Enterprise Archives - Active Safety

OSH in small businesses

szbalazs — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 08:20:14 +0000

Your business has only a few, or none employees at all, because you are the only one in it?

Furthermore they don’t do hazardous work because they sit in the office, dealing with real estates, accounting or being a beautician, manicurist, etc…

THEN WHY SHOULD YOU DEAL WITH SAFETY?

Well, that’s a mistake… even a 1-person business must meet certain criterias, deal with certain things, and if that fails it can result in severe penalties during an inspection by authorities.

One of the most important of these is probably the chemical risk assessment that any business working with hazardous substances must do.

All right, but we are not a chemical plant, we don’t use hazardous substances…

Businesses use more hazardous substances than you would think. If you use chemicals for washing up (hypo, Domestos and others…) or hand sanitizer, which is usually inflammable, you work with hazardous substances, and in this case a chemical risk assessment must be done.

Preparing a chemical risk assessment is an occupational safety and health activity, so it must be carried out only by an OSH qualified person.

MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET (MSDS)

Also part of this issue is the need to download the relevant MSDS from the manufacturer’s website. The safety data sheet contains the most important information on how to store and use the material, what protective equipment is needed during usage and what to do in the event of exposure (contact with hazardous substances, ingestion, etc…).

Of course, chemical risk assessment is just one of many things to do. If you have at least one employee in your business, you may want to read our blog about the basic occupational safety requirements. There are also specific requirements, depending on what the profile of the particular company is, since obviously there are other dangers for example in a carpentry plant and a tanning salon.

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Protective equipment policy

szbalazs — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 12:25:45 +0000

Providing workers with individual protective equipment is the obligation and responsibility of the employer. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the employer shall specify the requirements for the personal protective equipment in writing. This document is the personal protective equipment (PPE) policy.

In the personal protective equipment policy, the employer defines the work processes and technologies that justify the use of protective equipment for each workplace and job role, as well as the type of the allocated protective equipment and other requirements related to the use of the equipment.

Selecting the protective equipment and defining the protective equipment policy are occupational safety and health activities.

During the development of the protective equipment policy the nature and level of risks shall be determined, a protective equipment appropriate to the nature and level of risks, the level of physical work performed by the employee and the climatic environment must be provided, which must be selected within the limits of the equipment’s intended use.

The protective equipment policy includes among others, relevant information on:

inspection, storage, replacement of protective equipment,
maintenance,
handling worn-out protective equipment as hazardous waste,
and the conditions of the protective equipment’s use (including the duration of use).

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Safety basics

szbalazs — Tue, 28 May 2019 13:30:23 +0000

What is occupational safety and health (OSH)? What is the risk assessment? Do I have to deal with these, at all? And if so, how seriously?

These are the questions business leaders wonder about, when they first time hear the phrase “occupational safety and health“.

LET’S START AT THE BEGINNING…

The purpose of OSH is to avoid and prevent accidents and health damage, which is supported by the development of safe working conditions and the basic knowledge of the OSH regulations.

Of course we will help you with learning of OSH rules and regulations.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW!!! … that the below article only contains an extract of the basic tasks, and does not cover all the OSH tasks, as a business shall meet diverse regulations during its operation. We do not mention here among others the handling of hazardous substances, safety coordination in the construction industry, etc…

1. Risk assessment

The employer must have a risk assessment in which the risks to the safety and health of employees are analysed. This must be done before starting the business. Risk assessment can only be carried out by an OSH professional.

You can learn more about risk assessment here.

2. Medical examinations

The employee must undergo a preliminary job aptitude examination before taking up employment. Thereafter, the examination shall be repeated with the frequency specified in the “medical examination regulations”. The procedures and results of these examinations shall be documented in written form by the employer.

3. Safety induction

Occupational safety and health induction shall be provided to employees when taking up employment and repeated annually, and shall be documented. Within the framework of theoretical education, the employee must get information on the regulations, standards and rules of conduct relating to safe and healthy working. The acquisition of general and occupational safety and health knowledge necessary to the workplace, role and function shall be ensured. The training shall also include the appropriate behavior in an emergency case or extraordinary working conditions.

