OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT("Off. Herald of RS", Nos. 101/2005 and 91/2015) |
Article 1
The present Act governs the implementation and improvement of occupational safety and health of the persons taking part in the work processes, as well as of the persons who happen to be in the working environment, for the purpose of preventing injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases.
The Occupational Safety and Health Office shall be established under this Act which determines its competence as an administrative authority in the framework of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy that performs certain government administration duties in the field of occupational safety and health.
Article 2
The rights, duties and liabilities of employers and employees, competences and measures the application or implementation of which secures occupational safety and health, are exercised in conformity with the present Act and the regulations enacted on the basis of the act.
The present Act shall not be applied when performing a specific military service at the Serbian Armed Forces as well as when performing police and protection and rescue duties within the scope of the responsible state authority, as well as the performance of protection and rescue duties which are carried out by other entities in conformity with a separate statute, within which the issues of safety and health when performing such services and duties are regulated by a separate statute and regulations passed pursuant to such statute.
Article 3
The rights, duties and liabilities related to occupational safety and health, as laid down by the present Act, are governed in greater detail by a collective agreement, employers’ bylaw and employment contract.
Article 4
The meanings of some of the terms used in the present Act are as follows:
1) An employee is a domestic or foreign natural person who is employed by an employer, as well as a person who is working for the employer on any grounds or being trained to work for the employer, with the exception of the persons employed by employers as house help;
2) An employer is a domestic or foreign legal person, i.e. a natural person who employs or hires one or several persons:
(1) In terms of the present Act, an employer is also a natural person, which, regardless of the legal grounds, provides work for the employee, with the exception of persons who provide work in a household, as well as the owner of a family farm who works with the members of the farm household, in conformity with the agricultural regulations,
(2) An employer is considered also to be a natural person who, together with the member of his family household, performs a commercial or other activity;
3) An employees’ representative is a person who has been chosen to represent employees in the field of occupational safety and health at work when communicating with the employer;
4) Occupational safety and health mean the provision of such working conditions as will reduce to the largest extent possible the incidence of injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases and which largely satisfy the requirements for full physical, mental and social well-being of employees;
5) Preventive measures are all measures which are applied or planned to be applied on all levels of work for an employer, for the purpose of preventing injuries and impairment of the employees' health;
6) A workplace is the space intended for doing work for the employer (indoors or outdoors, as well as temporary and mobile building sites, facilities, devices, means of transport, etc.) in which an employee stays or to which he has access during work and which are under the employer’s direct or indirect control;
7) A working environment is the space in which work is done, including the workplaces, working conditions, work procedures and labor relations;
8) A work instrument is any of the following:
(1) A building used as working or appurtenant space, including also an outdoor an outdoor structure, with all of the supporting services (fluid piping, heating, electric wiring, etc.),
(2) Equipment for work (machine, appliance, facility, installation, tool, etc.) used for doing work,
(3) Structure or building for collective safety and health at work (guardrails at crossings, passages and entries, thermal and other radiation shields, protection against electric shocks, air ventilation and air-conditioning, etc.),
(4) Appurtenant structure and building, as well as structure and building used temporarily for work and movement of employees (scaffolding, working platform, tunnel shoring, deep trench shoring, etc.),
(5) Other means used in work process or in any other way associated with the work process;
9) Means and equipment for personal occupational safety are clothes, footwear, accessories and appliances serving for the prevention of injuries, occupational diseases, work-related diseases and other injurious effects on the health of the employee;
10) Hazardous materials are the explosive, inflammable, oxidizing, toxic, nauseating, contagious, corrosive, carcinogenic and radioactive materials identified as such by standards and other regulations, which are produced, used or stored in the process of work, as well as the materials the properties of which are hazardous to the life and health of employees, when combined with some other substances;
11) A hazard is a circumstance or state which can endanger the health of an employee or expose him to injury;
12) A hazardous occurrence is an event which endangers or could endanger the life and health of an employee or carries the danger of injuring the employee;
13) A risk is a probability of occurrence of an injury, disease or impairment of health of an employee due to a hazard;
14) A risk assessment memo is a document containing the description of work process with an assessment of the risk of injury and/or impairment of health at a workplace in a working environment and the measures for removing or abating risks for the purpose of improving occupational safety and health;
15) Risk assessment is a systematic recording and assessment of all factors at work which could cause injuries at work, diseases or impairment of health and establishing the possibility, i.e. manner of preventing, eliminating or abating risk;
16) A risky workplace is the one at which according to the risk assessment memo, such circumstances exist as could endanger the safety and health of the employee concerned, despite the full application of measures in conformity with the present Act;
17) A person responsible for occupational safety and health is a person who deals with occupational safety and health matters, who has passed the appropriate professional examination and who has been appointed to such post by the employer in writing;
18) A legal person engaged in the inspection and check of equipment for work and testing the working environment conditions i.e. the harmfulness of chemical, biological and physical factors (with the exception of ionizing radiation), microclimate and illumination, is a legal person who has been duly licensed by the minister responsible for employment, in conformity with the present Act;
19) An occupational medicine service is a service to which an employer has entrusted the health care of its employees;
20) An expert finding is the report on the inspection and check of equipment or testing of the working environment conditions, with a conclusion as to whether the prescribed occupational safety and health measures have or have not been applied;
21) A person responsible for inspection and check of equipment and testing of the working environment conditions, as well as for signing the expert findings, is a person who is duly licensed for such matters (hereinafter: the responsible person);
22) A license is the authority granted by the minister responsible for employment to a legal person or natural person for dealing with certain matters in the field of occupational safety and health, in conformity with the present Act;
23) Prevention is a process of providing measures at the workplace and the occupational surroundings of the employer, with an aim of preventing or reducing risk at work;
24) The language that an employee understands is the native language, the language that is officially used on the territory of the employer’s registered offices, i.e. where the employee performs his duties and which the employee speaks, reads and writes, as well as the language which has been set as a prerequisite for the performance of the duties of the subject workplace.
Article 5
The following shall be entitled to occupational safety and health:
1) Employees;
2) Pupils and students doing obligatory production work, receiving vocational training or practical instruction (workshops, farms, offices, laboratories, etc.);
3) Persons receiving occupational training, retraining or advanced training;
4) Persons undergoing occupational rehabilitation;
5) Persons serving prison sentences for the duration of their work in the penitentiary industrial units (workshops, building sites, etc.) or at other workplaces;
6) Persons participating in voluntary and public work arranged for in common interest, joint voluntary work projects and competitions in connection with work;
7) Persons who happen to be in the working environment for the purpose of doing certain work, if the employer is aware of their presence.
The occupational safety and health of the persons referred to in paragraph 1, items 1), 2), 4) and 7), of this Article is provided for by the employer, of those referred to in item 3) of this Article by the educational organization involved, of those referred to in item 5) of this Article by the penitentiary and of those referred to in paragraph 6) of this Article by the organizers of work or competitions.
Article 6
The special rights, duties and measures associated with occupational safety and health of young people (particularly in connection with their mental and physical development), women working at risky workplaces which could affect their childbearing capacity, persons with disability and persons suffering from occupational diseases, are governed by the present and other acts, other regulations, collective agreements, employers' bylaws and employment contracts.
The preventive measures associated with occupational safety and health of young people, women working during pregnancy as well as an employed woman breastfeeding her child, are prescribed by the minister responsible for employment and the minister responsible for health by mutual agreement.
