Is Suot obligatory at an enterprise? is not a fact. Special assessment of working conditions: fines and sanctions New document for all employers

Creating a safe working environment for company employees is the direct responsibility of any employer. Legislation obliges enterprises to clearly regulate all processes related to worker safety. We'll tell you how to do this.

Occupational safety management system at the enterprise

What is an occupational safety and health (OHS) management system?

This is a business process consisting of the following elements:

1. Policy and goals in the field of employee safety of a particular company. For example, an organization's goal may be to reduce or avoid accidents at work.
2. Procedures for achieving stated goals. Procedures are carried out using regulatory documents, employee actions, and material and technical resources.

In practice, to create an occupational safety management system in an organization, it is necessary to:

• determine levels of responsibility: from the head of the company to the ordinary employee;
• distribute occupational safety responsibilities among employees;
• carry out specific activities and procedures;
• describe all this in company documents.

In enterprises employing less than 15 people, the OHSMS may have a simplified structure, but all legal requirements on labor protection must be fully complied with.

What should be included in the occupational safety and health system regulations?

The main document will be the Regulations on OSMS, which should exist in every organization. The Ministry of Labor of Russia, by order of August 19, 2016 N 438n, approved the Standard Regulations on OSH, which should be used as a guide when drawing up a document specifically for your company (you can download it at the end of the article).

The Regulations must include the following information:

• employer's policy and goals in the field of occupational safety (introductory section);
• distribution of duties and responsibilities between employees of the organization at all levels of management: who does what and is responsible for what;
• procedures: what exactly and how will be done to comply with legal requirements and achieve the company’s goals (training employees, assessing working conditions, issuing protective equipment, investigating accidents, monitoring the situation at the enterprise, etc.).

It is also necessary to reflect the duties, responsibilities and specific actions of employees involved in the OSMS in job descriptions and employment contracts, internal regulations of the organization governing other processes (for example, production and technical regulations). All these documents must be logically related to each other and have no contradictions, and comply with legal norms.

What are the consequences of not having an OSMS?

Since the presence of an OSMS is a mandatory requirement of legislation in the field of labor protection (

Business consultant on personnel management and labor law

According to Rostrud statistics, 48% of fines during inspections are fines for violations in the field of labor protection. Of course, some provisions and norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation may not apply to a specific company. For example, not all workers are subject to medical examinations, not all workers need special clothing, and not everyone is paid compensation for working in hazardous conditions. But the labor inspectorate checks instructions and training on labor protection, the presence of local regulations on labor protection, and special assessments in almost any company in relation to any employees.

Let's look at what violations the inspectorate will most likely fine the company for.

If no one in the company is responsible for labor protection

According to Art. 217 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if the number of the company exceeds 50 people, then the position of labor protection specialist is introduced; if there are less than 50 people, the manager can deal with labor protection independently or involve a specialist or organization under a civil law contract. Therefore, if you have more than 50 people in your company, and there is no occupational safety specialist (at least a part-time worker at 0.25 times the rate), then the fine will be from 50 to 80 thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation is inevitable. If the company has less than 50 people, it is necessary to appoint a person responsible for labor protection by order.

Labor safety training is mandatory for everyone

Introductory briefing on labor protection is mandatory for absolutely all employees (Article 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Procedure for training in labor protection and testing knowledge of labor protection requirements for employees of organizations, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated January 13, 2003 No. 1/29). In addition, in some cases, initial training at the workplace, repeated, targeted, unscheduled briefings may be necessary. The absence in the company of documents confirming the conduct of instructions to workers on labor protection (logbooks for registering instructions) may result in administrative liability under Part 3 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in the amount of 110 to 130 thousand rubles.

Does everyone need to be trained in labor safety?