You can learn more about the safety induction here.

4. OSH representative

An OSH representative must be elected at employers with more than 20 employees. The OSH representative represents the interests of employees and participates in consultations. They also cooperate with the employer to develop a safe and healthy working environment.

5. Personal protective equipment policy

Providing employees with personal protective equipment is the obligation and responsibility of the employer.

The personal protective equipment policy is defined by the employer in writing. Carrying out this task is qualified as professional occupational safety and health activity.

Act XCIII/1993 on Occupational Safety and Health 56. §

6. COMMISSIONING OF HAZARDOUS MACHINERY

You (as a Contractor or Managing Director) order the putting into operation of hazardous machinery, but prior to this the hazardous machinery must be subjected to a prior safety inspection.

This is, of course, an occupational safety and health professional activity.

The list of machinery classified as hazardous can be found in Decree 5/1993. (XII. 26.) of the Ministry of Labour, in Annexes 1/a and 1/b.

7. Mandatory employment of an OSH professional

Pursuant to decree 5/1993. (XII. 26.) of the Ministry of Labour, depending on the hazard class of your business and the number of employees you have, you must employ an occupational safety and health professional at least for the following working hours:

HAZARD CLASS I.

Between 1-9 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 2 hours a week
Between 10-49 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 2 hours a day
Between 50-500 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 4 hours a day
Between 501-1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with tertiary education in full time
Above 1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with tertiary education in full time and
after every 600 employees 1-1 OSH professional with secondary education in full time. (So for example, at 1001 employees you shall employ 1 OSH professional with secondary education and 1 with tertiary education)

HAZARD CLASS II.

Between 1-9 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 1 hour a week
Between 10-49 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 1 hour a day
Between 50-500 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 2 hours a day
Between 501-1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in full time
Above 1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with tertiary education in full time and
after every 800 employees 1-1 OSH professional with secondary education in full time. (So for example, at 1001 employees you shall employ 1 OSH professional with secondary education and 1 with tertiary education)

HAZARD CLASS III.

Between 1-9 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 1 hour a week
Between 10-49 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 1 hour a day
Between 50-500 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education in 1 hour a day
Between 501-1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with secondary education 4 hours a day
Above 1000 employees, 1 OSH professional with tertiary education in full time

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Risk assessment

szbalazs — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 09:50:22 +0000

What even is the risk assessment?

Through risk assessment, we analyze the hazards your employees face in specific workflows and work environments, then determine what actions are needed to minimize the frequency and impact of these risks.

Based on the aboves, you might think, “Well, we’re just sitting in the office and nothing happens here.” Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Even when working in an office, there are a lot things to be aware of, in order to work in safe and healthy environment.

Does your business need risk assessment?

Every business with at least 1 employee must have a risk assessment. Even if that one person works only in part time.

How often shall the risk assessment be done?

Risk assessment shall be done before starting the business, and the completed assessment must be reviewed

at least every 3 years
or when a serious accident occurs
or working conditions change significantly (e.g. a new machine arrives, new technology is launched or the business starts to work on a new workplace)

Who can do risk assessment?

Risk assessment is an occupational safety and health profession activity, so it must be carried out by an OSH qualified person.

What can be the consequences of failing to carry out the risk assessment?

Occupational safety and health penalty: The amount of the penalty can range from 50,000 HUF to 10,000,000 HUF per site. In determining the amount of the penalty, the Authority does not take into consideration the financial position of the business, but the number of people at risk (e.g. the number of employees on a given site). The number of employees works as a multiplier, so if the fine would be 100,000 HUF and the given site would employ 10 people, then it would already be 1,000,000 HUF. Moreover, there is also a so-called cumulative multiplier, so 2 or more OSH insufficiencies together will be more expensive than they would be individually.

Compensation consequences: if an employee is involved in an accident, they may need to be compensated for material and non-material damage.

Criminal law consequences: Failure to carry out a risk assessment is considered to be a serious threat to the workplace, so if an accident occurs and the business does not have a risk assessment, it is a crime that can be punished by 1 to 8 years imprisonment depending on the severity of the accident.

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