Article 7
The preventive measures associated with occupational safety and health are provided for by applying modern technical, ergonomic, health-related, educational, public welfare and other measures and means of averting the risks of injury and impairment of the health of employees and/or reducing them to the least possible extent, in the process relating to the following:
1) Design, construction, use and maintenance of the structures intended to serve as working and appurtenant premises, as well as the structures intended for outdoor work for the purpose of providing for operation of safe work process;
2) Design construction, use and maintenance of processes with supporting equipment for the sake of safety of employees and for the purpose of adjusting the chemical, physical and biological hazards, microclimate and illumination at workplaces and in work and appurtenant premises to the prescribed levels and standards for the kind of work being done at such workplaces and in such premises;
3) Design, production, use and maintenance of work equipment, structures and buildings for collective occupational safety and health, appurtenant structures and buildings and other means used in the work process or in any way associated with the work process, so that when they are in use, the injuries or impairment of the health of employees are prevented from happening;
4) Production, packing, transport, storage, use and destruction of hazardous materials in the manner and in accordance with the regulations and rules that remove the possibility of injuries to employees or impairment of their health;
5) Design, production and use of the means and equipment for personal safety at work, the use of which eliminates the risks or dangers which could not have been eliminated by application of the usual preventive measures;
6) Education, instruction and training in the field of occupational safety and health.
The preventive measures in the procedures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are prescribed by the minister responsible for employment.
III DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EMPLOYER
Article 8
For the purposes of the present Act and the regulations enacted on the basis of it, the duties of an employer are at the same time the rights of employees with regard to implementation of the occupational safety and health measures.
Article 9
An employer shall provide for its employees to work at the workplaces and in the working environment in which the occupational safety and health measures have been implemented.
No employer may be relieved of his duties and liabilities with regard to application of the occupational safety and health measures by appointing another person or transferring his duties and responsibilities to another person.
In the case of an injury at work sustained due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond the employer’s control or due to extraordinary events whose consequences could not have been avoided despite all the efforts made, the employer concerned shall not be responsible in terms of the present Act.
An employer shall provide for work to be suited to the bodily and mental capacity of its employee and for the working environment, instruments of work and means and equipment for personal safety to be arranged i.e. produced and provided so that they do not pose a hazard to the safety and health of the employee.
Article 10
An employer shall make sure that the implementation of the occupational safety and health measures does not cause financial commitments to his employees and their representatives and does not affect their financial and social status acquired at work and in connection with work.
Article 11
When organizing the work and work process, an employer shall provide preventive measures for the purpose of protecting the life and health of his employees and provide the funds necessary for their implementation.
An employer shall provide preventive measures before its employees start to work, during their work and in the case of any process change, by selecting such work and production methods as will provide for the highest possible occupational safety and health, based on the application of the regulations dealing with occupational safety and health, employment law, technical regulations and standards, regulations dealing with health care, labor hygiene, health, old age pension and disability insurance, etc.
Article 12
An employer provides the preventive measures taking into account the following principles:
1) Avoidance of risks;
2) Assessment of the unavoidable risks at workplace;
3) Removal of risks at their source by applying modern technical solutions;
4) Adjustment of work and workplace to the employee, particularly with regard to selection of equipment and work methods, as well as selection of the technological process with a view to avoiding monotony at work in order to reduce their impact on the health of employees;
5) Replacement of hazardous with harmless or less harmful ones;
6) Giving preference to collective over individual occupational safety and health measures;
7) Having the employees trained for safe and healthful work and issuing instructions for working in the safe manner;
8) Adjusting to the technical advancements;
9) Developing a coherent overall prevention policy.
Article 13
The employer shall produce a risk assessment memo for all workplaces in the working environment and establish the way of and measures for their removal.
The employer shall modify the risk assessment memo with the occurrence of any new hazard or change in the risk level in the process of work.
The risk assessment memo is based on establishing the possible kinds of hazards and harmful effects at workplaces in the working environment, on the basis of which the risks of employee injury and health impairment are assessed.
The minister responsible for employment sets the way of and procedure for the workplace and working environment risk assessment.
Article 14
An employer shall, in its bylaw i.e. collective agreement, determine the rights, duties and liabilities in the field of occupational safety and health.
In the case of employers having up to ten employees, the rights, duties and liabilities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be laid down in employment contracts.
Article 15
An employer shall:
1) Appoint in writing a person responsible for occupational safety and health;
2) Assign its employees to a workplace at which the occupational safety and health measures have been implemented;
3) Notify its employees and their representatives of the introduction of new technologies and instruments for work, as well as of the risks of injury and health impairment resulting from their introduction, i.e. issue adequate instructions for safe work in such cases;
4) Train its employees for safe and healthy work;
5) Provides for its employees to use the means of and equipment for personal safety at work;
6) Provide that the instruments for work and the means and equipment for personal safety at work are maintained in proper working order;
7) Commission a licensed legal person in order to carry out preventive and periodical inspections and checks of work equipment, as well as preventive and periodical testing of the working environment conditions;
8) Provide for the requisite medical examination of its employees to be conducted in conformity with the present Act, on the basis of the risk assessment memo and the opinion of the occupational medicine service;
9) Provide the first aid, as well as have the necessary number of his employees trained for giving first aid, rescuing and evacuation in the case of danger;
10) Suspend any kind of work posing a direct hazard to the life or health of its employees;
11) Provide fire protection measures, rescue and evacuation in conformity with the separate statute.
The procedure and deadlines for preventive and periodical inspections and check of equipment, as well as for preventive and periodical testing of the working environment conditions and chemical, biological and physical hazards (with the exception of ionizing radiation), microclimate and illumination, are set by the minister responsible for employment.
The legal person referred to paragraph 1, item 7), of this Article shall issue an expert report upon executed inspection and check of equipment or testing of conditions of the working environment.
The manner of giving first aid, types of facilities and equipment which shall be provided at a workplace, the manner and deadlines of training the employees for giving first aid, are prescribed by the minister responsible for employment and the minister responsible for health by mutual agreement.
Article 16
An employer shall set in the risk assessment memo the health-related special requirements which have to be satisfied by employees at the workplace involving increased risk, on the basis of the opinion of the occupational medicine service.
An employer shall provide the conditions for the occupational medicine service it had commissioned to perform its duties relating to the health care of its employees.
Article 17
An employer shall give out for use to each employee the means and/or equipment for personal safety at work, in accordance with the risk assessment memo.
Article 18
At least eight days prior to beginning to operate, an employer shall notify the competent labor inspector’s office of the following:
1) Start of operation:
2) Operation of the separate unit;
3) Any change of technological process, if such change alters the working conditions.
An employer who is executing works on the construction of a facility in conformity with the regulations on occupational safety and health, in temporary or movable building sites, shall draw up the requisite building site arrangement plan which, together with the report on the commencement of operation is submitted to the competent labor inspector’s office.
An employer shall provide, maintain and apply on the building site measures of occupational safety and health in accordance with the building site arrangement plan.
The contents of the building site arrangement plan are set by the minister responsible for employment.
Immediately upon occurrence, the employer shall, both in oral and written form, report to the competent labor inspector’s office of the execution of works for the purpose of removing major break downs or damages on the facility, which could jeopardize the functioning of the technical and technological systems or business operations.
The fulfillment of prescribed requirements in the field of occupational safety and health is determined in conformity with law by the ministry responsible for employment before the employer starts its operations, at the employer’s request.
