The Minister of Health signed regulations regarding actions regarding monkey pox. On the other hand, the Chief Sanitary Inspector has prepared guidelines for hospitals in the event of the appearance of the disease in Poland. Let us remind you that we already have the first case of infection with the monkey pox virus in Poland.

The mere issuance of regulations by the Minister of Health, without an unambiguous legal indication of the obligation to update the occupational risk assessment, does not yet oblige employers to the aforementioned update in the context of monkey pox. Thus, for now, you can hold off on such an update. At least until the National Labour Inspectorate has expressed its opinion on the above issue.

The employer fulfils the obligation to ensure occupational health and safety for employees, in particular by:

• prevention of work-related risks,
• proper organization of work,
• the application of the necessary preventive measures, and
• information and training of employees.

The employer assesses the occupational risk occurring in the work performed. In particular, for:

• selection of equipment for workstations and workplaces,
• chemical substances and mixtures used,
• materials containing biological, carcinogenic or mutagenic agents, and
• when changing the organization of work.

The occupational risk assessment shall take into account all factors of the working environment occurring in the work performed and the ways in which the work is carried out. In addition to the coronavirus, to which both employers and employees have become accustomed in their own way, a new biological threat has appeared – the smallpox monkey virus.

Certainly, employers should not be indifferent to current information about monkey pox. However, regardless of the recent regulations issued by the Minister of Health, as well as the recommendations of the Chief Sanitary Inspector, at the moment there is no obligation to update the occupational risk assessment in the context of the monkey pox virus as a new biological agent.

It is worth recalling the situation from two years ago, when after a long time from the appearance of the first cases of COVID-19 disease, pip and Central Institute for Labor Protection appeared. They recommended conducting an occupational risk assessment in the context of workers’ exposure to a new biological agent, which is the coronavirus. However, it was only a few months later that regulations directly obliging employers to update the risk assessment were published.

Of course, it is worth being up to date with information about the monkey pox virus, also in the context of health and safety regulations and sanitary regulations. It cannot be ruled out that, over time, there will be a direct legal obligation to update the occupational risk assessment in view of the risk of that disease. However, it should not be expected that in the near future PIP inspectors will inspect and punish employers who have not updated their risk assessment with the aforementioned biological agent.

Source: https://www.portalbhp.pl/aktualnosci-bhp/malpia-ospa-a-aktualizacja-oceny-ryzyka-zawodowego-nowe-zagrozenie-w-srodowisku-pracy-10143.html

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.