News & Events 2009

Session of the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee

Labour Protection Council adopted a position on the NLI’s work programme

Members of Parliament talked about prevention in construction

Chief Labour Inspector presented
NLI’s work programme

Awards for organisers
of safe work

Construction investments
for EURO 2012 – an opportunity
for safe and decent work

Polish-Irish talks about OSH in farming

Czech labour inspectors visited Poland

The latest results
of inspections focused on payment
of remuneration

Parliament approved NLI’s
reports on its activity

Debate on securing safety
together

How to manage stress and
calculate working time properly

Parliamentary Committees
approved the Inspectorate’s
Report

NLI`s report for 2008
approved unanimously

Implementation of NLI’s
budget and asbestos risk

At the session of the Senior
Labour Inspectors’ Committee

Meeting of the Council for Work Safety in Construction

Labour Protection Council debated about NLI’s report

On handling of loads during
an international seminar

Payment of remuneration
as the subject of a meeting
with journalists

MPs learned about the state
of OSH in construction

Jubilee book for Prof. Henryk Lewandowski

Complaints and international cooperation

The Labour Protection Council debate on PPE

Labour Protection Council discussed about inspection
of legality of employment

Chief Labour Inspector
appeals for timely payment
of remuneration

Session of the Council for Work Safety in Construction

Labour inspectorate on "Budma" construction fair

Payment of remuneration as the subject of Labour Protection Council's session

Celebrations of the labour inspectorate’s 90th anniversary have begun

District Labour Inspectorates

The NLI`s Training Centre

The 57^th session of the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee (SLIC) was held in Stockholm on 23 and 24 November 2009. The National Labour Inspectorate was represented by: Tadeusz Jan Zając, Chief Labour Inspector and Grzegorz Łyjak, Director of Supervision and Inspection Department at the Chief Labour Inspectorate. The session comprised a one-day conference, known as the Thematic Day, and a plenary meeting devoted to SLIC’s initiatives at the European level.

“The National Labour Inspectorate’s work programme comprehensively covers issues of work safety and health and labour law, both in inspection and preventative activities” – wrote members of the Labour Protection Council in their position concerning the assessment of the NLI’s work programme for 2010 and its long-term plan for 2010-2012. The Council adopted the position during its session held in Parliament on 4 December 2009.

- National Labour Inspectorate’s activities related to prevention in construction are praiseworthy – said MP Janusz Krasoń, deputy chairman of the Committee for State Supervision of the Polish Parliament at its session held at the seat of Parliament on 17 November 2009.

Conducting about 90 thousand inspections and preventive activities – campaigns, programmes, competitions and advisory services – targeted at approx. 36 thousand entities, are the elements stipulated in the National Labour Inspectorate’s work programme for 2010.

The Chief Labour Inspector presented awards and distinctions to the winners of the sixteenth edition of the National Labour Inspectorate’s prestigious competition “Employer – organiser of safe work”. The ceremonial gala was held at the Royal Castle on 18 November 2009.

A conference inaugurating the EURO 2012 project started with a visit to the National Stadium construction site. It was titled “Campaign for decent work: Construction investments for EURO 2012 – an opportunity for safe and decent work, an opportunity to strengthen trade unions”.

At the invitation of the National Labour Inspectorate, the Irish delegation, headed by Martin O’Halloran, Director General of the Health and Safety Authority (the Irish counterpart of NLI), visited Poland from 19 to 21 October 2009. The delegates were Irish specialists in OSH in agriculture; their visit was an opportunity to exchange experience on improving work safety in farming.

Delegation of the State Labour Inspection Office of the Czech Republic (SÚIP), headed by General Labour Inspector Rudolf Hahn, paid an official visit to the Chief Labour Inspectorate in Warsaw on 13 and 14 October 2009. The visit created an opportunity to exchange information about the functioning of the Polish and Czech labour inspectorates, become better acquainted with the partner inspectorate and specify the prospects of bilateral cooperation.

– Each case of unpaid salary, each delay in such payments is an offence against employee rights – said Chief Labour Inspector Tadeusz Jan Zając at a press conference organized on 9 October 2009. It was devoted to presenting results of inspections focused on observance of provisions concerning payment of remuneration in three quarters of 2009. The meeting with journalists was also attended by Deputy Chief Labour Inspectors Anna Tomczyk and dr Marian Liwo.

In 2007 and 2008, NLI eliminated immediate hazards to life and health of over 100 thousand employees, eliminated irregularities in the area of legality of employment with regard to 160 thousand persons and enforced payment of over 180 million PLN due to 300 thousand employees.

Prevention of accidents on construction sites, in particular falls from heights, was the subject discussed during the main part of the session held by the Council for Work Safety in Construction at the seat of the Chief Labour Inspectorate on 16 September 2009. In the absence of Prof. Michał Bołtryk, the chairmanship duties were fulfilled by the Council’s deputy chairman, Zbigniew Janowski. The session was attended by Tadeusz Jan Zając, Chief Labour Inspector.

Application of legal provisions on working time and the influence of new forms of employment on incidence of occupational stress were the subjects discussed during the Labour Protection Council’s meeting on 8 September 2009. It was held at the seat of Parliament under the chairmanship of MP Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka. The session was attended by Chief Labour Inspector Tadeusz Jan Zając, his Deputies dr Marian Liwo and Anna Tomczyk, and a group of co-workers.

