The Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Adnan Delić, on the occasion of extremely high temperatures, once again reminded of the provisions of the Occupational Safety Act, which prescribe special measures in cases of high or low temperatures that may endanger the health and safety of workers. He warned that protecting workers during a heat wave is a legal obligation of employers.
Based on Article 9, paragraph (5) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy can, in the event of weather problems such as high or low temperatures, as well as other extraordinary circumstances, issue recommendations to employers for the implementation of special safety measures at work in order to prevent harmful consequences for the health of workers. If such circumstances persist, additional protection measures can be recommended, said Delić in an interview for Fena.
He pointed out that based on this legal provision, at the beginning of the current heat wave, he issued a recommendation to all employers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to adapt their work organization to high temperatures.
“We recommended that, wherever possible, work hours should be organized so that they start earlier than usual, that outdoor work ends by 12:00 p.m., and that the continuation of work is organized after 5:00 p.m., when the temperatures drop,” said Delić.
He added that they also recommended that employers, where the nature of the job allows it, enable the use of annual vacations, paid or unpaid leave, and that they pay special attention to the protection of sensitive categories of workers – chronic patients, people with disabilities, workers with impaired health, as well as all those who work in jobs with increased risk or in difficult working conditions.
This especially applies to work in an open space, work at height or in depth, work in areas with an increased concentration of harmful substances, as well as other work that, due to their nature, carries an increased risk to the health and safety of workers.
“At the same time, we sent instructions to the federal and cantonal labor inspectorates to strengthen inspection supervision over the application of these measures. Occupational safety inspections have the statutory powers to control the implementation of occupational safety measures and to sanction employers who do not act in accordance with the law,” Delić said.
Minister Delić especially emphasized that the protection of workers is not a question of the employer’s good will, but his legal obligation.
“Employers are obliged to ensure working conditions that will not endanger the life and health of employees. This entails organizing work in accordance with risk assessment, using appropriate personal protective equipment, adjusting working hours, ensuring rest, protecting particularly sensitive categories of workers and implementing all other measures prescribed by the Act on Occupational Safety and by-laws,” emphasized Delić.
He reminded that the Law on Occupational Safety prescribes penal provisions for employers who do not implement the prescribed occupational safety measures.
Fines in the range of 1,000 to 15,000 KM are provided for various types of violations, with the possibility of imposing other inspection measures, including a ban on working at the workplace if an immediate danger to the life and health of the worker is established or the employer does not eliminate the identified irregularities.
These are not provisions that exist only on paper. The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy processes daily reports related to possible violations of regulations in the field of occupational safety and forwards them to competent inspections. After the inspections have been carried out, the inspectors, in accordance with the law and established facts, order measures to eliminate irregularities and, when there are legal conditions for this, impose appropriate misdemeanor sanctions. In several locations in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, such inspections have already been carried out, among other things, on reports related to non-compliance with regulations on occupational safety – the minister pointed out.
He added that there are activities in which work cannot be completely suspended or postponed, such as public transport, rail and air traffic, the electricity sector, the police, emergency services and other activities of particular importance. In these cases, the employer is obliged to apply all available protective measures in order to minimize the risk to the health of workers.
If a worker experiences health problems due to high temperatures, he is obliged to inform the employer, who must take appropriate measures – reassign work, provide rest or, if conditions exist, approve an appropriate form of leave.
If, due to non-compliance with occupational safety measures, an injury, serious impairment of health or death of a worker occurs, the legally prescribed procedure for determining the circumstances of the occupational injury or accident is carried out.
The competent institutions determine whether all prescribed protective measures have been applied, and if not, appropriate procedures are initiated against the employer and sanctions provided for by law are imposed.
Finally, Delić once again appealed to all employers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to consistently apply all safety measures at work during periods of extremely high temperatures.
An employer who does not organize work in such a way as to protect the health and safety of workers and does not implement the measures prescribed by the Law on Occupational Safety and by-laws is exposed to inspection measures and misdemeanor sanctions. Protecting the life and health of workers is not a choice, but a legal obligation – said Delić, Fena reports.