Occupational safety training does not end with introductory briefing. According to clause 2.3.1 of the Occupational Safety and Health Training Procedure, employees must undergo special training in occupational safety when entering work within the first month. At the same time, the director and heads of departments undergo training and knowledge testing on labor protection at the training center, and ordinary employees undergo training within the company. To do this, it is necessary to create a commission of those employees who have been trained at the training center. How can a labor inspector confirm that workers have completed training? Protocols and certificates for testing knowledge of labor protection requirements. If there are no such documents for verification, then, most likely, the company will be punished with a fine of up to 130 thousand rubles under Part 3 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

You can’t do without labor safety instructions

According to Article 212 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer must develop and approve rules and instructions on labor protection for employees. Thus, the development of labor protection instructions is mandatory for employers. When developing instructions on labor protection, you should use the following documents: Methodological recommendations for the development of instructions on labor protection, approved by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation on May 13, 2004, Methodological recommendations on the development of state regulatory requirements for labor protection, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 17, 2002 No. 80, intersectoral and sectoral rules and standard instructions on labor protection. Employees are familiarized with the instructions before concluding an employment contract when hiring (Article 68 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If the company does not have sheets of familiarization with signatures of employees (or familiarization logs, or signatures on instructions), then the company can be punished with a fine under Part 1 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation of up to 80 thousand rubles.

Special assessment: costs less than the fine

Federal Law No. 426-FZ dated December 28, 2013 “On special assessment of working conditions” establishes the obligation to conduct a special assessment of working conditions in all workplaces, except for remote workers and homeworkers.

Why don't employers conduct special assessments? It’s clear: these are additional costs. But let's compare these costs with fines. If the cost of a special assessment is several thousand rubles, then the fine is several tens of thousands, or more precisely 80 thousand rubles, according to Part 2 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the special assessment, the assessing company will draw up a report for the organization, which will need to be shown to the inspector. If the company has not previously had “harmful agents,” then the special assessment can be carried out until 2018, this was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, but in this case the company will have to prove in court that it is carrying out the special assessment step by step, according to the plan, and has already begun implementing the plan ( for example, entered into an agreement with an appraising organization).

What about medical examinations?

Double-check whether your employees really do not need to undergo a medical examination.

To do this, refer first of all to the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated April 12, 2011 No. 302n, and if you only have office workers, also to SanPiN 2.2.2/2.4.1340-03. Indeed, according to this document, employees who work at a computer more than 50% of their working time must undergo medical examinations. If it turns out that medical examinations are still required, then you should conclude an agreement with a medical institution, issue referrals to employees, obtain medical reports and reports and present them to the inspector during the inspection. Otherwise - a fine of up to 130 thousand rubles under Part 3 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Check if special clothing is needed

The company also needs to check whether the company has any employees who need to provide special clothing, for example, cleaners, drivers. To do this, it is necessary to study the standard norms for specific professions (positions) in legal systems, for example, Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 9, 2014 No. 997n.

If the positions specified in the standard standards are included in the company’s staffing table, then the company must provide such employees with special clothing at its own expense, in accordance with the Intersectoral Rules for Providing Workers with Special Clothing, approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated June 1, 2009 No. 290n. If special clothing is required, but there is none, the fine under Part 4 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation ranges from 130 to 150 thousand rubles.

If the manager does not agree to allocate funds for labor protection measures, show him this table with responsibility for violations of labor protection requirements, draw his attention to the fact that not only the company, but also the manager himself is punished. It is also worth keeping in mind that, as judicial practice shows, inspectors have the right not only to add up fines for various violations, but also to multiply them by the number of inspected workers.

Table. Responsibility for violations of labor protection requirements

Violation	Fine on the manager	Company fine	Article
Violation of labor protection requirements, with the exception of cases provided for in Parts 2 - 4 of Art. 5.27.1	Fine in the amount of 2 to 5 thousand rubles	Fine in the amount of 50 to 80 thousand rubles	Part 1 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
Violation by the employer of the procedure for conducting a special assessment or failure to conduct it	Fine in the amount of 5 to 10 thousand rubles	Fine in the amount of 60 to 80 thousand rubles	Part 2 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
Allowing an employee to work without undergoing training and testing knowledge of labor protection requirements, as well as mandatory medical examinations, or in the presence of medical contraindications	Fine in the amount of 15 to 25 thousand rubles	Fine in the amount of 110 to 130 thousand rubles	Part 3 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
Failure to provide workers with personal protective equipment	Fine in the amount of 20 to 30 thousand rubles	Fine in the amount of 130 to 150 thousand rubles	Part 4 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
Committing administrative offenses provided for in parts 1 - 4 of Art. 5.27.1, by a person previously subjected to administrative punishment for a similar administrative offense	Fine in the amount of 30 to 40 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of one to three years	Fine in the amount of 100 to 200 thousand rubles or administrative suspension of activities for up to 90 days	Part 5 of Article 5.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation

