- Our anti-inflation shield
There is nothing to hide, in recent months we are more and more often grabbing our heads and wallets with each subsequent visit to the store. Price hikes and inflation do their job. Therefore, ATEST decided not to increase the price of two out of three subscription versions (de facto - due to inflation - it is a price reduction). The price of the third version of the subscription (paper version) increases slightly. - Black swans in health and safety
The direct motivation to involve these beautiful birds in thinking about occupational safety was reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book* "The Black Swan. How unpredictable events rule our lives. This is a well-written philosophical treatise on the approach to risk and probability in our lives. The author focuses on economics and economic processes in the context of the rules currently governing in these fields and the consequences of extremely unlikely events. However, I was fascinated by the very concept of the "black swan" and almost immediately associated it with our approach to risk, in particular to the probability of serious and the worst - fatal accidents. - The Polish version of the standard on the safety of transformers, chokes and power supplies
On February 1, 2022, the Polish Committee for Standardization published the Polish version of the PN-EN IEC 61558-1:2019-10 standard Safety of use of transformers, chokes, power supplies and assemblies of such devices. Part 1: General requirements and tests. The document has 186 pages, is harmonized with the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU, introduces EN IEC 61558-1:2019 and replaces PN-EN 61558-1:2009 (Polish version) and PN-EN 61558 1:2009/A1:2009 (English version). - New health and safety regulations and labor law
113. Announcement of the Prime Minister of August 9, 2022 on the announcement of the consolidated text of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on occupational diseases (Journal of Laws, item 1836). Announcement date: August 31, 2022. 114. Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration of August 24, 2022 amending the regulation on the basic salary and allowances for Border Guard officers (Journal of Laws, item 1858). Effective date: September 17, 2022. - Common design errors related to health and safety and ergonomics (part 1)
The scope of operation of the occupational health and safety service includes several tasks related to the planning, design and acceptance of newly built or reconstructed facilities in workplaces. Designers and contractors are most often familiar with technical and construction regulations, but often a safety specialist must convince them to familiarize themselves with and apply also health and safety regulations and ergonomics. A common problem of health and safety professionals is omitting them in the implementation of key tasks of the health and safety service1, related to the creation or modernization of workstations. This applies in particular to the participation of the occupational health and safety service "in the development of plans for the modernization and development of the workplace, when creating assumptions for new investments and modernization of the workplace" - which means that they cannot, at this key stage, "present proposals regarding the inclusion of technical and organizational measures ensuring improvement of occupational health and safety”. - Fire protection guide (part 36)
In this part, the author continues the problem of serious failures. The previous, thirty-fifth part of the series was published in ATEST 10/2022. Major Accidents - continued The operator of the ZDR is obliged to prepare a safety report. The safety report should demonstrate that: · the operator of the ZDR is prepared to apply the accident prevention program and to combat industrial accidents; · the plant meets the conditions for implementing a safety system; · the possibility of an industrial accident has been analyzed and the measures necessary to prevent them have been taken; · the principles of safety and proper design, construction and maintenance of installations, including warehouses, devices, excluding means of transport, and infrastructure related to activities that may cause a risk of failure have been observed. - Accidents
Lesser Poland Voivodeship: At the construction site, a trainee was standing on a scaffolding platform set up at the building's facade, performing work related to wall insulation. While performing the task, he fell from a height of about 6 m onto the area adjacent to the scaffolding. As a result of the incident, the victim suffered serious injuries. - The employer-electrician is also (sometimes) ticking...
