An occupational safety and health worker in 2021 has the right to certain actions. We will consider them in detail later in the article to understand its goals and objectives. In addition, this employee has official duties that must be fulfilled. According to the Labor Code, it is imperative to ensure that the company has a person responsible for labor protection if the number of employees is more than 100 people. However, this service can also be assembled when fewer citizens work at the enterprise.
What the law says
Let us immediately note that the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not stipulate the rights of occupational safety and health workers. Including article 217, which is devoted to the creation of this structure in the organization. What an employee of the labor protection service has the right to do is stated in Section IV of Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated February 8, 2000 No. 14 (hereinafter also referred to as Resolution No. 14). He approved Recommendations for organizing the work of the labor protection service in the organization. Among other things, they stipulate the tasks, functions, and rights of the labor protection service.
Also see “Tasks and functions of the labor protection service.”
In practice, controversial situations often arise as to whether an employee of the labor protection service has the right to perform this or that action. Resolution No. 14 will help you navigate this issue. Although all of it is of a conditionally recommendatory nature.
Creating a service
When a service is formed together with a company, it does not require separate documents. However, when it is created when a certain number of personnel is reached, then in this case it will be necessary to issue a special order. This is done by the head of the company, after which he approves a certain position. Other issues related to the activities of these employees are also being resolved.
Please note that the labor protection service is an independent structural unit. She reports to the director of the company, and in some cases to a deputy if an order has been issued. The staff includes specialists in this field, and they may not have experience in this field, however, they must have the appropriate education.
Important! The number of people who are involved in the implementation of labor protection is determined directly by the management of the organization. At the same time, the number may be influenced by how many employees work in production.
For example, if there are more than 700 people, then individual specialists can handle occupational safety journals. However, if the number is significantly higher, then a specialized bureau will be needed, which includes 3-6 people. Instead, you can create a special department, and it will employ at least six employees.
List of rights
According to Resolution No. 14, the rights of the labor protection service at the enterprise are as follows:
- at any time of the day or night, without any obstacles, visit and inspect the production, service and household premises of the enterprise;
- familiarize yourself, within your competence, with documentation related to labor protection;
- present to the heads of departments and other officials of the enterprise mandatory orders to eliminate violations of labor protection requirements discovered during inspections and monitor their implementation;
- require heads of departments to suspend from work persons who do not have permission to perform this type of work, who have not undergone preliminary and periodic medical examinations, labor safety instructions in the prescribed manner, who do not use issued personal protective equipment in their work, and who violate the requirements of the legislation on safety labor;
- send proposals to the head of the enterprise to bring to justice officials who violate labor protection requirements;
- request and receive from heads of departments the necessary materials and information on labor protection issues;
- demand written explanations from employees who have committed violations of labor protection legislation;
- involve, in agreement with the head of the enterprise and the heads of departments, the relevant specialists of the organization in checking the state of working conditions and labor protection;
- submit to the manager proposals to reward individual employees for active work to improve working conditions and safety;
- represent the enterprise on its behalf in state and public structures when discussing labor safety issues.
Of course, these rights must be specified in the regulations on the labor protection service of a particular enterprise. Their composition and scope should take into account the characteristics of the organization, as well as its legal form of existence.
How the labor protection service exercises its powers is monitored by:
- head of the enterprise (employer);
- labor protection service of a higher organization (if any);
- Rostrud;
- labor inspectorates.
Also see “What control is exercised by the labor protection service.”
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15.10.2017
Job responsibilities of a labor protection specialist
The job responsibilities of an occupational safety specialist are very extensive; anyone who thinks that they can sit and do nothing is mistaken.
Therefore, I will give some of them:
- Methodological assistance, development, implementation of documents in accordance with the requirements of legal regulations.
- And as everyone knows there are a huge number of them, starting from instructions and ending with calculations of professional risk, wherever you look, there must be a regulation, an order, a program or an instruction. There are simply tons of documents.
- Monitoring the quality of work with personnel.
- This includes supervision of timely instructions, identification of additional work with personnel after long-term sick leaves, before starting one-time or dangerous work.
- Monitoring the creation of safe working conditions for personnel.
- This item is very extensive, and includes supervision of the full provision of special clothing and personal protective equipment, flushing and disinfecting agents, personnel training, control over the timely maintenance of equipment and the use of only serviceable tools.
- Monitoring a complete medical examination of workers and preventing the development of occupational diseases.
- Organization of a special assessment of working conditions, with subsequent compensation to employees, the guarantees and compensation they are entitled to for work in hazardous working conditions.
- Participation in the investigation of an industrial accident.
- Participation is an understatement, because all the main work, if you have an accident, falls on the shoulders of a labor protection specialist.
- Monitoring compliance with the sanitary condition of employees’ workplaces and recreation areas.
This could go on for quite a long time, because a labor safety specialist has many responsibilities, and it all depends primarily on the specifics of the enterprise.
But you can’t sit idle and you constantly have to resolve some additional issues. Either employees complain about managers and demand additional means and protective measures and safer conditions, or the employer wants to take tough measures against unscrupulous employees.
Either you just relax and decide that all the documents are in order, everything is working smoothly, changes will be made to the legal regulations, or an accident will occur or a new “introduction” will come from management.
The range of responsibilities of an occupational safety specialist is very broad, since neglecting it can lead to accidents, injuries and losses to employers.