The minister responsible for employment sets the procedure for determining the fulfillment of the prescribed requirements referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article.
The amount of procedural expenses for the determination of the fulfillment of the prescribed requirements referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article is prescribed by mutual agreement of the minister responsible for employment and the minister responsible for finance.
The funds realized through charged expenses for the determination of fulfillment of the prescribed requirements referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article are the revenue of the budget of the Republic of Serbia.
Article 19
When two or more employers share a working space in the conduct of their business, they shall cooperate in the application of the requisite occupational safety and health measures.
Taking into account the nature of the operations performed by them, the employers referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article coordinate their activities in connection with application of the measures for removal of the risk of injury, i.e. impairment of health of their employees, as well as notify one another and their employees and/or the employees’ representatives of such risks and the measures for their removal.
The employers set the mode of establishing the cooperation referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article by an agreement made in writing.
The person responsible for coordination of the application of joint measures of occupational safety and health of all employees is named in the agreement referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.
Article 20
An employer shall take measures to prevent trespassing into the facility grounds or building site committed by persons or means of transport which have no right to enter them.
Article 21
An employer who hires the employees of some other employer to carry out his business operations shall provide for such employees the requisite occupational safety and health measures in conformity with the present Act.
Article 22
Whenever the employer changes the technological process, he shall adjust the work instruments to the new technology process prior to beginning of work.
Article 23
An employer shall give to its employees for use the work instruments, i.e. the means and equipment for personal safety to which the occupational safety and health measures have been applied and provide control of their usage in accordance with their purpose.
Article 24
An employer may give to its employees for use the work equipment and the means and equipment for personal safety at work, only if they have been complied to the prescribed technical requirements, if their compliance has been assessed in line with a prescribed procedure, if they have been labeled in conformity with the regulations and if they possess the documentation on conformity and other prescribed documents.
An employer who has given its employees for use the work equipment and the means and equipment for personal safety at work prior to entry into force of the regulations which prescribe the obligation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall provide the instruction for their use and maintenance.
An employer shall provide its employees with the instructions for safe work, in conformity with the regulations on safety and health at work for the use of work equipment and instruments and equipment for personal safety at work.
An employer shall provide the translation of documentation referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, into a language the employee understands.
The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article apply to all changes to the operational and technological processes.
Article 24a
An employer may give to its employees for use the hazardous chemical materials and other chemical materials which require the preparation and submission of a safety data sheet, only if the subject chemical material has been made available with a safety data sheet, in conformity with the regulations governing the chemicals, and if all measures stemming from the contents of the safety data sheet have been provided as well.
An employer should hold the safety data sheet in Serbian language.
An employer shall provide the translation of the safety data sheet into a language which the employee understands, as well as to provide access to the employee to the data contained in the subject safety data sheet.
Article 25
If, because of introduction of a new technology, the occupational safety and health measures have not been prescribed, the employer concerned applies the generally recognized measures which secure occupational safety and health of employees pending the introduction of the appropriate regulations.
A generally recognized measure as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is understood to mean a measure which can be instrumental to the removal of hazards at work and abatement of the harm to health of employees to a reasonable extent.
Article 26
If a risk assessment memo shows deficiencies in the field of occupational safety and health, the removal of which would call for major investments, and the lives and health of employees are not gravely endangered, the employer concerned shall make a special program on the gradual removal of deficiencies and set the deadlines for implementation of such program.
Article 27
An employer shall train its employees for safe and healthful work upon their employment i.e. start of other work engagement, transfer to other jobs, when introducing a new technology or new work instruments or when changing work equipment, as well as when changing the work process which may change the occupational safety and health measures.
When training its employees for safe and healthful work, the employer shall acquaint them with all kinds of risks on the jobs assigned to them and the specific occupational safety and health measures in accordance with the risk assessment memo.
The employer shall provide for the training referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to be given during working hours and the cost of such training cannot be charged to employees.
The training of employees for safe and healthful work shall be adjusted to the peculiarities of their workplace and shall be conducted according to the program, the contents of which shall be renewed and amended by the employer when necessary.
If an employer assigns its employee to two or more workplaces at the same time, he shall train the employee concerned for safe and healthful work at each of such workplaces.
Article 28
Training of employees for safe and healthful work the employer performs both theoretically and practically, in accordance with the program of training for safe and healthful work adopted by the employer.
The test of theoretical and practical capacity of an employee for safe and healthful work is done at his workplace.
Periodical tests of the training of an employee working at a risky workplace for safe and healthful work are conducted no later than one year from the day of the previous test, and at other workplaces no later than four years from the day of the previous test.
Training for safe and healthful work is carried out in the language the employee understands and is adjusted to the possibilities and capabilities of the disabled persons.
Article 29
An employer, for which the employees of another employer are working on the basis of a contract, agreement or on some other grounds, shall train such employees for safe and healthful work in conformity with the present Act.
Article 30
When a process entails additional training of employees for safe and healthful work, the employer concerned shall let the employees know how to work safely, by giving them information and instructions in writing.
In exceptional cases, when a direct threat is posed to the life and health of employees, the information and instructions may be given orally due to the emergency involved.
An employer shall make sure that any employed pregnant woman and any female employee breastfeeding a child, employees under 18 years of age, persons with disability and those suffering from occupational disease, besides being trained for safe and healthful work, are also informed in writing about the results of the workplace risk assessment and the measures by which risks are being removed for the sake of improving the occupational safety and health conditions.
Article 31
An employer shall, as early as possible, warn any person who for whatever reason happens to be in the working environment about any hazardous places or the harm to health that could be caused by the process, i.e. about the safety measures he must apply, and show him the safe routes for movement.
An employer shall mark visibly and put up signs for safety i.e. health for the purpose of making the employees aware of the process risks, routes of movement and permitted places of stay, as well as for the measures to be applied towards preventing or removing risks.
An employer shall make sure that access to a workplace in the working environment carrying the direct risk of injury or health impairment (poisoning, suffocation, etc.) is allowed only to the persons who have been trained for safe and healthful work, given instructions to cease to work i.e. to immediately leave the workplace and go to a safe place, special instructions for work at such a place and provided with suitable means and equipment for personal safety at work.
IV RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF EMPLOYEES
Article 32
An employee has the right and duty to get acquainted, before starting to work, with the occupational safety and health measures for the job or workplace to which he has been assigned, as well as to train for their implementation.
An employee is entitled to:
1) Make suggestions and remarks and give information to the employer in connection with occupational safety and health matters;
2) Have his/state of health checked on in view of the workplace risks involved, in conformity with health care regulations.
An employee working at a risky workplace has the right and duty to undergo medical examinations to which he is sent by the employer.
An employee shall work at a risky workplace on the basis of an occupational medical service report showing that he is medically fit for that workplace.
Article 33
An employee is entitled to refuse to work in the following cases:
1) If a direct threat is posed to his life and health because the requisite occupational safety and health measures have not been applied to the workplace to which he has been assigned, pending the application of such measures;
2) If the employer has not arranged for him to undergo the appropriate medical examination or if the medical examination has shown that he is unfit for work at an increased risk workplace, pursuant to Article 43 of the present Act;
3) If in the course of training for safe and healthful work he was not informed about all kinds of risks and measures for their removal, pursuant to Article 27, paragraph 2, of the present Act, on the workplace or job to which the employer has assigned him;
4) If he is required to work overtime or at night if, in the opinion of the occupational medicine service, such work could impair his health;
5) If he is required to use a work instrument to which the requisite occupational safety and health measures have not been applied.