The fatal accident occurred in the area of a newly built multi-family housing estate, the so-called apartment buildings. The owner and at the same time the only manager of a company with a dozen or so employees that performed all electrical installation works on the construction site was injured. He had over twenty years of professional experience, G1 energy qualifications both in the field of operation (E) and supervision (D) and training in the field of health and safety for employers performing the tasks of the health and safety service. - MILWAUKEE® expands the range of protective gloves
As many as 70% of workers who experienced hand injuries in the workplace were wearing the wrong type of protective gloves. MILWAUKEE®, out of concern for the safety of professionals, is expanding its range of protective clothing with cut-resistant gloves, including high-visibility gloves, and winter gloves. - An employer's peace of mind
"The employer's restful sleep is ensured by OHS training for employees from Ukraine in Ukrainian" - this is the slogan of the social campaign of the ipomocni.pl foundation, addressed to employers who employ refugees. The campaign could be seen in September on the streets of Krakow (city buses were the carriers of the slogan) and in social media. - OHS in a modern research center
On June 3, 2022, participants of the 13th nationwide conference of the monthly ATEST - Labor Protection took part in a substantive trip to the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Center in Krakow. - OHS coding
Together with TAM (www.tam.com.pl) we offer you mental entertainment. According to the motto that you should have fun while teaching, our tasks will not only give you a moment of respite, but will also allow you to remember the industry knowledge. This month we're offering some coding fun. - Determining the cause of an accident at work by the court
The causative cause of an event may be any external factor (i.e. not resulting from the internal characteristics of a person) capable of causing harmful effects in the existing conditions. In this sense, the external cause of the event may be not only the work tool, machine, forces of nature, but also the work and activities of the victim himself (e.g. falling into a hole in the scaffolding). Undoubtedly, electric shock during work performed in high temperature and humidity was an external cause of an accident at work (judgment of the Supreme Court of 16 October 2019, II PK 57/18) - Security Support Programs
Yes, we all know it - promotion and education in one, and great fun at the same time. Health and safety competition - I have only bad associations. Gamification, tests on health and safety rules, write a poem about safety, solve a crossword puzzle, draw a poster promoting safety, create a slogan - people, we are not children after all! Why has it become accepted that such an important issue can be discussed either with cheap drama or cheerfully? Yes, I also organized competitions. Yes, I was also looking for inspiration, coming up with slogans and showing movies. Yes, but it didn't work, and most of all, it annoyed me. - Workers particularly vulnerable to the dangers of dangerous substances (1)
This factsheet provides practical guidance on legal obligations and good practice for vulnerable workers who may be exposed to hazardous substances at work. It is important that risk assessment and prevention measures take into account groups of workers with specific needs who may be particularly vulnerable. The fact sheet summarizes the legal obligations of employers and analyzes specific groups, i.e. new or young workers, migrant or temporary workers, workers with medical conditions, pregnant or breastfeeding workers and female workers. What can employers do to ensure that these groups of workers are protected from harm caused by exposure to hazardous substances? - Artificial intelligence helps in health and safety
We would like to consider the possibilities offered by modern technology in OSH, especially advanced IT tools and artificial intelligence. Such solutions are used more and more often in various branches of the economy. They also significantly help in the development of the concept of Industry 4.0 and "smart manufacturing". In addition, they support the use of integrated systems working with large data sets that react in real time to changing conditions in factories. Thus, they help, for example, to keep machines in optimal condition and alert in advance about impending failures, predict the demand for materials or supervise the quality of products. Can artificial intelligence provide this type of support also in the area of occupational health and safety? - OHS service 4.0
On September 8-9, 2022, the 4th National Health and Safety Service Forum "Służba OHS 4.0" was held, organized by the Main Board of the National Association of OHS Service Employees. The changing world of work, new technologies, new machines, computerization and people: employees, employers and the health and safety service. These issues were discussed during the forum - problems and ways to solve them were presented. Knowledge, experience and good practices were shared. - The safety and needs of employees in their work environments
Modern OSH needs to work on "old" issues (e.g. working at height, hiring young workers) and also takes into account the rapidly changing world of work: more women, migrants, older workers, more chronic and mental illnesses, new technologies , increasing job demands, psychosocial risks, economic and political turmoil. - Shoe repair machines
Our checklists allow you to check whether a specific machine or group of machines meets the safety requirements contained in regulations and standards. They are also a tool for occupational risk assessment when operating these machines; can be used as a source of information for health and safety instructions. Readers use them in different ways; also for training future machine operators. The next list is for shoe repair machines. Readers can find a list of lists published so far on the website www.atest.com.pl in the "Machines - checklist" tab (frame "Thematic cycles").
ATEST - ochrona pracy (Certificate - work protection) - the whole list