When should an employee be familiarised with the occupational risk assessment?

The obligation to familiarise an employee with the occupational risk assessment arises directly from the provisions of the Labour Code. The employer is required to inform the employee about the occupational risk associated with the work performed and about the principles of protection against hazards.

There is one specific and clearly defined moment for this obligation. The employee must be familiarised with the occupational risk assessment before being permitted to work in a given position. In practice, this most often takes place during initial occupational health and safety training, in particular during job-specific instruction.

This obligation also arises in situations other than the employment of a new employee. Familiarisation with the occupational risk assessment is also required when:

• an employee is transferred to another position
• the scope of duties changes
• new machinery, technologies, or work organisation are introduced
• the risk assessment has been updated due to new hazards

Any change that affects the level of occupational risk requires that the employee be informed again.

Importantly, the employer should have confirmation that the employee has been familiarised with the occupational risk assessment. In accordance with the regulations, such confirmation should take the form of a written statement kept in the employee’s personnel file.

An occupational risk assessment is not a document to be kept in a drawer. It is intended to ensure that the employee is aware of the hazards that may occur and knows how to protect themselves against them. Without this, an employee cannot be considered to have been properly permitted to work in accordance with occupational health and safety regulations.