[Health and safety challenges in medical entities and the powers of the social labor inspector: Lessons related to the COVID-19 outbreak in the context of internal control of employee health and safety]. / Wyzwania w zakresie bhp w podmiotach leczniczych a uprawnienia spolecznego inspektora pracy: wnioski zwiazane z epidemia COVID-19 w kontekscie kontroli wewnetrznej bezpieczenstwa i higieny pracy pracowników.

Employees in the medical profession in a situation where the life of a patient is at risk cannot refrain from working due to unsafe working conditions. Therefore, enforcing the right to safe and hygienic working conditions is particularly important so that employees can provide health care services without additional burdens. The purpose of the study is to determine how the social labour inspector can respond to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) hazards and whether the current powers of the social labor inspectorate as the employer's internal OHS control body are sufficient. The study conducted a regulatory analysis and used relevant literature, including recent studies on law enforcement. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted among trade union representatives of medical professionals on the evaluation of social labour inspector activities and OHS hazards during the COVID-19 epidemic period. In this period characterized by many OHS risks in medical entities, the difficulties faced by employers in carrying out their duty to protect the health of their employees became apparent. The system of internal control with the participation of the social labour inspection in this context needs changes, due to the fact that it is used in an inefficient manner. The reasons for this are primarily incomplete legal regulations. The legislator should guarantee the social labour inspector the right to use both methods of rewarding the employer as an incentive for the proper performance of duties and measures to deter violations of the law. Despite the fact that Polish labour law guarantees mechanisms for OHS control by the social labour inspector, it would be appropriate to expand the catalog of measures used by him to effectively motivate employers to protect worker health. This study is a prelude to a broader discussion of OHS monitoring in the context of OHS hazards occurring in healthcare entities. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2023;74(4):301-16.

Artificial intelligence and robotisation in the EU - should we change OHS law?

BACKGROUND: Technological progress in the twenty-first century offers real chances for economic development of the European Union (EU). The purpose of this publication is to analyse risks and threats relating to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) considerations in the context of scientific and technological development. The article attempts the analysis of whether current legislation of the European Union enables good protection of workers' health in the performance of their duties using robots, artificial intelligence (AI). A feature of robotisation and AI may be new challenges in OHS protection. The analysis performed aims to determine whether threats posted by working with Artificial Intelligence are serious enough for the EU Legislator to focus on implementation of new OHS regulations. METHODS: The analysis was carried out on the basis of current legal regulations related to the protection of employee's health in the European Union. The study used literature related to robotisation with artificial intelligence and health and safety at work in the working environment. RESULTS: Given the new psychological and physical threats related to the use of AI robots, it is necessary to expand the EU legislation with general guidelines for the use of intelligent robots in the work environment. Indeed, such robots must be defined in the applicable legal framework. Employers should also define, as part of their internal regulations, the procedures for employee communication with artificial intelligence, and relevantly update their training in the OHS area. CONCLUSIONS: The developments in AI-assisted robots come with inherent risks and threats to the working environment. New challenges create the need for adapting EU laws to changing reality. In order to structure European Union legislation on health and safety at work, these changes could be defined in a single piece of legislation covering robotics and AI after detailed analysis, dialogue, and debate.

[Legal protection of employee health when working with nanoparticles. Comments on the appropriateness of introducing european legal regulations]. / Prawna ochrona zdrowia pracownika w srodowisku pracy z nanoczastkami. Uwagi na temat zasadnosci wprowadzenia europejskich regulacji prawnych.

The aim of this publication is to analyze legal regulations related to occupational health and safety in the context of the development of nanomaterials technology. The author reflects on the possibility of introducing legal structures at the European Union level to facilitate protecting employee health in the work environment related to nanoparticles. Employers, in the scope of their duties, should take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of employees, including the prevention of threats related to the performance of official duties, information and training, as well as providing the necessary organizational framework and resources. Different organizations or research institutes are working on researching the numerical occupational exposure limits for nanoparticles, but the right direction to protect workers' health from exposure to nanoparticles is still at an early stage of diagnosis. It seems important to study the extent to which current methods and tools for risk assessment are up to date, and the elements that should be adapted to the characteristics of nanoparticles. The paper attempts to answer the question of whether the current legal protection of employees, in the context of risks and threats posed by nanotechnology, is sufficient. Med Pr. 2019;70(5):633-47.