Copying and any processing of materials from the site is prohibited

(ARM, – ed.), introduces significant changes to the procedure for assessing working conditions in the workplace and to the system of formation of insurance tariffs. If, during a special assessment, harmful and dangerous production factors are identified (VPF - ed.), the employer will pay to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. True, this applies to those professions of workers that are included in Lists No. 1 and No. 2, which give the right to preferential pension benefits. In 2014, the tariff for List No. 1 will be 6%, for List No. 2 – 4%. Employers whose workplaces are not included in the lists, but which have been identified as VOPF, will be required to improve working conditions and comply with all labor law requirements. The employer should have fulfilled these duties before, only the Ministry of Labor admitted that their performance on their part was at a very low level, therefore, having reviewed the problem from the inside, it radically changed the penalties.

With the introduction of SOUT, the amount of penalties has almost doubled. It can be assumed that employers previously allowed themselves to violate labor laws only because the size of the fine for violations identified in the field of labor protection (OHS - ed.) was not so significant. (IP, - ed.) Previously, a warning or an administrative fine was issued in the amount of 1 to 5 thousand rubles, for a legal entity - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles. For a similarly identified offense, an individual entrepreneur was given a fine of 10 to 20 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for a period of 1 to 3 years, a legal entity - from 50 to 70 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for the same period as for an individual entrepreneur.

Judging by the situation in force before the adoption of the SOUT, it was much cheaper for employers than paying penalties. In fact, it often turned out that they began to worry and take any action only after inspectors had already “knocked” on their door.

With the adoption of the law on SOUT and by-laws prepared for it, as experts from the Ministry of Labor note, the trend will change for the better. Due to the increase in penalties, which now apply not only to employers, but also to organizations and experts conducting special assessments.

Administrative responsibility of the employer

Previously, for violations in the field of occupational safety there was a general article with a single basis - violation of labor legislation and other regulations containing labor law norms. Now, in Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a gradation has been made on specific grounds. Let us indicate what types of punishments these are and the amount of fines provided for them:

1. Violations of state regulatory requirements for labor protection (except for those types of violations that will be indicated below) entail a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of 2 to 5 thousand rubles, for individual entrepreneurs - from 2 to 5 thousand, for legal entities - from 50 to 80 thousand rubles.
2. Violation by the employer of the established procedure for carrying out SOUT or failure to carry it out entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on officials - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, on individual entrepreneurs - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, on legal entities - from 60 to 80 thousand rubles.
3. Admission of an employee to fulfill labor obligations without training on occupational health issues, without undergoing mandatory and (or) periodic medical examinations, in the case of medical contraindications, without psychiatric examinations shall entail a fine on officials in the amount of 15 to 25 thousand rubles, for Individual entrepreneurs - from 15 to 25 thousand rubles, for legal entities - from 110 to 130 thousand rubles.
4. For failure to provide workers with PPE, a fine is provided for officials in the amount of 20 to 30 thousand rubles, for individual entrepreneurs - from 20 to 30 thousand rubles, for legal entities - from 130 to 150 thousand rubles.
5. Violations of state regulatory requirements for labor protection by a person who has previously been subjected to administrative punishment for a similar offense entails a fine for the official in the amount of 30 to 40 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of 1 to 3 years, for an individual entrepreneur - from 30 to 40 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for up to 90 days, for legal entities - from 100 to 200 thousand rubles or suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

The employer’s responsibility regarding timely transfer to the State Labor Inspectorate also increases. In accordance with the changes to Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, for an official the fine will be from 20 to 50 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of 1 to 3 years, for individual entrepreneurs - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, for legal entities – from 100 to 200 thousand rubles.

Criminal liability of the employer

The employer may be involved in the event of serious harm to a person and in the event of death of employees. Previously, for causing grievous harm to a person, in accordance with Part 1 of Article 143 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, officials were imposed an administrative fine of up to 200 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages for a period of up to 18 months, or compulsory work for a period of up to 480 hours, or corrective or forced labor for up to 1 year; or imprisonment for up to 1 year. In accordance with the changes, the fine increases to 400 thousand rubles, the period for compulsory labor is set from 180 to 240 hours, the term of correctional labor is increased to 2 years, the terms of forced labor and imprisonment remain unchanged.

For the same act that resulted in the death of a person through negligence as before, punishment is provided in the form of forced labor for up to 4 years with the right to deprivation of holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for a period of up to 3 years.

