On 1 March 2022, amendments to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation concerning occupational safety will come into force.
Under the new rules established by Federal Law of 02.07.2021 N 311-FZ, the employer will be required to predict all the troubles that may occur to an employee at the workplace, take measures to prevent them, as well as carry out investigation of literally every case.
For example, even minor injuries of employees must be recorded as the Labor Code introduces a new concept – micro-injury. The Ministry of Labor stressed that any cut at work does not occur without a reason: perhaps, somewhere there was a failure in the labor protection system. The employer must analyze the causes of their occurrence, to make conclusions on how to prevent serious consequences.
The law also introduces a ban on working in dangerous working conditions. This means that the employer is obliged to suspend the production process if the workplace is assigned the 4th danger class, preserving the average salary and position of the employee. All employees whose working conditions are recognized as harmful based on the results of a special assessment of working conditions will now have to be provided with personal protective equipment (PPE). Previously PPE was issued only to employees of certain professions that were included in the list approved by the Ministry of Labor.
Employers will now be able to instruct employees on labour safety remotely, and to keep documents in the field of labor protection in electronic form.
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel
Check the updated rules of occupational safety training, the rules for medical examinations of certain categories of workers, the rules for providing employees with personal protective equipment; the procedure for establishing a labor protection service at the employer; the procedure for investigation, registration, accounting of micro-injuries, accidents at work and other updated provisions.
