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Introduction

National strategies are vital policy instruments to enhance the effectiveness of an OSH system by defining the key priorities and actions for improving workers’ health and safety.

The Commission called on the Member States to update and draw up their national OSH strategies in line with the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 - in cooperation with social partners - to ensure that the new measures are applied on the ground.

In Poland, the Ministry of Family and Social Policy (Ministerstwo Rodziny i Polityki Społecznej), formerly the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy is the main body that initiates, develops and coordinates the state policy on OSH. Since the 1990’s the OSH policy has been progressively reformulated to comply with the European Union legislation and standards. In 1994 the Council of Ministers adopted the national strategic programme entitled “Safety and Protection of Employee in the Workplace".

More information on the various OSH systems can be found in the relevant OSHwiki articles on national OSH systems.

Basic Information on the national OSH strategy

In 2022, the Council of Ministers adopted the National programme „Improvement of safety and working conditions” – phase III (2014-2016), phase IV (2017-2019), phase V (2020-2022) continued as phase VI,  which is to be implemented in the years 2023-2025. It is a continuation of programs from previous years and will increase the level of occupational health and safety in Poland. (Program Wieloletni „Poprawa bezpieczeństwa i warunków pracy” - III etap (2014-2016), IV etap (2017-2019), V etap (2020-2022), VI etap (2023-2025). Its implementation is supervised by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy and is coordinated by the Central Institute for Labour Protection National Research Institute.

Since 2008, the programme has fulfilled the role of a national strategy for creating proper working conditions that protect the life and health of workers. All documents and for more information see the website of the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute CIOP-PIB.

Background and the perceived problem

Scientific and technological progress as well as demographic changes result in the emergence of new risk factors for occupational health and safety. It is important to adapt preventive measures to the pace of these changes in order to ensure appropriate and safe working conditions. Taking measures to reduce risks in the working environment should improve the overall safety and working conditions. The multi-annual programme "Improvement of safety and working conditions" may prove helpful.

Following phases of the program have been enacted:

  • Phase I - Resolution No. 117/2007 of the Council of Ministers of July 3, 2007, to be implemented in 2008-2010,
  • Phase II - Resolution No. 154/2010 of the Council of Ministers of September 21, 2010, to be implemented in 2011-2013,
  • Phase III - Resolution No. 126/2013 of the Council of Ministers of July 16, 2013, to be implemented in 2014-2016,
  • Phase IV - by Resolution No. 203/2015 of the Council of Ministers of October 26, 2015, to be implemented in 2017-2019,
  • Phase V - by Resolution No. 80/2019 of the Council of Ministers of August 13, 2019, to be implemented in 2020-2022[1].

Phase VI (Resolution No 193/2022) is the next stage of the “National Programme for the Improvement of Safety and Working Conditions”[2]. The thematic scope of phase VI of the national programme conforms to the current trends of scientific research and development contained in both international and national documentation relating to projects and national policies in this area. The Ministry of Family and Social Policy publishes the programme phase VI with the related material (in Polish)[3].

Main characteristics and objectives of the OSH strategy (activity plan)

The main objective of the programme is to develop innovative technical and organisational solutions, aimed at developing human resources, new products, technologies, management techniques and systems, which will help to reduce the number of workers exposed to harmful, dangerous and difficult factors, and reduce the number of work-related accidents, occupational diseases and as a result economic and social losses.

In phase VI of the programme, it will be particularly important to carry out research to develop new technologies and human and social resources, necessary to meet the current socio-economic challenges such as digital transformation of the economy, demographic changes, increasing social exclusion and threats related to crisis situations including epidemics.

Details of the strategy and activity plan

Phase VI takes the priorities, requirements and scientific challenges included in the following European documents into consideration:

  1. EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027: Occupational safety and health in a changing world of work.
  2. European Pillar of Social Rights[4].
  3. Communication From The Commission To The European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic And Social Committee And The Committee Of The Regions - A Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions[5].
  4. The European Green Deal[6].
  5. Report on the safety and liability implications of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics[7].

Specific objectives

  1. Develop innovative products and materials for collective and personal protective equipment and measures that help prevent and combat epidemic hazards, as well as develop methods to assess these measures in terms of safety, health and ergonomic requirements.
  2. Develop systems to monitor working conditions, using Industrial Internet of Things, Virtual Reality techniques and Artificial Intelligence algorithms, designed to function in dynamically changing - due to the development of digital technologies of Industry 4.0 - work environments, as well as to study the risks associated with new forms of work and their prevention.
  3. Develop methods, criteria, test benches and equipment for testing and assessing workers' exposure to harmful and hazardous physical, chemical and biological factors, and hazardous factors in the work environment, as well as diagnosing the level of exposure of selected groups of workers to these factors.
  4. Develop organisational and technical solutions to prevent the exclusion from the labour market of people with disabilities, the elderly, women and young workers, as well as solutions to help prevent psychophysical stress and maintain work ability.
  5. Develop new education and training tools and activities to disseminate and introduce the results of the programme into socio-economic practice.