For the first time, this article introduces Part 3, which provides for types of punishment for offenses resulting in the death of 2 or more persons. In this case, the official is subject to forced labor for up to 5 years or imprisonment for the same period with the right to deprivation of holding a position or engaging in certain activities for up to 3 years.

Violation of the procedure for conducting special assessments by the organization and experts conducting the special assessment

Chapter 14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation was supplemented with a new article 14.54 “Violation of the established procedure for conducting a special assessment of working conditions,” which contains information about administrative offenses in relation to the activities of organizations and experts conducting special assessments of labor conditions.

If an organization violates the special assessment procedure, the administrative fine for an official will be from 20 to 30 thousand rubles, for a legal entity - from 70 to 100 thousand rubles.

For committing similar offenses, officials are subject to penalties in the form of disqualification for a period of 1 to 3 years or a fine in the amount of 40 to 50 thousand rubles, for a legal entity - from 100 to 200 thousand rubles or administrative suspension of activities for up to 90 days.

Hello everyone!

Topic of the article: OHSMS at the enterprise, occupational safety management system, STB 18001-2009.

So is it mandatory for every private construction organization to have a labor safety management system? Where is the direct rule established that organizations need to have a labor safety management system?

We will consider these questions in this article.

I'll make a reservation in advance that I am expressing my legal opinion. You can either agree or disagree with him. This article is not a guide to action (inaction). The article is posted so that private construction enterprises can, using the article, independently analyze the legislation and form their opinion on the mandatory presence of an OSMS within the framework of the legislation in force at the time of writing the article.

In general, I am not against having an occupational safety and health management system (OSMS) in construction organizations. Such a system, of course, is a plus for any organization. But the creation of each system entails significant costs for a business; in addition, the OSMS is a system that is subject to mandatory assessment of compliance with the requirements of technical regulations, that is, the OSMS also needs to be certified.

Therefore, I receive many requests to describe the situation with the mandatory implementation of an OSMS in private construction companies.

For construction organizations, there is already and is mandatory a production control system in accordance with the requirements of the TCP (technical code of established practice), since the beginning of 2016, a quality management system (that is, a quality management system) in accordance with the changes made to the technical regulations on safety in construction in 2015 .

Let's look at which legal regulations or technical regulations establish the requirements for the creation and implementation of an OSMS.

I personally have not found a direct rule in the legislation that says that such and such organizations of all forms of ownership or organizations in such and such an area are required to have an OSMS. Found only indirect mention.

I had to turn to the Internet.

Specialized sites refer to the following main legal regulations and technical regulations, which contain the requirement.

1. The mandatory requirement for the presence of an OSMS in construction organizations is contained in the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Labor Safety,” namely, in Article 17 of this law.

This article first lists the responsibilities of the employer, and then in the second part it states that the employer in addition to other duties, also bears the responsibility on the development, implementation and maintenance of the occupational safety management system.

Is this the direct norm?, obliging construction organizations to have an OSMS. I don't think so.

In my subjective opinion, the Law simply lists what the employer, and not the employee, for example, bears responsibilities for. But this still doesn’t say anything. For example, an employer is required by law to comply with the terms of a collective agreement. This is also his responsibility. But according to the same legislation, there may or may not be a collective agreement in the organization. There are many similar examples that can be given. Some may say that the comparison is inappropriate, but I am trying to make readers look at the provision of Article 17 of the above law from a different perspective. I’m trying to convey that this is not a direct rule that all construction organizations are required to develop and implement an OSMS. Listing the responsibilities of employers or employers is only an indirect norm.

In addition, the legislation itself regulating the creation and implementation of an OSMS may contain rules according to which an OSMS is mandatory, for example, for implementation only by government organizations.

Or, for example, how to get around the fact that, according to the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Technical Regulation and Standardization”, Article 20, all state standards in the Republic of Belarus are voluntary for use. A STB 18001-2009 “Occupational safety management systems. General Requirements”, which regulates the creation and implementation of an OSMS, is precisely a state standard. Such a standard can become mandatory only in the following cases:

- if in technical regulations a reference to a state standard is given, then the requirements of this state standard become mandatory for compliance;

— if the manufacturer or supplier of products (services) voluntarily applied the state standard and declared compliance of their products (services) with it (using the designation of the state standard in product labeling, transport or consumer packaging, operational or other documentation), and also if the product (service) of the manufacturer or supplier is certified for compliance with the requirements state standard, compliance with the requirements of the state standard becomes mandatory for them.

