Buildings in which workplaces are located must meet certain occupational health and safety requirements. The provisions contained in the Construction Law and in the Regulation of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy on general occupational health and safety regulations are taken into account.

Of course, the employer must meet certain obligations so that the building can be used for work. First of all, it must ensure that the construction or reconstruction of the building will be carried out on the basis of designs that take into account the necessary requirements for occupational health and safety. In addition, each room should be adapted to the type of work performed and the number of employees performing it. Construction facilities intended for work should be maintained in good sanitary conditions. The devices used in them must be regularly checked and meet the health and safety regulations.

Buildings with work rooms must also meet the requirements of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) of March 9, 2011. Accordingly, the building must meet the following conditions: With:

• noise protection;
• fire safety;
• load capacity and stability of the structure;
• safety of use and availability;
• hygiene, health and the environment;
• sustainable use of natural resources;
• thermal insulation;
• energy saving;
• technical condition;
• and other.

It is worth getting acquainted with the detailed provisions of this regulation.

Each building structure should be used only for its intended purpose. This rule also applies to buildings with work rooms. At the same time, the employer must ensure that the building does not significantly deteriorate its technical efficiency and functional properties. This involves e.g. with regular maintenance and repair work. In the case of production plants, it is necessary to equip them with devices that eliminate or neutralize the harmful effects of the production on employees and the natural environment. These types of devices include those responsible for e.g. behind:

• noise suppression;
• wastewater treatment;
• dedusting and purification of waste gases;
• radioactivity prevention;
• prevention of other factors harmful to health.

In the case of buildings with working rooms, certain requirements also apply to the designer. He must take care of that, in certain cases, persons with the necessary building qualifications are involved in the design phase. In addition, his task is to ensure the compliance of the technical design with the plot development plan, occupational health and safety regulations and the architectural and construction design. Another obligation of the designer is to prepare dedicated information on safety and health protection due to the specificity of a given building and to obtain the necessary opinions, inspections and permits that result directly from the provisions of the Construction Law.

The construction project for buildings with work rooms must have the following opinions:

• opinion on meeting hygienic and health requirements;
• opinion on the compliance of the project with the requirements of fire protection.

In addition, the design of the building should be agreed in terms of occupational health and safety. The following are taken into account: ergonomic principles. All this so that the work rooms are fully adapted to the needs of employees, expectations of the employer and guarantee the highest level of safety. Otherwise, the building may be given a negative opinion and not admitted or excluded from the possibility of performing official duties there.

Source: https://inzynieriabhp.pl/wymogi-bezpieczenstwa-budynki/

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.