disinfecting the skin of our hands. However, few are aware that frequent washing and exposure to disinfectants causes excessive drying of the skin of the hands.
  • New health and safety regulations and labor law
    Review of the legal provisions in the Journal of Laws and the Monitor Polski in 2020.
  • Dicer
    In the series "Machines - checklist" we have published an introductory article "Nobody can help with machines" (ATEST 7/2008) and various checklists, the list of which can be found on the website www.atest.com.pl in the "Machines - list" tab control ”(box“ Thematic cycles”).

ATEST - ochrona pracy (Certificate - work protection) - the whole list