In a case referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, an employee may request the employer in writing to apply the measures which, in the opinion of the employee, have not been applied.
Should the employer fail to comply with the request referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article within eight days from receipt, the employee concerned shall have the right to apply to the labor inspector’s office for protection of his rights.
If an employee refuses to work in a case referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the employer is of the opinion that the employee’s request is unfounded, the employer shall notify the labor inspector’s office accordingly without any delay.
Article 34
Whenever an employee’s life or health are endangered directly, he shall have the right to take appropriate steps in accordance with his knowledge and technical means available to him and to stop working, leave his workplace, work process, i.e. working environment.
In a case referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the employee concerned who has stopped working, leaved his workplace, work, i.e. working environment, is not be liable for the damage suffered by the employer.
Article 35
An employee shall apply the requisite occupational safety and health measures, use the work instruments and hazardous materials for their intended purpose, use the regulation means and equipment for personal safety and handle them carefully, in order to avoid endangering his own safety and health and the safety and health of other persons.
Before starting to work, an employee shall inspect his workplace, including the work instruments to be used by him and if he notices any deficiency, he shall notify the employer or some duly authorized person accordingly.
An employee shall be forbidden to arbitrarily turn off, modify or remove the safety devices on the work instruments.
Prior to leaving his workplace, the employee shall take care that the workplace and work instruments are in such a state as will not pose a hazard to other employees.
Article 36
An employee shall report to the employer, without any delay, any irregularity, harmfulness, hazard or some other occurrence he had noticed at his workplace, which could pose a threat to his safety and health or the safety and health of other employees.
If after receiving the report referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the employer does not eliminate the irregularity, harmfulness, hazard or some other occurrence within eight days or if the employee concerned is of the opinion that appropriate measures of occupational safety and health have not been applied towards eliminating the observed occurrences, the employee concerned may address the competent labor inspector’s office and notify thereof the person responsible for occupational safety and health.
An employee shall cooperate with the employer and the person responsible for occupational safety and health in the application of the requisite occupational safety and health measures in the workplace he occupies.
V ORGANISATION OF DUTIES RELATED TO OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
Article 37
An employer shall organize the duties related to occupational safety and health.
The duties related to occupational safety and health may be performed by any person who has passed the professional examination pursuant to the present Act.
The duties related to occupational safety and health may be performed by the employer alone in retail services, tourism and catering services, information and communication, financial and insurance services, real estate business, expert, scientific, innovational, administrative and help catering services, social security services, education, art, entertainment and recreation, as well as other service activities if the employer has up to 20 employees and is not bound to pass the professional examination referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.
An employer may assign one or several of its employees to duties related to occupational safety and health or employ a licensed legal person or sole trader for such purposes (hereinafter: the person responsible for occupational safety and health).
An employer decides on the manner of organizing duties related to occupational safety and health depending on the following:
1) Technological process,
2) Organization, nature and volume of the work process,
3) Number of employees that take part in the work process,
4) Number of shifts,
5) Assessed risks,
6) Number of dislocated units,
7) Kind of business activity.
Article 37a
The employer operating in construction, agricultural, forestry and fishery, mining, processing industry, electrical power supply, gas, steam and air-conditioning (with the exception of trade in electrical energy and gas fuels through the gas pipelines), water supply, waste water management, control of the waste removal processes and similar activities, as well as in health and social protection services, shall appoint a person for the occupational safety and health duties, who at least has an acquired university degree at undergraduate studies of at least 180 ECTS credits, basic vocational studies, i.e. studies lasting for three years in scientific, i.e. expert field within the educational and scientific scope of technical and technological sciences, mathematical and natural sciences or medical sciences.
Article 38
An employer shall make it possible for the person responsible for occupational safety and health to do his work independently in conformity with the present Act and allow him access to all of the necessary information associated with occupational safety.
The person responsible for occupational safety and health reports directly to the employer for whom he is doing such work and may not suffer any consequences if he is doing his job in keeping with the present Act.
An employer shall make it possible for the employee it had assigned to the occupational safety and health duties to expand his knowledge in that field.
The professional development program and other issues associated with professional development of the employee, referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, are prescribed by the minister responsible for employment.
Article 39
An employer who hires a legal person or sole trader to perform the duties related to occupational safety and health shall inform them in advance about the technological process, risks in the work process, and measures for the removal of risks.
Article 40
The person responsible for occupational safety and health performs his duties in conformity with the present Act, including the following ones in particular:
1) Conducts the risk assessment procedure;
2) Controls and gives advice to the employer in the planning for, selection, use and maintenance of hazardous materials and means and equipment for personal safety at work;
3) Takes part in the equipping and arrangement of workplaces for the sake of safe and healthful working conditions;
4) Organizes preventive and periodical testing of the working environment conditions;
5) Organizes preventive and periodical inspection and check of equipment for work;
6) Recommends measures for the improvement of working conditions, particularly in the increased risk workplace;
7) Follows and controls daily the implementation of occupational safety and health measures at the employer;
8) Follows the occurrence of injuries at work and occupational diseases, as well as work-related diseases, taking part in the identification of their causes and drawing up reports together with recommendations for their removal;
9) Prepares and trains the employees for safe and healthful work;
10) Prepares instructions for safe work and controls whether they are implemented;
11) Prohibits work at a workplace or use of instruments of work in case he identifies direct hazard to the life or health of the employee concerned;
12) Cooperates and coordinates work with the occupational medicine service in all matters relating to occupational safety and health;
13) Keeps occupational safety and health records on the employer’s premises.
The person responsible for occupational safety and health shall notify the employer and employees’ representative on any prohibition of work referred to in paragraph 1, item 11) of this Article.
If, despite the prohibition referred to in paragraph 1, item 1 of this Article, the employer orders the employee concerned to carry on working, the person responsible for occupational safety and health shall promptly notify thereof the competent labor inspector’s office.
The person responsible for occupational safety and health shall continuously expand his knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health, in terms of Article 38, paragraph 4 of the present Act.
Article 41
An employer hires the occupational medicine service to deal with protection of the employees’ health.
The occupational medicine service referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall perform its duties in conformity with the present Act, including the following in particular:
1) Taking part in the identification and assessment of risks at workplaces and in the working environment in the drafting of risk assessment memo;
2) Informing the employees about risks to health associated with their work and training the employees for giving first aid;
3) Establishing and investigating the causes of occupational diseases and work-related diseases;
4) Assessing and establishing the health-related requirements that must be fulfilled by employees in order to work at increased risk workplace or to use, i.e. operate certain equipment;
5) Doing preliminary and periodical medical examinations of the employees working in increased risk workplaces and issuing medical reports in conformity with the occupational safety and health regulations;
6) Participating in the organization of first aid, rescue and evacuation in the case of injury of employees or industrial disasters;
7) Giving advice to the employer in the process of selecting another suitable job according to the health fitness of an employee;
8) Giving advice to the employer from the aspect of health in the selection and testing of new instruments of work, hazardous materials and means and equipment for personal safety at work;
9) Taking part in the analysis of injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases;
10) Cooperating directly with the person responsible for occupational safety and health.
The preliminary and periodical medical examinations of employees as referred to in paragraph 2, item 5) of this Article may be executed by an occupational medicine services which has the requisite equipment, premises and professional staff.
