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Being on sick leave in itself does not automatically create an obligation to repeat occupational health and safety training. The regulations do not make the validity of training dependent on the length of an employee’s absence, but on the period for which the training was conducted.
Two issues are of key importance.
First, the validity of periodic training. If the validity period expired during the sick leave, the employee should complete the training immediately after returning to work. The employer may not allow the employee to perform their duties without valid training.
Second, the type of position and any changes in working conditions. If during the absence:
• the technology changed
• new machinery or equipment was introduced
• the organisation of work was modified
• new hazards appeared
the employer should provide appropriate training concerning those changes, most often in the form of job-specific instruction.
It should also be noted that after incapacity for work lasting longer than 30 days due to illness, the employee is subject to mandatory medical control examinations. Only after obtaining a medical certificate confirming the absence of contraindications may the employee be permitted to return to work.
In summary, a long period of sick leave does not in itself mean that occupational health and safety training must be repeated. The obligation arises if the training validity period has expired or if the conditions under which the work is performed have changed.
