New Bylaws in the Field of Occupational Safety and Health

• Rulebook on the manner and deadlines for keeping records in the field of safety and health at work; and
• Rulebook on preventive measures for safe and healthy work at height. 

Rulebook on the manner and deadlines for keeping records in the field of safety and health at work

The new Rulebook regulates in more detail the manner of keeping records in the field of safety and health at work by the employer.

With the beginning of its implementation, the previous Rulebook on records in the field of safety and health at work ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 62/07 and 102/15) ceases to be valid.

Unlike the previous 14, the new Rulebook envisages 11 forms of records in the field of safety and health at work, whereby some records have been changed, and some have been removed or replaced with new records, and now read:

1. Records of Jobs with Increased Risk, Employees Performing These Jobs and Their Medical Examinations – Form 1;
2. Records of Injuries at Work – Form 2;
3. Records of Occupational Diseases – Form 3;
4. Records of Employees Exposed to Biological Hazards Group 3 and/or 4 – Form 4;
5. Records of Employees Exposed to Carcinogens/Mutagens/Chemicals/Asbestos and Health Status and Exposure – Form 5;
6. Records of Employees Trained for Safe and Healthy Work and Proper Use of Personal Protective Equipment – Form 6;
7. Records on the Application of Measures for Safety and Health at Work for Activities referred to in Article 48 of the Law on Safety and Health at work – Form 7;
8. Records of Inspections and Checks of Work Equipment – Form 8;
9. Records of Inspections and Tests of Electrical and Lightning Protection Installations – Form 9;
10. Records of Performed Tests of Working Environment Conditions – Form 10;
11. Records of Issued Personal Protective Equipment – Form 11.

Records in the field of safety and health at work are certified by the employer and signed by the advisor/associate for safety and health at work as a rule. Employers are now allowed to keep all records, with the exception of Form 6, in electronic form, using a qualified electronic certificate.

The deadlines for keeping said records according to the provisions of the new Rulebook are:

• 40 years for forms No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 11;
• 6 years from the date of termination of the validity of the expert report – for forms No. 8, 9, 10;
• 40 years after the cessation of exposure to asbestos/carcinogens/mutagens/ biological agents/chemical agents – for Form No. 5.

Rulebook on Preventive Measures for Safe and Healthy Work at Height

The new Rulebook on Preventive Measures for Safe and Healthy Work at Height defines in more detail what is to be considered work at height. Namely, work at height within the meaning of this Rulebook is considered to be any work on scaffolding, working platforms or ladders, on the maintenance of installations in industrial facilities, on trees, on the outer parts of buildings, on the roof, etc.

In order to avoid working at height, the Employer is obliged to provide all possible technical measures and means, especially equipment for mechanized work. However, when it is not possible to avoid working at a height, the employer is obliged to provide employees with the use of personal protective equipment, as well as fall protection systems, such as protective fences, protective nets, and other fall arrest equipment in order to prevent falls from a height.

Furthermore, the duty of employers is more detailly regulated to assess the risk of injury and damage to the health of employees for all workplaces where there is a possibility of working at height. The employer fulfils this obligation by adopting a risk assessment act, whereby it is obligatory to take into account hazards such as unsecured edges and openings, fragile and breakable surfaces that cannot withstand the weight of employees, sharp edges on structures, hazards related to weather conditions, proximity to power lines, as well as other prescribed hazards and harmfulness.

The employer is also obliged to provide employees who work at height with a work permit, which includes, among other things, the location (place of work), the name of the workplace, a precise description of the work performed at height with the methods of work, a list of work equipment intended for temporary work at height and a list of personal protective equipment.

Finally, it is prescribed that the person who performs these tasks must meet additional requirements in terms of medical fitness, must perform regular medical examinations (before starting work and periodically), and must complete training for safe and healthy work.

By Jelena Nikolic, Partner, and Marko Ilic, Senior Associate, JPM Partners Serbia