Article 42
The personal data collected in connection with a medical examination of an employee are of confidential nature and are monitored by the occupational medicine service making such examinations.
The data relating to injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases are delivered to the health and retirement and disability insurance organizations in conformity with law.
The data referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may also be presented to other persons only with the consent of the employee given in writing.
The employee medical examination report is delivered to the employer in such a way as to not violate the principle of confidentiality of personal data.
The data collected during medical examination of employees may not be used to discriminate them.
Article 43
Before an employee begins to work at an increased risk workplace, the employer shall arrange for his preliminary medical examination and for periodical medical examinations thereafter.
The preliminary and periodical examinations of the employees working at increased risk workplaces are carried out in the way, by the procedure and by the deadlines set by the occupational safety and health regulations enacted by the ministers responsible for employment and public health by mutual agreement.
Should a periodical medical examination show that an employee is not up to the special health-related requirements for work at an increased risk workplace, the employer concerned shall transfer him to some other workplace suited to his medical condition.
The medical unfitness for work at an increased risk workplace may not serve as grounds for cancellation of an employment contract.
VI EMPLOYEES’ REPRESENTATIVE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
Article 44
The employees have the right to elect one or several representatives for occupational safety and health matters (hereinafter: the Employees’ Representative).
At least three employees’ representatives make up the Occupational Safety and Health Committee (hereinafter: the Committee).
The employer shall appoint to the Committee at least one person as his representative, so that the employees’ representatives outnumber the employer’s representatives by at least one.
The procedure for election and work of the employees’ representatives and the Committee, number of employees’ representatives and their relationship with the trade union is regulated by a collective agreement or by agreement concluded between the employer and the employees’ representatives.
The employer shall allow at least one employees’ occupational safety and health representative to leave the duties of the workplace to which he has been appointed for the period of at least five working hours of per month, with the right to wage compensation which is calculated and paid in the same amount as if he has performed the duties of his workplace, as well as to provide the technical and spatial conditions in conformity with the spatial and financial possibilities, for the purpose of performing activities of employees’ representative.
Article 45
An employer shall make it possible for an Employees’ Representative, i.e. the Committee to do the following:
1) Examine all documents relating to occupational safety and health;
2) Take part in the consideration of all matters relating to safety and health at work, propose and be consulted.
An employer shall keep the Employees’ Representative and the Committee informed on everything to do with occupational safety and health.
Article 46
An Employees’ Representative and the Committee have the right to do as follows:
1) Give the employer recommendations concerning all matters relating to occupational safety and health;
2) Request the employer to take suitable action towards removing or abating the risks to the safety and health of employees;
3) Request supervision by the labor inspector’s office, if they are of the opinion that the employer has not applied the requisite occupational safety and health measures.
An Employees’ Representative i.e. a Committee member may attend any inspection.
Article 47
The employer shall inform the Employees’ Representative about the following:
1) Findings and recommendations of protective and preventive measures or measures undertaken by the labor inspector’s office;
2) Reports on the injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases and on the occupational safety and health measures applied;
3) Action taken towards preventing direct hazards to life and health.
Article 48
An employer and Employees’ representative i.e. Committee and trade union shall cooperate among themselves concerning the occupational safety and health matters, in conformity with the present Act and other regulations.
VII RECORDS, COOPERATION AND REPORTING
Article 49
An employer shall keep a record of the following:
1) Increased risk workplaces;
2) Employees assigned to increased risk workplaces and medical examinations of employees assigned to those workplaces;
3) Injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases;
4) Employees trained for safe and healthful work;
5) Hazardous materials used at work;
6) Conducted tests of the working environment conditions;
7) Conducted inspections and checks of work equipment;
8) Reports referred to in Article 50 of the present Act;
9) Issued means and equipment for personal safety at work;
10) Executed medical examinations of employees in conformity with the regulations on occupational safety and health.
The way of keeping the records referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is set by the minister responsible for employment.
Article 49a
In the records referred to in Article 49, paragraph 1, items 2), 3), 4), 9) and 10) of the present Act, the employer shall enter the name and surname of the employee and the name of the workplace.
The documents involved in the procedure for providing prior and periodical medical examination of the employee at the workplace involving increased risk, referred to in Article 43 of the present Act, contain the following personal data: person’s name and surname, citizen’s personal identity number, i.e. date, place and municipality of birth, occupation, vocational degree, name of workplace and health insurance data.
Reports on injuries at work and occupational diseases referred to in Article 51 of the present Act, contain the following personal data: person’s name and surname, sex, citizen’s personal identity number, i.e. date of birth, permanent i.e. temporary place of residence, vocational degree, data on the workplace and injury at work, i.e. type of professional disease and state of health.
The personal data referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article are submitted for use to the organizations responsible for health, retirement and disability insurance and the Occupational Safety and Health Office.
The documents which are set by the secondary legislation governing the preventive measures referred to in Article 7 of the present Act may not contain more than the following personal data: name and surname, citizen's personal identity number, date of birth, place and municipality of birth, occupation, vocational degree, name of workplace and data about state of health.
Article 50
An employer shall immediately, or at the latest within 24 hours from the occurrence, orally or in writing, report to the competent labor inspector’s office and the competent interior affairs agency any lethal, collective or grave injury at work, injury at work because of which the employee concerned is not fit for work for at least three consecutive working days, as well as any dangerous event which could pose a threat to the safety and health of employees.
An employer shall report to the competent labor inspector’s office an occupational disease within a term of three consecutive working days from the day on which it had become aware of it.
Article 51
An employer shall provide the employee who sustained an injury, i.e. who has been diagnosed with an occupational disease and the organizations responsible for health and retirement and disability insurance, with a report on injury at work and occupational disease that occurred in the workplace.
The contents and mode of issuing the report form referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is set by the minister responsible for employment.
An employer shall present a report on the state of occupational safety and health of its employees, as well as on the measures applied, at the request of the labor inspector or Employees’ Representative.
Article 52
Employers, trade unions, insurance companies and health and retirement and disability insurance organizations shall cooperate and take part in the taking of joint opinions on the issues relating to the upgrading of occupational safety and health, as well as to see to the development and upgrading of the general occupational safety and health culture, in conformity with the present Act.
The health and old age pension and disability insurance organizations shall present to the ministry responsible for employment the data on injuries at work, occupational diseases and disabled workers at least once a year, at the latest by 31 January of the current year for the previous one, and if so requested by the ministry responsible for employment also within a shorter term.
Article 53
An employer shall insure its employees against injury at work, occupational disease and work-related disease for the purpose of securing indemnity.
The costs of insurance referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are borne by the employer and are determined in accordance with the level of risk from injury, occupational disease, or work-related disease at the workplaces and in the working environment.
The terms of and procedure for insurance against injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases of employees are regulated by law.
VIII PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION AND LICENCE ISSUING
Article 54
The duties of the person responsible for occupational safety and health may be performed by a person who has passed the appropriate professional examination.
The professional examination referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be taken before an examination panel formed by the minister responsible for employment.
The minister responsible for employment sets the program, modality and amount of fee for taking the examination referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
The funds collected from charged examination fees referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are the revenue of the Budget of the Republic of Serbia.
Article 55
The minister responsible for employment issues a decree to award a license to the following persons:
1) A legal person or sole trader for the performance of duties related to occupational safety and health under Article 40 of the present Act;
2) A legal person for the performance of duties related to inspection and check of equipment and testing of the working environment;
3) A responsible person in the legal person referred to in item 2) of this Article.