Respectively, As far as I remember, there are no technical regulations on labor protection in the Republic of Belarus, and construction organizations do not voluntarily apply the state standard STB 18001-2009 for OSH, at least I have not met such construction organizations. Perhaps some large urban planning companies are doing this. Currently, more and more private construction companies have begun to implement an OSMS, but they do this not on a voluntary basis, but because from all sides, including on the Internet, there is information about the mandatory presence of an OSMS.

1. The requirements for the mandatory presence of an OSMS in construction organizations are contained in the Rules for concluding construction contracts, which were approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated September 15, 1998. No. 1450. There is a statement that without the presence of an OSMS, a contract can be declared invalid (or not concluded).

I cannot agree with this statement.

Thus, in accordance with these rules, a construction contract is concluded if the contractor has:

— documents confirming the right to carry out architectural, urban planning and construction activities, in cases provided for by law;

- staffed by certified specialists.

Then a separate paragraph is indicated: “The contractor must provides to the customer intelligence on the availability of construction machines, equipment and mechanisms, vehicles, technological equipment necessary for the construction of the facility (construction work), as well as production control and labor protection management systems, means of ensuring the safety of work, control and measurements, quality management systems during execution construction work."

Tell me, in your opinion, is this a direct legal norm that establishes the obligation for all construction organizations to have an OSMS? For me no.

Can the phrase “provides information about the presence of something” be a norm obliging the implementation and certification of an OSMS? For me no.

What does “provides information” mean? In what form?

In addition, it reports availability, for example, for me it means that the contractor reports whether he has this or that equipment or not, does the organization have this or that system or not and so on. This is not a norm, in my humble opinion, that establishes the obligation of all private construction organizations to have an OSMS.

In addition, in paragraph 8. and 8.2. The rules indicate without which the contract cannot be concluded. And after the phrase, the contractor must have certified specialists on staff there is a punctuation mark - period. The paragraph indicating various quality systems, OSMS, and so on is separate from listing the requirements for concluding a construction contract.

Therefore, it is my opinion that a construction contract concluded without an OSMS cannot be declared invalid or not concluded.

1. The requirement for the mandatory presence of an OSMS is contained in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated August 16, 2005. No. 905 “On the republican target program for improving labor conditions and safety for 2006-2010.”

But this resolution is only program and on top of that, it applies to republican governing bodies, government organizations and other government officials. Therefore, the reference to this resolution does not mean anything to me personally.

I will also note that on some sites I noticed links to an incorrect article, on other sites there were links to a normative legal act that is no longer in force.

It is also indicated on the Internet that the absence of an OSMS at an enterprise entails liability in the amount of up to 50 basic units. I don’t understand why they got this idea, because at the moment the sanction for violating labor safety rules contained in the legal regulations and technical regulations is a maximum of 40 b.v., and a fine of 50 b.v. can only be obtained upon repeated violation. In addition, there is no clear direct requirement in the legislation that all private construction companies, as well as non-construction private companies, have an implemented and certified OSMS, therefore the absence of an OSMS is not a violation of labor protection rules and the sanction cannot be applied in this case.

In general, after analyzing the legislation and the Internet, for example, I did not find a reference to a regulatory legal act, including a technical regulatory legal act, where it would be stated in black and white that all construction organizations, including private ones, are obliged to create and implement I have an OSMS. All I saw were indirect references, from which the need for every company to implement an OSMS is being pulled out by the ears.

What should I say, if even when submitting documents for certification in construction, one of the qualification requirements for organizations and entrepreneurs is the presence labor protection systems, including confirmation of testing knowledge on labor protection issues of the manager, his deputies and those responsible for labor protection in the manner prescribed by law.

That is, the presence of not a system management labor protection ( OHS), and the presence of a labor protection system, which is usually created by default in many organizations. That is, this is a regulation on labor protection and safety, orders on the appointment of those responsible for labor protection, this is the completion of courses by the head of the organization, his deputies and those responsible for labor protection, courses on labor protection in the local executive committee. But this is not the creation of an OSMS. This is not certification of the implemented OSMS, which is mandatory from a legal point of view, since it is subject to mandatory conformity assessment. Certificates of conformity in construction are issued without an HSE certificate attached to the documents. It is a fact.