Activities

The thematic scope of Phase VI of the programme is divided into two parts:

A – Tasks related to the services of the state, and

B – Research and development projects.

A. Tasks related to the services of the state

Group 1: Methods for testing and assessing measures and equipment to protect against harmful factors in the work environment.

Group 2: Preventing risks associated with new forms of work and the use of Artificial Intelligence systems.

Group 3: Testing and assessment of exposure to harmful and arduous work environment factors.

Group 4: Assessing mental and physical health and fostering health-promoting behaviours.

Group 5: Developing online databases and information and training services.

Group 6: Educational and support tools for health and safety management.

Group 7: Knowledge transfer through publications, dissemination activities and social media.

 

B. Research and development tasks

The research and development programme includes projects within the following main research areas:

Area I: New materials and technologies for personal and collective protective equipment.

Area II: Monitoring of work environment parameters using Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence technologies.

Area III: Criteria, test methods and equipment for measuring and assessing work environment factors.

Area IV: Assessment of psychophysical risks and prevention of social exclusion.

When the expected results are obtained, working life will be prolonged and working ability will be increased by the following factors:

  • a decrease in occupational risks in the working environment related to the dynamic development of technologies and work processes,
  • improved work and life quality,
  • more safety culture in working and life environments, which positively affects the number of work-related accidents and occupational diseases.

The programme will permit the following:

  1. Increased efficiency of activities that prevent occupational hazards in companies, which take into account the need to be able to work over an extended period of time.
  2. Use of newly developed methods and tools to reduce occupational risks in the working environment related to the dynamic development of technologies and work processes.
  3. Improved OSH management in companies that includes age management.
  4. A modern approach to OSH and ergonomics in teaching curricula on all levels, and improved specialist competencies.
  5. Broadening the range of products manufactured by Polish PPE (Personal protective equipment) companies, to improve user safety through new, significantly advanced products.
  6. Continued legislation and standardisation work to ensure the compliance of Polish law with EU OSH regulations, as well as the implementation of respective EU standards in Polish OSH standards.
  7. Development of a national system to assess the conformity of products and services with the requirements of EU directives.
  8. Poland’s continued active participation in European and international cooperation in research, as well as the exchange of OSH best practices and ergonomics.
  9. More efficient OSH promotion and information activities, including the activities of the National Focal Point of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

Further related activities should only be complementary and performed in parallel on three levels:

  1. Central – coordinated by the respective ministries in accordance with their scope of activities. Actions carried out at this level will support the measures aimed at improving working conditions in economic sectors that are highly important for national development, as well as in sectors with a particularly high risk of accidents. Dissemination among diverse stakeholders, including SME stakeholders will be carried out.
  2. Social – conducted in cooperation with social partners and key Polish labour protection institutions. These activities will focus on the development of a safe conduct attitude as well as the education of selected groups of employers and employees, particularly from high-risk sectors, as well as training for specialist staff.
  3. Local – conducted at companies and aimed at selected groups of stakeholders. The activities will focus on the implementation of the programme results as a solution for reducing occupational risk or adapting working conditions to workers’ specific requirements, e.g. as a result of their age or disability.

Actors and stakeholders

Phase VI of the programme is conducted by nine scientific institutions, in cooperation with companies, government bodies and labour inspection and supervision bodies. These institutes are:

  • Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute /CIOP-PIB/
  • Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection
  • Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Institute of Power Engineering
  • Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
  • Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Institute of Security Technologies MORATEX
  • Łukasiewicz Research Network – Poznań Institute of Technology
  • Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Innovative Technologies EMAG

The main contractor and programmecoordinator is the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute /CIOP-PIB/

Moreover, various stakeholders, such as government bodies, manufacturers, industry associations, social security institutions and social partners, were not only consulted on the thematic areas of the programme, but were also able to propose topics for the tasks and research projects.

Resources and time frame

The current National OSH programme of Poland „Improvement of safety and working conditions” – phase VI" covers the period from 2023 to 2025.

Total expenditure on the implementation of the 6th stage of the programme PLN 108 million, including:

  • for tasks in the field of state services - PLN 70.0 million
  • for scientific research and development works - PLN 38.0 million

The expenditure on the implementation of the 6th stage of the programme is described in detail in the Framework schedule for the implementation of the long-term programme entitled government Programme for the Improvement of Safety and Working Conditions - 6th stage, implementation period: 2023-2025[8].

Evaluation/lessons learned

The programme is monitored and evaluated by the Coordination Board composed of representatives of ministries and other public bodies, organisations of employers and employees, representatives of institutions interested in implementing the results of the programme as well as scientific experts. The Coordination Board meets once a year in order to monitor the progress and evaluate the outcomes of tasks related to the services of the state and research projects. The Coordination Board can suggest some modifications, however without altering the main objective of the programme. The results of the programme will be used and disseminated systematically within the five years following the completion of the programme. The results will contribute to a significant reduction in occupational risk related to exposure to harmful, dangerous and difficult workplace factors. It will affect the possibility of a longer, healthy working life, also for people with disabilities. Improved health and safety will also result in a reduction of costs relating to occupational hazards that are incurred by the state and society. The evaluation report is published by the Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute CIOP[9].