Article 56
The license for the performance of duties relating to occupational safety and health under Article 40 of the present may be awarded to the legal person i.e. sole trader having at least two employees who have a university degree acquired at undergraduate academic studies, of at least 240 ECTS credits, master academic studies, specialist academic studies, specialist vocational studies, i.e. undergraduate studies lasting for at least four years or specialist studies at the faculty of scientific, i.e. expert field within the educational-scientific field of technical and technological sciences, mathematical and natural sciences or medical sciences, who has passed the professional examination referred to in Article 54 of the present Act and who has at least three years of working experience on such tasks, provided that the license issued in conformity with the present Act to the founder or its linked person, i.e. sole trader or its linked person in terms of the regulations on companies has not been revoked in the previous three years.
The license for inspection and check of work equipment and testing of the conditions of the working environment may be issued to any legal person which fulfills the set requirements with regard to availability of suitable expert staff, technical equipment, methodology of performance of certain inspections and tests and which has a responsible person employed on its staff provided that the license issued in conformity with the present Act to the founder or its linked party in terms of the regulations on companies has not been revoked in the previous three years.
The license for the duties of a responsible person may be issued to a person who has acquired university degree at undergraduate academic studies of at least 240 ECTS credits, master academic studies, specialist academic studies, specialist vocational studies, i.e. undergraduate studies lasting for at least four years or specialist studies at the faculty of scientific, i.e. expert field within the educational-scientific field of technical and technological sciences, mathematical and natural sciences or medical sciences, who has passed the professional examination referred to in Article 54 of the present Act and who has at least three years of working experience on such tasks or at least five years of working experience in the profession and if the license of such person issued in conformity with the present Act has not been revoked in the previous three years.
The minister responsible for employment prescribes the conditions and amount of fee for issuing of the license referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article.
If a legal person or a sole trader cease to fulfill the requirements provided in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, the authorized officer responsible for the supervision of operation of such legal person or sole trader holding a license orders such legal person, i.e. sole trader, to undertake actions which would provide the fulfillment of requirements for acquiring the license and sets the deadline for such actions which cannot be longer than 90 days from the day of notification of the ordered measure, and such legal person, i.e. sole trader is temporarily forbidden to perform duties the performance of which require a license, and no longer than the expiry of the deadline prescribed by this paragraph.
If a legal person, i.e. a sole trader holding a license, informs the authority responsible for supervision of its operation, that it has ceased to fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, such notification is compared with the order, i.e. decree defined in paragraph 5 of this Article.
The licenses defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are issued by the minister responsible for employment, with a validity period of five years. The license may be renewed in the manner and in line with the requirements under which it has been issued, whereas the request for the renewal of the license must be submitted by 30 days the latest prior to the expiry of such license.
The funds collected from charged fees for the issuance of the license referred to in paras. 1 to 3 of this Article are the revenue of the Budget of the Republic of Serbia.
Article 57
The minister responsible for employment may render a decree to revoke the license issued to:
1) The legal person or sole trader for the performance of duties related to occupational safety and health in work, as referred to in Article 55, item 1) of the present Act, if he finds that it operates in contravention of law;
2) The legal person for the inspection and check of work equipment and testing of the working environment conditions referred to in Article 55, item 2) of the present Act, if he finds that it operates in contravention of law;
3) The responsible person referred to in Article 55, item 3) of the present Act, if he finds that such person is not performing diligently or professionally the duties for which the license has been issued;
4) The license holder, if during the license period of validity he ceases to fulfill the requirements referred to in Article 56 of the present Act.
Article 58
No complaint may be filed against the decree referred to in Articles 55 and 57 but an administrative dispute may be instigated instead.
IX OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OFFICE
Article 59
The Occupational Safety and Health Office is established within ministry responsible for employment for the purpose of performing government administration duties geared to the upgrading and development of occupational safety and health, i.e. reduction of the incidence of injuries at work, occupational diseases and work- related diseases (hereinafter: the Office).
Article 60
The duties of the Office are as follows:
1) Drafting the occupational safety and health regulations, as well as giving advice as to their application;
2) Preparing technical grounds for drafting of the national occupational safety and health development program and following its implementation;
3) Monitoring and appraising the state of occupational safety and health and preparing positions on the uniform regulation of the occupational safety and health measures which are the subject matter of the present Act and other regulations;
4) Investigating and encouraging development in the field of labor humanization;
5) Giving expert assistance in the field of safety and health of employees;
6) Preparing methods of inspection and testing in the field of occupational safety and health;
7) Studying the causes of and occurrences resulting in injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases;
8) Organizing professional examinations referred to in Article 54 of the present Act and keeping a record thereof.
9) Supervising the activity of legal persons and sole traders, as well as licensed responsible persons and drafting the decree proposals for the issuance or revocation of licenses referred to in Article 55 and 57 of the present Act and keeping a record thereof;
10) Collecting and analyzing the data on injuries at work, occupational diseases, work-related diseases and occurrences affecting the employees’ health;
11) Collecting information and documentation in the field of occupational safety and health of employees;
12) Staging conferences, providing training for employees, employers, persons responsible for occupational safety and health, inspectors, and others, publishing various materials and keeping the general public informed on the state of affairs in the field of occupational safety and health;
13) Seeing to the implementation of international treaties in the field of occupational safety and health;
14) Encouraging education in and expansion of work culture in the field of occupational safety and health, taking care about giving out national acknowledgments in the field of occupational safety and health, whereby keeping a record into which the name and surname of the natural person are entered;
15) Performing other duties provided by law.
While organizing the professional exams defined in Article 54 of the present Act, and during preparation of the decree proposal for the issuing and revocation of the license referred to in Articles 55 and 57 of the present Act, the following personal data is processed: name, name of one parent and person’s surname, date and place of birth, unique citizens' identity number, place and address of permanent residence, i.e. temporary place of residence, occupational type and degree, workplace - the duties that the person performs, contact phone number, telefax number and e-mail address.
Article 60a
For the purpose of improving occupational safety and health in the Republic of Serbia, national acknowledgments in the field of occupational safety and health (hereinafter referred to as: acknowledgements) may be awarded to the legal and natural persons, Occupational Safety and Health Committee, organizations and associations, for the exceptional achievements in the field of occupational safety and health.
Such acknowledgments include the following:
1) Charter "28.april";
2) Plaque "28.april";
3) Letter of Recognition "28.april".
The Charter "28.april" is awarded to a legal person or sole trader, in two categories (up to 250 employees and more than 250 employees) - for a special contribution and affirmation of occupational safety and health, through their legal, timely and preventive activities in application of prescribed measures.
The Plaque "28.april" is awarded to natural persons, organizations and associations for results and achievements in the promotion of occupational safety and health.
The Letter of Recognition "28.april" is awarded to a person responsible for occupational safety and health, employees’ representative, Occupational Safety and Health Committee, organizations and associations which, through their work, contribute to raising awareness among employees of the significance of occupational safety and health.
The acknowledgements are awarded on 28 April, on the Day of Occupational Safety and Health in the Republic of Serbia.
Legal and natural persons, sole traders, organizations of employees and employers and other associations may submit an initiative to the Occupational Safety and Health Office, for awarding acknowledgments.
The fulfillment of requirements for awarding acknowledgments is assessed by the Occupational Safety and Health Office, with the participation of representatives of social partners, i.e. representative organizations of employees and employers, labor inspectors and other experts in the field of occupational safety and health.