Thus, I want to clarify that I am not at all against OSH. Most likely, for any large company, especially if we are talking about production, an OMS is very useful. But do not forget about private construction companies with a staff of, for example, 5 people, for which it is quite enough to have a position on labor protection and safety, have job descriptions, conduct initial and subsequent briefings on labor protection, take courses in the executive committee and receive certificates in labor protection and so on. They do not need to implement and certify an OSMS.

And the main thing why they don’t need to do this is that the legislation does not contain provisions on the mandatory implementation of an OSMS for private construction companies.

What needs to be done to eliminate indirect references and “pulling by the ear” of the mandatory presence of an OSMS: the legislator should provide a direct provision on the mandatory presence of a certified OSMS in every company in the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Occupational Safety and Health” or in some separate Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and then for me personally, for example, all controversial issues will immediately disappear.

But an OMS is expensive and not every company can afford it, and I would not introduce it as mandatory for everyone.

That's all.

Thank you for your attention.

Watch the video of our channel, read news and articles on the website and remember that everyone should mind their own business, so entrust legal issues to lawyers.

Today, the development and implementation of an occupational safety and health management system in organizations in Belarus is a mandatory legal requirement (Article 17 of the Law “On Occupational Safety and Health”, clause 10 of the Intersectoral General Rules on Occupational Safety and Health). Many companies have already implemented and are working within the framework of an OSMS. Someone is just now starting to develop a system.

In this regard, managers have many questions. Of course, some of them are highly specialized and relate specifically to a single enterprise. But there are also general ones - answers to which are of interest or important to every leader. Based on my experience, this is approximately the following list of questions:

1. Why do we need labor protection (OHS) or labor protection management system (OSMS)?
2. What is the difference between OT and OSMS? What exactly do we need to implement?
3. What lists of documents are included in the OT and OSMS?
4. How to develop, where to find specialists?
5. We all work at computers, there is no production, do we also need to implement an OSMS?
6. In our organization we have neither an occupational safety specialist nor an occupational safety service; do we need to implement an occupational safety and health system?
7. Will we get benefits from implementing an OSMS?
8. What liability is provided for the lack of an OSMS?

Often, the heads of organizations simply have nowhere to get answers, and when contacting consulting companies, you may get the feeling that they are trying to force unnecessary services on you.

Managers have nowhere to get answers, and consulting companies impose their services

Indeed, today often companies that offer their services for the implementation of an OSMS do not have the necessary experience and knowledge, are not accredited by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to provide services in the field of labor protection - and therefore do not have the right to implement an OSMS in your organization. In this case, they limit themselves to providing you with slightly modified document templates taken from the Internet. Of course, there is no question of any working system developed taking into account all legal requirements - their work resembles a student’s course project. All this ends at the first check.

At the same time, unfortunately, the customer, due to the lack of the necessary qualifications in the field of occupational safety and health, cannot assess the competence of the work performed, puts the templates issued by the “developers” on the shelf, not realizing that such an OSMS is completely equivalent to its absence.

First of all, in order to understand what you need to implement, you need to clearly distinguish between an OSMS and an OSH.

Occupational safety is a system for ensuring the safety of life and health of workers in the process of work, including legal, socio-economic, organizational, technical, psychophysiological, sanitary and hygienic, therapeutic and preventive, rehabilitation and other measures and means. (Article 221, Code of the Republic of Belarus dated July 26, 1999 N 296-З (as amended on July 1, 2014) “Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus.”

OT includes the requirements of local regulatory legal acts (internal regulations, standards, orders of the organization), as well as requirements contained in the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Occupational Safety and Health Management System is part of an overall management system that helps manage occupational safety and health risks associated with the organization's activities.

The OSMS includes the organizational structure, planning, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, implementing, reviewing and maintaining an enterprise policy in the field of occupational safety and health, as well as guidance that regulates the procedure for managing safe working conditions in organization and its structural divisions.

Thus, OT is an integral part of the OSMS.

According to Article 17 of the Law “On Labor Safety”, “the employer is obliged to ensure the development and implementation of a labor safety management system in the organization.” Therefore, the answer to the question whether it will be enough to ensure the functioning of occupational safety and health in an organization without introducing an OSMS is clear - no! The implementation of an OSMS is a legal requirement for any organization.

At the same time, the system must specifically reflect the specifics of the organization’s activities and describe in detail labor protection procedures, with reference to the structure, staff, production processes, and, among other things, determine the job responsibilities of managers and specialists.

