Occupational safety – features due to the specific nature of production

many people whose activities are not directly related to labor protection do not even think about what this concept implies.However, almost every company has at least one such specialist on staff, and industrial enterprises, as a rule, organize an entire service.

The functions of occupational safety specialists include ensuring the safety of workers during the work process – for example, they monitor the installation and serviceability of exhaust ventilation in workshops, service and utility rooms so that dust and particles of substances harmful to human health do not accumulate in the air and on surfaces. If an employer does not pay due attention to occupational safety, he risks running into a lot of troubles, for example, if an employee gets an occupational disease, payment of all expenses for his treatment falls on the shoulders of the owner of the enterprise, who did not take care of creating normal working conditions.

The essence of the concept

According to Art. 209 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Occupational safety is defined as a set of measures taken to preserve the health and life of workers at the place of their work. Measures to implement this task are not only of an organizational, technical and sanitary-hygienic nature, but also include legal and socio-economic aspects, up to the organization of treatment, preventive and rehabilitation assistance for those working in hazardous industries and those injured in the workplace.

Amendments and additions are regularly made to legislation relating to labor protection; further changes were made in 2020.

The role of labor protection

This is a multi-valued concept that plays a huge social role, since not only the health and life of the worker himself, but also the material well-being of his family members, as well as the usefulness of his future offspring, depend on the safety of working conditions.

In the Russian Federation, health and life are placed above the final production product, therefore a person has the right to occupational safety by law. With the correct organization of the labor protection system, discipline in the company improves, staff turnover decreases, and productivity increases.

According to statistics, the most emergencies in Russia that cause irreparable damage to the health of workers and lead to deaths occur in:

• in the construction industry;
• in agriculture;
• in food production;
• in machine production;
• when working in mines.

Responsible for labor protection and safety at enterprises

According to Art. 217 part 1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a labor protection specialist or a corresponding service must be available at enterprises with more than 50 employees. At the same time, it is incorrect to combine the concepts of labor protection and industrial safety. The goals of ensuring occupational safety are to reduce the number of emergency situations, reduce the amount of damage in case of emergency situations and the serviceability of equipment, and labor protection is to preserve the ability to work, health and life of workers.

Depending on the number of employees and the specifics of production, the company may consist of several people responsible for occupational health and safety (OHS), whose functions and powers will be divided. Accordingly, training and advanced training are carried out according to different programs. Health and safety specialists must undergo certification in a timely manner.