Indicators for the years 2023 -2025

Product indicators (outputs) are described in the multi-year programme GOVERNMENT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME SAFETY AND WORKING CONDITIONS, Stage VI - Implementation period: 2023–2025[10]. They will be used to monitor the implementation of projects and program tasks.

Following group of products are listed:

  1. Solutions to adapt the law to the requirements of EU directives and harmonised standards and resulting from the development of knowledge.
  2. Solutions for assessing the compliance of working environment parameters and products with the requirements of EU directives and harmonised standards.
  3. Organisational solutions for enterprises.
  4. Technical solutions to identify hazards and reduce occupational risk.
  5. Solutions to develop education and transfer of knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and disseminate the results of the programme.
  6. Activities to disseminate the results of the programme.

A summary of the estimated number of products in each group of products and an action to disseminate the results of the program are presented the above-mentioned programme.

Expected effects of the programme:

  • Reducing the number of people exposed to risks factors at work.
  • Reducing the number of accidents at work.
  • Reducing the number of new cases of occupational diseases.
  • Reducing sickness absence (in particular due to occupational diseases and accidents at work) - number of days and costs.
  • Extension of professional activity.

Relationship to the EU Strategic Framework

The programme is in line with European Strategic Framework as it includes tasks and research projects aimed at developing solutions to reduce the emission of harmful chemical, physical and biological agents, to improve working conditions in terms of new forms of employment, and to extend the length of working life by adapting jobs and work processes to the changing capabilities of workers with age, and to promote health in the workplace more effectively, but also to create and widely disseminate innovative solutions in the field of health and safety at work, aimed at improving the quality of education in this area.

Due to the broad approach, there are relations to the three key objectives of the European Strategic Framework as there are actions related to ergonomics, dangerous substances, in the context of the green and digital transitions.

Key objective 1 of the EU Strategic Framework (Anticipating and managing change) is covered by tasks related to the services of the state group 2, 4 and 7 and by research and development tasks area IV.

Key objective 2 of the EU Strategic Framework (Improving prevention of work-related diseases and accidents) is covered by tasks related to the services of the state group 5 and 6 and by research and development tasks area III and IV.

Key objective 3 of the EU Strategic Framework (Increasing preparedness – responding rapidly to threats) is covered by tasks related to the services of the state group 1 and by research and development tasks area I.

References

[1] National Programme for the improvement of safety and working conditions – phase V (2020-2022). Available at: https://www.ciop.pl/CIOPPortalWAR/appmanager/ciop/en?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=P55000260041603446668810

[3] Projekt uchwały Rady Ministrów w sprawie ustanowienia programu wieloletniego pn. Rządowy Program Poprawy Bezpieczeństwa i Warunków Pracy - VI etap, okres realizacji: lata 2023-2025. Available at: https://www.gov.pl/web/rodzina/projekt-uchwaly-rady-ministrow-w-sprawie-ustanowienia-programu-wieloletniego-pn-rzadowy-program-poprawy-bezpieczenstwa-i-warunkow-pracy---vi-etap-okres-realizacji-lata-2023-2025

[5] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic And Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions. (COM 2020) 14 final, Brussels, 14.1.2020. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/attachment/860460/Strong_Social_Europe_Communication_and_Annex.pdf.pdf

[7] European Commission, Report on the safety and liability implications of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics, 2020. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/publications/commission-report-safety-and-liability-implications-ai-internet-things-and-robotics_en

[8] Ramowy harmonogram realizacji programu wieloletniego pn. Rządowy Program Poprawy Bezpieczeństwa i Warunków Pracy – VI etap, okres realizacji: lata 2023–2025 (Framework schedule for the implementation of the long-term program entitled government Program for the Improvement of Safety and Working Conditions - 6th stage, implementation period: 2023-2025). Available at: https://www.gov.pl/attachment/1cc0f6e2-18f4-4007-947d-79d459ec9966

[9] Program wieloletni pn. RZĄDOWY PROGRAM POPRAWY BEZPIECZEŃSTWA I WARUNKÓW PRACY VI etap Okres realizacji: lata 2023–2025. Available at: https://www.gov.pl/attachment/bde3a64b-63c9-4441-85d2-7308eb5c8df1

[10] Program wieloletni pn. RZĄDOWY PROGRAM POPRAWY BEZPIECZEŃSTWA I WARUNKÓW PRACY VI etap Okres realizacji: lata 2023–2025. Available at: https://www.gov.pl/attachment/bde3a64b-63c9-4441-85d2-7308eb5c8df1

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