Joint Parliamentary Committees for State Supervision and Social Policy and Family, which had a session on 26 August 2009 under the chairmanship of Magdalena Kochan, approved the Chief Labour Inspector’s Report on the National Labour Inspectorate’s activity in 2008. The document was presented to MPs by Tadeusz Jan Zając, Chief Labour Inspector.

The Labour Protection Council affiliated to Parliament unanimously approved the “Chief Labour Inspector’s report on the National Labour Inspectorate’s activity in 2008”. The session was held on 23 June 2009 at the seat of the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute in Warsaw. The session was led by the Council’s chairperson, MP Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka.

On 17 June 2009 the Committee for State Supervision issued a positive opinion about implementation of the NLI’s budget in 2008. Other topics comprised law-observance during removal of asbestos-containing products and results of inspections focused on payment of salaries.

Deputy Chief Labour Inspector Anna Tomczyk attended the 56 session of Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee (SLIC). It was held in Prague, Czech Republic on 28 and 29 May 2009. The Polish delegation presented a report summing up implementation of the European campaign “Manual Handling of Loads” coordinated in 2008 by the Polish National Labour Inspectorate.

On 26 May 2009, yet another meeting of the Chief Labour Inspector’s Council for Work Safety in Construction was held at the seat of “Budowlani” Trade Union in Warsaw. Its major objective was to develop framework rules of activity aimed at limiting and eventually altogether eliminating fatal accidents on construction sites.

In 2008, NLI eliminated hazards to life and health of 53 500 employees and irregularities related to legality of employment of 160 000 workers, and enforced the payment of 104 million PLN due to 150 000 employees. On 19 May 2009 NLI’s annual report was submitted to the Labour Protection Council.

Representatives of 20 European labour inspectorates summed up a two-year communication and inspection campaign aimed at eliminating and reducing hazards at work related to manual handling of loads. It took place at the international seminar held in Wrocław on 21 and 22 April 2009, organized by the National Labour Inspectorate, which coordinated the campaign in 2008 following the decision of the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee.

During inspections covering the first quarter of 2009 labour inspectors identified a 6-fold increase in the number of employees deprived of salaries when compared to the same period last year. The amount of dues which were not paid to employees rose almost twice. Journalists were informed about it by the head of National Labour Inspectorate Tadeusz Jan Zając at a press conference held at the Chief Labour Inspectorate on 24 April 2009.

On 22 April 2009, during a session of the Committee for State Supervision of the Polish Parliament, Members of Parliament decided to address a motion to the Minister of Infrastructure asking the Minister to consider amending the provisions adopted in 1977 concerning OSH during construction works on roads and bridges, as the said provisions do not take into account new technologies. The need to amend them was pointed out by National Labour Inspectorate’s representatives present at the session.

On 26 March 2009, an eminent expert in labour law, Prof. dr hab. Henryk Lewandowski from Łódź University received the Jubilee Book. During a ceremony organized on that occasion at the Biedermann Palace, a special congratulatory letter from the Chief Labour Inspector was presented to the honourable luminary of science by Iwona Hickiewicz, Deputy Chief Labour Inspector.

Last year, the number of complaints received yearly by the National Labour Inspectorate due to breaches of labour law by employers has risen dramatically – nearly by 40%. Members of Parliament from the State Control Committee were informed about this fact during the session held on 18 March 2009 in the Polish Parliament.

Evaluation of efficiency of personal protective equipment was one of the subjects of a debate during Labour Protection Council’s plenary meeting on 17 March 2009 which took place in the seat of the Parliament. The session was Chaired by MP Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka. The National Labour Inspectorate’s inspection experiences were presented by PhD Marian Liwo – deputy Chief Labour Inspector.

The issue of inspecting legality of employment, also of foreigners staying in Poland, was discussed at the Labour Protection Council’s meeting at the seat of Parliament on 17 February 2009. The said task has been fulfilled by the National Labour Inspectorate for over a year and a half. The report on achieved effects, experiences and conclusions from those inspections when compared to other European Union member states was presented by Chief Labour Inspector Tadeusz Jan Zając. The session was chaired by MP Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka.

Observance of labour law provisions on payment of remuneration for work and other benefits due on the basis of an employment relationship in the last 3 years, in the light of NLI's inspections was one of the subjects of the Labour Protection Council's plenary session on 20 January 2009.

The Chief Labour Inspector's Council for Work Safety in Construction, whose composition is new, held its second session at the Chief Labour Inspectorate on 10 February 2009. The meeting, attended by the National Labour Inspectorate's head Tadeusz Jan Zając and his Deputy Dr Marian Liwo, was chaired by Zbigniew Janowski, Vice-Chairman of the Council and Chairman of "Budowlani" Trade Union.

Chief Labour Inspector Tadeusz Jan Zając attended the opening ceremony of the International Construction Fair "Budma 2009" and the inauguration of "Construction Engineer's Days" in Poznań.

The Chief Labour Inspector's Council for Work Safety in Construction held its second session on 10 February 2009. The meeting, attended by the National Labour Inspectorate's head Tadeusz Jan Zając and his Deputy Marian Liwo PhD, was chaired by Zbigniew Janowski.

On 3 January 1919 the Head of Polish State Józef Piłsudski signed a temporary decree on the establishment and activity of labour inspection. Its provisions were among the first ones published in Poland after regaining independence and they established the institution for the state supervision of working conditions – professional labour inspection. On the 90th anniversary of this event, jubilee celebrations were launched in Warsaw.

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