Responsibility of a labor protection specialist
If we touch on the issue of responsibility, then, like any other employee, it is disciplinary. The employer has the right to punish for justified mistakes.
But the most interesting thing comes next, administrative and criminal liability, because it can arise even due to an incorrectly drawn up job description.
First of all, it should indicate that failure to ensure safe working conditions is the responsibility of department heads, but control. After all, we must not forget that the HSE at an enterprise performs the function of monitoring and preventing the development of emergency situations.
And again, the occupational safety specialist cannot be held responsible for the actions of workers since they are not subordinate to him.
But if there was not sufficient control, for example, employees are not provided with special clothing and personal protective equipment, the SOT is aware of it, but does not take any action, then liability arises due to the lack of proper control.
If an accident occurs, the occupational safety specialist may be liable if it turns out that there is no training, instruction or internship for workers, this indicates that there was no control.
Many examples can be given, the main thing is to know that if you have identified a violation of the law, for example, failure to provide workers with PPE, write a memo addressed to the head of the organization, inform him about this, about the consequences that may arise in the event of an inspection by the labor inspectorate or in the event of accident.
As one inspector I know likes to say when he reveals a problem: “Did you write the memo?” Because in labor protection, without covering yourself and your employer with the appropriate document, you automatically become disarmed from administrative and criminal liability.
To do this, you first need to study the regulations, competently develop the necessary documents, carefully monitor the safe performance of work by personnel, requiring the elimination of violations by timely drawing up an order.
And you should always remember that a labor protection specialist is the same employee of the employer as the rest of the staff and must perform his job duties conscientiously and efficiently (Article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
I suggest watching a video in which I briefly talk about the pros and cons of working as an occupational safety specialist, and I will also leave a link to my YouTube channel, where you can learn a lot of useful information about occupational safety.
Goals of an occupational safety specialist
An occupational safety specialist is a person distanced from production, located between workers and the employer, and often between a rock and a hard place.
Because it is necessary to control the creation of safe working conditions for workers, reminding the employer of his responsibility under the law and demanding financial investments from him, and at the same time protect his manager from unsafe actions of workers or complaints.
To do this, you need to constantly improve your professional level, monitor changes in regulations, communicate with other labor protection specialists, participate in various labor protection competitions, and most importantly, propose to the manager to take labor protection to a new level, using some know-how.
The main thing is not to sit still, fold your arms, you need to work efficiently, because an active and good occupational safety specialist who constantly confirms his competence will always be in special regard with management, you just need to strive for this.
Job description: design requirements
The instructions consist of an introductory part, a section on the duties and rights of the employee, as well as other sections that specify the requirements for organizing the labor process for this position. How many such sections there will be is decided by the employer himself, since there are currently no regulatory guidelines registered with the Russian Ministry of Justice.
Approximate job description structure:
- general provisions
- main tasks and functions
- responsibilities
- rights
- responsibility
- relationships
Note! “Relationships” section may contain just one phrase that the labor protection specialist reports to the first person in the organization, or the instructions may state that he reports to the deputy for general issues. Obviously, if an enterprise has an occupational safety service, the specialist reports to the head of the service.
I will not talk about every section of the job description; I will focus only on the most important of them.
Who does the OT service or specialist report to?
This is an important point that must be correctly stated in the instructions. For example, if an OT specialist reports to a technical deputy, a conflict of interest may arise. The deputy director may not respond properly to the identified claims of the occupational safety specialist, guided, for example, by economic considerations, but the occupational safety specialist in this case, due to subordination, cannot express his comments directly to the general director.
This is dangerous because objectivity and impartial performance of official duties are lost both on the part of the specialist and on the part of the deputy director. Therefore, the company’s personnel officer and lawyer must exclude possible conflicts of interest in the draft instructions, since this gives rise to corruption (Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Combating Corruption” dated December 25, 2008 No. 273-FZ).
Rights and responsibilities of a labor protection specialist
The rights and responsibilities of an occupational safety specialist specified in the job description must not contradict Art. 21, 214, 219 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and professional standard No. 524n.
Therefore, both the personnel officer and the company’s lawyer must ensure that the instructions do not contain ambiguous wording, and the labor protection specialist, if necessary, must draw up a memo on amendments to the job description if the labor function in the employment contract and the wording in the job description the instructions don't match.
For example, if the employment contract states that an employee is hired as a labor protection specialist, and he is obliged to ensure the organization of work on labor protection at the enterprise, it is illogical to require this employee to organize work on civil defense, fire safety or road safety.
Note! All additional responsibilities of the employee must be formalized in the form of an additional agreement to the employment contract, and the employee in this case becomes familiar with several relevant job descriptions.
The principle is this: one position - one main labor function, which is indicated in each professional standard. Anything that is not included in the employment contract as a job function cannot be in the job description.
Sample job description of a labor protection specialist
Completing training and instructions
Upon hiring, each employee must undergo induction training. It is carried out by a labor protection specialist or an employee assigned these responsibilities. After the induction, there must be an on-the-job training.
In addition to initial instructions, there are:
- repeated;
- unscheduled;
- targeted.
At them, employees are introduced to what the responsibilities of an employee are in the field of labor protection , they are introduced to possible dangers in the workplace, labor protection legislation, and the basic methods of providing first aid.
Information about all briefings conducted must be recorded in a special journal.
