LEGAL REQUIREMENTS TO NGOs – EMPLOYERS FOR ENSURING HEALTHY AND SAFE LABOUR CONDITIONS

Happy New Year !!! Dear colleagues, The Bulgarian Center for Not-for-profit Law wishes you health and successes in the new 2004. In 2004 we will continue to keep you informed on the most important legal obligations and deadlines which the NGOs have to comply with. Now we would like to brief you on the obligations which NGOs – employers have under the Law on healthy and safe labour conditions. The obligations of the employers under the Law on healthy and safe labour conditions (LHSLC) are as follows: – Submittal of a declaration under art. 15 from LHSLC. At the establishment of the organization as well as at change of the activities every employer has to declare at the Directorate “Regional inspectorate for labour” the location, the kind and the character of the production activity, the number of workers, the working conditions, the risk factors and the undertaken measures to guarantee not admitting accidents and incidents within 30 days from the initial date of occurrence of the event. – Risk assessment. The employer is obliged to make assessment of the risk for health and safety which comprises working premises and facilities, working places and the work organization. For this aim he is obliged to create rules and measures for prevention of risk in compliance with the assessment made and when this is impossible, to ensure the protection of the working and the other person. Labour medical services, bodies for safety and health and other specialists, if such, take part in the risk assessment. – Bodies for safety and health. The employer creates bodies for safety and health with a main function to organize and coordinate the activity of ensuring healthy and safe labour conditions and consulting the employer for implementing the LHSLC. Such a body may be created in several ways: 1) the employer creates a specialized service; 2) assigns to an officer with an order; 3) assigns to another person with a contract. – Groups and committees for labour conditions. The groups for labour conditions are created in organizations with personnel up to 50 workers and committees in organizations with more than 50 workers. The groups consist of one representative of the employer and an elected from the general assembly of the workers representative of the workers. Services for labour medicine. The employers are obliged to ensure servicing to their workers and employees by services for labour medicine. The services for labour medicine are units with primarily preventive functions. They shall consult and support the employer, the committees and groups for labour conditions in planning, organisation and implementation of their obligations for: 1. ensuring and maintenance of healthy and safe labour conditions; 2. improvement of the health and the working capacity of the working in connection with the work implemented by them. The labour medical services must be created by the employers independently or in cooperation, or by other corporate bodies.When for the employer it is practically impossible alone or in partnership to establish labour medical service, he shall conclude a contract with a registered office for labour medicine. The functions and tasks of the labour medicine, the requirements for the personnel and its qualification, the organisation of the activity, the good practice and the quality of the activity, the conditions and the order of deletion of the registration shall be determined with an ordinance by the Minister of Health, coordinated with the Minister of Labour and Social Policy. The actual list of the licensed labour medicine services may be found at http://www.mh.government.bg/registers_licences.php. For organizations established before the enactment of the LHSLC the deadline for contracting with a labour medicine service or registration of such is 23.12.2003. – Medical examinations. The employer has to ensure medical service for the employees. Compulsory preliminary medical examinations for persons starting to work for the first time; persons which have their labour contracts terminated more than 3 months ago, persons who start working on a job connected with risk from injury. Compulsory periodical medical examinations for persons up to 18 years – yearly; 18 – 40 – once for 5 years’ period; over 40 years – once in 3 years, etc. – Registry for labour accidents. The employer has to keep a Registry for labour accidents and to appoint the person responsible for keeping it with a written order. The way for investigation, solicitation and registration of labour accidents is legally regulated in a special ordinance. The declarations for labour accidents have to be kept for at least 5 years considered from the date of their registration. – Book of instructing. All employers have to pass a compulsory instructing on safe methods of working for which the employer keeps a special book. The employer has to conduct instructing on safety, hygiene of labour and fire protection. The instructing may be initial, on place, periodical, daily and extraordinary. The employer issues an order with attached agenda for the instructing. The person who has passed the instruction receives an official note. – Revision book. Every employer has to have a Revision book for the findings and recommendations of the controlling bodies on the observance of the labour legislation. This book has to be certified by the Inspection of labour and has to be presented to the persons conducting checks. – Sanctions. An employer who does not execute his obligations in connection with ensuring healthy and safety labour conditions, if not subject to higher sanction is punished with a fine between 250 and 1000 lv. For repeated violation the fine is between 500 and 2000 lv. At the event of nonperformance of an obligatory recommendation of a controlling body for observance of labour legislation the sanction is a fine between 250 and 2000 lv. An employer who illegally prevents a controlling body from executing his official obligations is sanctioned with a fine between 1000 and 5000 lv. if not subject to a higher sanction. For further information contact the Supreme Labour Inspection or its local departments which exercise specialized control for observance of LHSLC.