In all public- and private-sector enterprises, no matter what branch, the employer is responsible for protecting the health and safety of the workforce and preventing work-related dangers.
Evaluating potential dangers
The employer is required to be in a position at any time to present a written report on the dangers encountered during work and on the health and safety of employees.
Measures
Within the framework of his responsibility for the health and safety of employees at work, the employer is required to take the necessary measures to ensure their health and safety.
Employees' right to be heard and to participate
The employer is required to seek the opinion of employees and their representatives prior to any measure likely to have significant repercussions on employee health and safety, in drawing up the written evaluation of potential dangers, planning and implementing training and in developing regulations pertaining to health and safety.
Employees' right to information
The employer is required to take such measures as are appropriate to inform employees and their representatives in the enterprise of the prevailing legislation pertaining to health and safety at work, of potential dangers to their health and safety and of protective and preventive measures.
Training
The employer is required to provide each employee with adequate training on health and safety, in particular in the form of information and the relevant regulations, on recruitment, on redeployment or the assumption of a new task, contact with new or different materials and equipment, and the introduction of new technology.
First aid, fire safety, evacuation
The employer is to take the measures necessary for first aid, fire safety and the evacuation of the premises by the workforce.
Direct and acute danger
The employer is obliged to maintain production rooms and plant and equipment in perfect condition and to ensure that any faults that are of relevance to the health and safety of employees are corrected as quickly as possible.
Protection against physical, chemical and biological influences
In order to prevent dangers arising from the physical, chemical and biological influences to which workers are exposed in the workplace, the employer is required to take such technical and organisational measures as are necessary to inform employees and to provide medical supervision and monitoring of their health.
Cooperation between employers
If more than one company is active in one and the same production location, the employers are required to cooperate and coordinate their activities with regard to health and safety and to the protection against and prevention of work-related dangers.
Special obligations
The employer is required to report any accidents at work to the responsible department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and to the relevant social insurance institution within 24 hours. A special record of accidents at work is to be kept, in which the accident is to be described and the cause of the accident indicated.
EU – European Commission DG EMPL/A/2 J
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