The Occupational Safety and Health Office submits a proposal for awarding acknowledgements to the minister responsible for employment.
The contents and the look of national acknowledgments are regulated by the minister responsible for employment.
Article 61
The ministry responsible for labor, through labor inspectors, is in charge of supervision over the implementation of the present Act, regulations enacted on the basis of the present Act, technical and other measures related to occupational safety and health, as well as over the implementation of the occupational safety and health measures determined by the risk assessment memo, employers’ bylaw, collective agreement or employment contract.
Article 62
The duties of inspection in the field of occupational safety and health may be carried out by labor inspectors who have a university degree at undergraduate academic studies of at least 240 ECTS credits, master academic studies, specialist academic studies, specialist vocational studies, i.e. undergraduate studies lasting for at least four years or specialist studies at the faculty of scientific, i.e. expert field within the educational and scientific field of social and human sciences, technical and technological sciences, mathematical and natural sciences or medical sciences, have at least three years of work experience in the field and have passed the professional examination for work in the government administration agencies.
Article 63
In the course of inspection, a labor inspector has the right and duty to check on the occupational safety and health, with particular reference to hygiene and conditions of work, production, distribution, use and maintenance of the instruments of labor, means and equipment for personal safety at work, hazardous materials, etc., as well as to do the following:
1) Examine bylaws and individual decrees, records and other documents;
2) Hear and take statements from responsible and interested persons;
3) Inspect the business premises, buildings, installations, appliances, means and equipment for personal safety, objects and goods, etc;
4) Take samples necessary for making analyses, giving expert opinions, etc;
5) Orders measurements to be taken by some other competent organization when the employer is taking measurements in certain areas independently or through a competent organization, and the results of the measurements taken give grounds for doing so;
6) Give information and advice to employers, employees, their representatives and trade unions in connection to occupational safety and health, as well as the measures the application of which would provide for implementation of the present Act in the most effective way;
7) Inform the employer, employee or Employees’ Representative about the conducted inspection and the established state of affairs, on request;
8) Take other steps for which he is authorized by some other regulation.
Article 64
An employer shall make it possible for a labor inspector to do the following for inspection purposes:
1) Enter the buildings or premises at any time when there are employees working there;
2) Pick at least one of the employees to give the inspector the necessary information and notifications, provide data, bylaws and documentation;
3) Inspect evidence of the building’s stability;
4) Inspect the applied occupational safety and health measures on the instruments of work and working environment;
5) Inspect the means and equipment for personal safety at work;
6) Inspect the data and records relating to the production, use and storage of hazardous materials.
Article 65
A labor inspector shall carry out supervision immediately in response to an employer’s report on any lethal, grave or collective injury at work, as well as on a hazardous occurrence which could pose a threat to occupational safety and health, i.e. immediately upon receipt of the application, i.e. notification referred to in Article 33, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the present Act.
Article 66
A labor inspector shall order the employer, i.e. employee to take measures or actions towards removing the causes of injury and hazard to safety and health at work, i.e. which can prevent injuries and abate or eliminate hazards to safety and health at work.
The labor inspector shall prohibit work at any workplace of the employer for the duration of the circumstances posing a threat to the safety and health of an employee, especially upon establishing the following:
1) That the safety and health of the employee are endangered directly;
2) That a work instrument to which the occupational safety and health measures have not been applied is being used;
3) That the regulation means and equipment for personal safety at work are not being used;
4) That an employee is working at an increased risk workplace without satisfying the prescribed requirements for work at that workplace, as well as that he has not been medically examined within the requisite deadline;
5) That an employee has not been trained for safe work at his workplace;
6) That an employer has not applied the measures or taken the steps ordered by a labor inspector for the purpose of removing the causes of threat to an employee’s safety and health.
If the application of measures, i.e. the need for adjusting to the requisite occupational safety and health measures represent a deficiency the removal of which entails a major investment expenditure, and the lives and health of employees are not endangered heavily, the labor inspector may order the employer concerned to draw up a special program for the gradual removal of deficiencies, with deadlines for their removal.
A labor inspector may instruct implementation of a generally recognized measure which may remove a work hazard or abate the risk to the employees’ health to the largest extent possible.
Article 67
A labor inspector issues a decree to order the measures and actions the exercise of which, in conformity with the provisions of the present Act, secures the protection of occupational safety and health of employees.
A complaint against the decree of the labor inspector may be addressed to the minister responsible for employment within a term of eight days from receipt of the decree.
The complaint does not stay the enforcement of the decree whereby the prohibition of work has been ordered.
The decree rendered by the minister responsible for employment on a complaint is final in the administrative procedure and an administrative dispute may be instigated against it.
Article 68
The employer shall apply the ordered measures and remove the established deficiencies or irregularities within the term set by a labor inspector.
The employer shall notify the competent labor inspector’s office in writing of execution of the order given, within a term of eight days from expiration of the deadline for the removal of established deficiency or irregularity.
Article 69
An employer having the status of a legal person shall be fined 800,000 to 1,000,000 dinars for a misdemeanor in the following cases:
1) If it fails to provide for its employee to work at a workplace and in a working environment to/in which the occupational safety and health measures have been applied (Article 9, paragraph 1);
2) If when organizing work and work process, it fails to provide the preventive measures for the protection of lives and health of its employees, as well as if it does not provide the funds necessary for their application (Article 11, paragraph 1);
3) If it fails to enact a risk assessment memo in writing for all workplaces in the working environment and fails to establish the way of and measures for the removal of risks, as well as when it fails to modify the risk assessment memo with the occurrence of any new hazard or change in the risk level at work (Article 13, paragraphs 1 and 2);
4) If it fails to lay down in its bylaw, i.e. collective agreement or employment contract the rights, duties and liabilities in the field of occupational safety and health (Article 14);
5) If it fails to issue a document designating the person responsible for occupational safety and health (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 1);
6) If it assigns to an employee tasks at the workplace to which the occupational safety and health measures have not been applied (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 2);
7) If it fails to keep the employees and their representative informed about the introduction of new technologies and instruments of work, as well about the risk of injury and health impairment resulting from their introduction or if it fails to give in such cases the instructions for safe work (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 3);
8) If it fails to train an employee for safe and healthful work (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 4), Articles 27, 28 and 29);
9) If it fails to provide for an employee to use the means and equipment for personal safety at work (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 5);
10) If it fails to provide for the work instruments and means and equipment for personal safety at work to be kept in proper order (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 6);
11) If it fails to hire a licensed legal person for preventive and periodical inspection and check of equipment, as well as for preventive and periodical inspection of the working environment conditions (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 7);
12) If it fails to provide for the statutory medical examination of its employees on the basis of the risk assessment memo and opinion of the occupational medicine service, in conformity with the present Act (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 8);
13) If it does not provide for the first aid to be given, as well as if it fails to train the appropriate number of its employees for giving first aid, rescuing and evacuation in emergencies (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 9);
14) If it fails to suspend any kind of work which poses a direct threat to the lives and health of its employees (Article 15, paragraph 1, item 10);
15) If based on the opinion of the occupational medicine service, it does not set in the risk assessment memo the special health-related requirements that have to be satisfied by employees at the workplace involving increased risk (Article 16, paragraph 1);
