Practically in every company there may be circumstances that cause a threat to the life or health of employees. In such cases, workers have the right on their own initiative to refrain from performing work and even to move away from the place of danger. Above all, however, in the event of a danger to employees, an appropriate response is expected from the employer. These issues are regulated by the relevant provisions of labor law.

The basic obligations of the employer in the field of occupational health and safety (OHS) are regulated in Articles 207-2093 of the Act of 26 June 1974 – Labour Code.

The employer is responsible for the state of occupational health and safety in the workplace. The scope of the employer’s responsibility is not affected by the obligations of employees in the field of OHS and entrusting the performance of OHS service tasks to specialists from outside the workplace (Article 207 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The employer is obliged to protect the health and life of employees by ensuring safe and hygienic working conditions with appropriate use of scientific and technological achievements.

The costs of actions taken by the employer in the field of OHS must not be charged to employees in any way.

Pursuant to Article 207 § 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the employer and the person managing the employees are obliged to know, to the extent necessary to perform their duties, the provisions on labor protection, including the provisions and principles of health and safety.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 2092 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in the event of a possible threat to health or life, the employer is obliged to:

• immediately inform workers of these risks and take measures to ensure that they are adequately protected;
• promptly provide workers with instructions enabling them, in the event of imminent danger, to stop working and move away from the place of danger to a safe place.

If an immediate threat to health or life has already occurred, i.e. the danger has become real (e.g. failure of the device threatening the life or health of the employee, damage to a container containing highly harmful substances causing poisonous fumes, gases, etc. to enter the atmosphere), the employer is absolutely obliged to apply the actions specified in Article 2092 § 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

In the event of an imminent danger to health or life, the employer must:

• stop work and give employees an order to move away to a safe place;
• until the threat is removed, do not issue a command to resume work.

Of course, employees have an absolute obligation to carry out the instructions given by the employer pursuant to Article 2092 § 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The employee is obliged to perform work in a manner consistent with the provisions and principles of health and safety and to comply with the instructions and instructions of superiors issued in this respect (Article 211 point 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

In addition, according to the wording of Article 211 point 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the employee must immediately notify the superior about the threat to human health or life noticed in the workplace and warn co-workers, as well as other persons in the danger area, about the danger threatening them.

The employer is obliged to enable employees to take certain actions – even without agreeing with the supervisor – in the event of an imminent threat to their health or life; this also applies to the danger to other people. The above issues are regulated in Article 2093 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Employees who have taken the above measures may not suffer any adverse consequences in this regard, provided that they have not neglected their duties.

As already mentioned at the beginning of this article, an employee has the right to refrain from work if the working conditions pose an immediate threat to his health or life (Article 210 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Removal from work may, of course, be made by the employer himself, which has also been mentioned earlier (Article 2092 § 2 point 1).

The employee’s supervisor is also entitled to remove the employee from work and suspend work if he notices an immediate threat to health or life.

Where another worker perceives an imminent danger, he shall immediately warn others at risk of loss of health or life, while informing the person in charge of the workers thereof.

In larger workplaces, employing over 100 employees, there is an obligation to create an OHS service performing advisory and control functions (Article 23711 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Detailed rules for its functioning are set out in the provisions of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 2 September 1997 on the occupational health and safety service, hereinafter referred to as the Regulation of the Council of Ministers. on the health and safety service.

OHS employees also have rights such as removal from work in the event of a threat to life or health. The OHS service is authorized in accordance with § 3 points 5-7 of the Regulation of Civil Procedure. on the health and safety service, to immediately:

• suspend the operation of machinery or other technical equipment in the event of an imminent threat to the life or health of the worker or other persons;
• removal from work of an employee employed in prohibited work;
• removal from work of an employee who, by his behavior or manner of performing work, poses a direct threat to his own life or health or that of others.

The OHS service is also entitled to apply to the employer for immediate suspension of work in the workplace, in its part or in another place designated by the employer to perform work, in the event of an imminent threat to the life or health of employees or other persons (§ 3 point 8 of the Regulation on the OHS service).

An employer employing up to 100 employees entrusts the performance of OHS service tasks to an employee employed in another job. In the absence of competent employees, the employer may entrust the performance of the tasks of the OHS service to specialists from outside the workplace. Such persons are entitled to the rights of the OHS service mentioned previously (suspension of the work of the machine or device, removal of the employee from work, application for immediate suspension of work).

Source:  https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-odsuniecie-od-pracy-w-razie-zagrozenia-zycia-lub-zdrowia

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