How to develop an OSMS?

The creation and implementation of an OSMS at an enterprise includes the following stages:

1. Analysis of the enterprise's operating system;
2. Development (adjustment of existing) OSMS;
3. Implementation of the developed OSMS;
4. Conducting a self-assessment of the OSMS or certification of the OSMS by an external organization;
5. Monitoring the state of conditions and labor protection and the functioning of the OSMS at the enterprise;
6. Analysis of the state of conditions and labor protection at the enterprise.

In accordance with the requirements of STB 18001-2009 “Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems. Requirements":

It is important for an enterprise, and especially for its managers, to know what a developed and implemented OSMS should “look like” in order to comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus. As a result of the development of an OSMS, the enterprise receives a number of documents, which include:

1. The OSMS Manual is a kind of guide to the OSMS, which briefly describes the key elements of the OSMS and the interaction between the various parts of this system;
2. OSHS procedures (a procedure is a way of carrying out an activity or process. Procedures can be documented or not. Documented procedures are drawn up in the form of enterprise standards, methodological instructions, regulations, procedures, instructions, etc.);
3. Work instructions - intended for workers performing specific occupational safety tasks. Includes: labor protection instructions, technological instructions and regulations for the technological process, instructions for the safe operation of equipment, process diagrams, tables, graphs, etc.;
4. Records are documents containing information about results achieved or evidence of the implementation of certain activities. Includes: acts on accidents, occupational diseases, accidents and incidents, inconsistencies, other acts, journals, minutes of meetings, knowledge tests, certificates, various reports, etc.

The OSMS developed and implemented at the enterprise allows:

• ✔ identify industrial hazards;
• ✔ assess the risks of death and injury to workers;
• ✔ prevent, and therefore prevent, accidents at work (organization);
• ✔ reduce the risk of occupational diseases and related costs;
• ✔ develop and implement effective measures to reduce costs for activities related to occupational safety.

Occupational safety management system in construction

Particular attention is paid to the issue of creating and implementing a labor safety management system in relation to construction organizations, the specifics of whose work is associated with increased industrial hazards and significant risks of death and injury to workers. New Rules for concluding and executing construction contracts have come into force (Council of Minister Resolution No. 1450 of September 15, 1998, as amended by Council of Minister Resolution No. 301 of April 1, 2014).

Paragraph 8 of these rules states that a construction contract can be concluded if the contractor has a labor safety management system; the same requirement applies to all subcontractors.

If a construction contract is concluded in conflict with this legal requirement, then by virtue of Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus such the transaction is considered void. The consequences of such an insignificant transaction: everything is collected into the income of the Republic of Belarus received by them under the transaction, and in the event of execution of the transaction by one party with the other, everything received by it and everything due from it to the first party is collected into the income of the Republic of Belarus.

For other transactions, for other types of economic activity, the legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not contain such a strict requirement for the presence of an OSMS.

The legislation of the Republic of Belarus establishes administrative and criminal liability for violations of labor protection requirements.

• ✔ Administrative - fines up to 1150 rubles.
• ✔ Criminal – up to 7 years in prison.

Note!

1. There are about five thousand regulatory and technical regulatory legal acts that regulate safety requirements. The employer is obliged to determine the list of those documents that regulate the safety requirements of employees of his organization, taking into account the types of activities, then study these requirements and develop local regulatory legal acts.
2. The volume of internal documents on labor protection is quite large. The person responsible for labor protection must have the knowledge to correctly develop and apply these documents in practice.

To summarize, I would like to note once again: An OSMS is mandatory for implementation in any enterprise. Today, it is the lack of an implemented system that often becomes the main violation of the regulations of inspection bodies. They began to take a particularly careful approach to checking the OSMS in 2016, which is why interest in relevant specialists has greatly increased today.

However, in my opinion, small enterprises should not introduce the position of occupational safety engineer into their staff unless this is a direct requirement of the law. It will be easier, more reliable and cheaper to use the outsourcing services of a freelance OT specialist. This way you will receive more qualified help.

The Standard of Quality group of companies is accredited by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus to provide services in the field of labor protection. Our qualified specialists will help you solve any difficulties associated with organizing an occupational safety management system. We will train your employees, develop and implement all necessary documents in strict accordance with the law.

Svetlana Kruk,
Development and implementation specialist
occupational safety management systems