[Poland] Working in the heat. MRPiPS is changing the regulations

The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (MRPiPS) is planning to regulate work at extremely high temperatures. Prolonged heatwaves are an increasing problem and challenge for employers and their employees.

Working at high temperatures – new regulations next year

The adoption of new regulations regulating work at high temperatures is expected next year. Currently, the Ministry of Labour has asked the Central Institute for Labour Protection, the National Labour Inspectorate and the Institute of Occupational Medicine to jointly develop rules that would increase the protection of employees against heat.

In the opinion of the ministry, there are currently no regulations that effectively protect male and female employees against the negative impact of high temperatures in the workplace. There is no single regulation indicating the optimal temperatures for performing work, and most of the regulations are scattered in various legal acts, which makes it much more difficult to become familiar with them. Therefore, many employers and employees contact the ministry asking how to respond to changing, unfavourable weather conditions such as heat waves.

Therefore, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy is planning to change the regulations to include, among others:

• establishing a maximum temperature in the workplace of 28 °C (currently, the regulations only mention minimum temperature),
• developing mandatory actions to be taken by employers when the temperature exceeds 28 °C. The proposals for such actions included cooling rooms, installing air conditioning, shortening working hours or organizing additional breaks.

The new solutions are to be widely consulted with employers, trade unions and employers’ organizations.

Read also: Holiday work – PIP explains the basic rules of employment

“Good Climate at Work” – information brochure of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy

In response to the current needs of employers and employees, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has prepared an information package called ” Good Climate at Work “. It includes key, currently applicable regulations defining the principles of safe work at high temperatures, such as:

• the obligation to provide air-conditioned rest rooms for employees working in rooms where the temperature caused by technological processes is constantly higher than 30 °C;
• obligation to provide free drinks, including:
  
• employees working in hot microclimate conditions, characterized by a thermal load index (WBGT – Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) value above 25 °C,
• at workplaces where the temperature caused by weather conditions exceeds 28 °C,
• when working outdoors at an ambient temperature above 25 °C,
  
• prohibition on employing juvenile workers, i.e. those who are over 15 but under 18, when working in rooms where the air temperature exceeds 30°C and the relative air humidity exceeds 65%, as well as in conditions of direct exposure to an open source of radiation;
• prohibition on pregnant and breastfeeding women to perform work that may adversely affect their health, course of pregnancy or breastfeeding, these include work in a hot microclimate or in an environment with large fluctuations in microclimate parameters, especially in the event of sudden changes in air temperature.