A win for the Chamber: It is no longer necessary to prepare a safety instruction for a pen

The Chamber proposed an amendment to the draft act according to which it is no longer necessary for the employers to prepare a safety instruction for all things used for work, including for pencil and stapler. Instructions are required only if so required with the occupational environment risk analysis.

Today the obligation to prepare safety instructions is established too broadly and in practice may cause a situation where it is unclear for entrepreneurs if they should take a reasonable approach or be guided by the grammatical interpretation and prepare the guidelines on all items used for work (including for example a shovel and stapler).

With the proposal from the Chamber, the Ministry of Social Affairs is planning to make the Occupational Health and Safety Act clearer

An amendment has been added to the draft act according to which preparing of safety instructions would be connected to the results of the working environment risk analysis. According to the applicable rules, risk analysis has to be carried out by all employers. Risk analysis reveals, which activities have to be carried out by the employer in order to prevent or decrease risks to the health of employees. As a result of the amendments, employers are required to first analyse, which tool is used and how big the risk of injuries to the employee arising from that is. Thereafter they have to decide if the safety instructions have to be prepared for its use or not.

The ministry is planning to enter the amendment into force on 1 March 2021.