16) If it fails to provide the conditions for the occupational medicine service it had hired to deal with protection of its employees’ health independently (Article 16, paragraph 2);
17) If it fails to issue to any of its employees the means and/or equipment for personal safety at work in keeping with the risk assessment memo (Article 17);
18) If it fails to notify the competent labor inspector’s office at least eight days beforehand of the commencement of its, or its dislocated unit's business operation, or of any change in the technological process if such change alters the working conditions (Article 18, paragraph 1);
19) If for the works on the construction of a facility in conformity with the regulations on occupational safety and health in temporary or movable construction sites, it fails to draw up a regulation plan of the building site arrangement and if it does not present it to the competent labor inspector’s office together with the report of commencement of work (Article 18, paragraph 2);
19a) If immediately upon occurrence, it fails to inform the competent labor inspector's office, both in oral and written form, of the execution of works for the purpose of removing major faults or damages on the facility which could jeopardize the functioning of the technical and technological systems or the performance of activity (Article 18, paragraph 5);
20) If it fails to execute an agreement with another employer with whom it is sharing working space in the conduct of its business on the application of the prescribed occupational safety and health measures and assign a person to coordinate the application of the joint occupational safety and health measures for all employees (Article 19);
21) If it fails to provide the occupational safety and health measures provided by the present Act for the employees borrowed from another employer (Article 21);
22) If in the case of a change of technological process, prior to commencement of work, it fails to adjust the work instruments to the new process (Article 22);
23) If it gives to an employee for use a work instrument or means and equipment for personal safety at work to which the regulation occupational safety and health measures have not been applied or if it fails to check whether they are being used for their intended purpose (Article 23);
24) If it gives to its employees for use the work equipment and the means and equipment for personal protection at work which have not been complied to the prescribed technical requirements, or if it has failed to provide the instruction for their use and maintenance, as well as if it has failed to provide instructions for safe work in line with regulations on occupational safety and health for usage of the work equipment and the means and equipment for personal protection at work (Article 24);
24a) If it gives to its employees for use the hazardous chemical materials and other chemical materials which require the preparation and submission of a safety data sheet, and it has failed to make the safety data sheet available, or if all measures stemming from the contents of the safety data sheet have not been provided (Article 24a);
25) If it fails to draw up a special program on gradual removal of the deficiencies referred to in the risk assessment memo, i.e. fails to set the deadlines for implementation of the program (Article 26);
26) If it fails to organize the activities relating to occupational safety and health, i.e. if it assigns to such duties a person who has not passed the professional examination required under the present Act (Article 37, paragraphs 1 and 2);
27) If it hires an unlicensed legal person or sole trader for the performance of duties relating to occupational safety and health (Article 37, paragraph 4);
27a) If, in construction, agriculture, forestry and fishery, mining, processing industry, electrical power supply, natural gas, steam and air-conditioning (with the exception of trade in electrical energy and gas fuels through the gas pipelines), water supply, waste water management, control of the waste removal processes and similar activities, as well as in health and social protection services, it fails to appoint a person for the occupational safety and health duties, who fulfils the requirements prescribed by the present Act (Article 37a);
28) If it does not arrange for the preliminary and periodical medical examination of the employees assigned to increased risk workplace (Article 43, paragraph 1);
29) If it fails to transfer an employee working at a high risk workstation, who has been found to unfit for work at a risky workstation at the periodical medical examination, to a workstation suited to his health capabilities (Article 43, paragraph 3);
30) If it fails to, immediately or no more than 24 hours from its occurrence, orally or in written form, report to the competent labor inspector’s office and competent police station any lethal, collective or grave injury at work, injury at work because of which the employee concerned is unfit for work for at least three days running or a hazardous occurrence which could pose a threat to the safety and health of employees (Article 50, paragraph 1);
31) If it fails to report an occupational disease to the competent labor inspector’s office within three consecutive working days from the day on which it became aware of it (Article 50, paragraph 2);
31a) If it fails to provide the employee sustaining an injury, i.e. who has been diagnosed with an occupational disease, as well as the organizations responsible for health and retirement and disability insurance, with a report on injury at work and occupational disease that occurred at the workplace (Article 51, paragraph 1);
32) If it does not make it possible for a labor inspector to exercise supervision, i.e. enter the buildings or premises at any time when employees are working or if it fails to pick at least one employee who is to give the necessary information and notifications to the inspector or if it does not make it possible for the inspector to inspect the evidence of stability of the building, bylaws and documentation, applied occupational safety and health measures to work instruments, equipment for personal safety at work and data and records relating to the use and storage of hazardous materials (Article 64);
33) If it fails to remove within the set term the established deficiencies and irregularities, the removal of which was ordered by the labor inspector (Article 68, paragraph 1).
An employer who is a sole trader shall be fined 400,000 to 500,000 dinars for a misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
The manager or some other responsible person on the employer’s staff shall be fined 40,000 to 50,000 dinars for a misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 70
An employer having the status of a legal person shall be fined 600,000 to 800,000 dinars for a misdemeanor in the following cases:
1) If it does not take steps towards preventing access of unauthorized persons or means of transport to the building grounds or building site (Article 20);
2) If it fails to inform an employee, in the manner prescribed by the present Act, about the way of conduct the working process safely, when the technological process entails additional training for safe and healthful work (Article 30, paragraphs 1 and 2);
3) If it fails to notify a pregnant employee, an employee under 18 years of age persons with disability and those suffering from occupational disease in writing of the results of assessment of the risks existing at their workplaces, as well as of the measures that remove such risks (Article 30, paragraph 3);
4) If it fails to warn, as early as possible, any person who happens to be in the working environment on any grounds about hazardous places and hazards to health which occur during the technological process, i.e. the safety measures they must apply, as well as if it fails to direct them to safe zones of movement (Article 31, paragraph 1);
5) If it fails to mark visibly and put up the signs for the safety and/or health of employees (Article 31, paragraph 2);
6) If it allows access to a workplace in the working environment, which carries a direct hazard of injury or health impairment, to persons who are not trained for safe and healthful work, who have not been given instructions to cease to work i.e. to immediately leave the workplace and go to a safe place, special instructions for work at such places or who have not been provided with suitable means and equipment for personal safety at work (Article 31, paragraph 3);
7) If it fails to notify the competent labor inspector’s office when an employee refuses to work in the cases referred to in Article 33, paragraph 1, of the present Act (Article 33, paragraph 4);
8) If it does not make it possible for the person responsible for occupational safety and health to perform his duties independently in conformity with the present Act and allow him access to the necessary data relating to occupational safety and health (Article 38, paragraph 1);
9) If it fails to inform in advance the legal person, i.e. sole trader it had hired to carry out occupational safety and health matters with the technological process, risks during work process, and measures for the removal of risks (Article 39);
10) If it does not make it possible for employees to pick their representative for occupational safety and health or does not appoint its representative (Article 44);
11) If it does not make it possible for the Employees’ Representative i.e. the Committee to inspect all documents relating to the safety and health of employees and take part in the consideration of all matters relating to occupational safety and health, to propose and be consulted (Article 45, paragraph 1);
12) If it fails to inform the Employees’ Representative i.e. the Committee about the findings and recommendations of protective and preventive measures or measures applied by the labor inspector’s office or with the reports on injuries at work, occupational diseases and work-related diseases and the occupational safety and health measures applied, or with the measures taken towards preventing direct hazards to life and health (Article 47);
13) If it is not keeping and storing the requisite records (Article 49);
14) If it fails to comply with the request of the labor inspector or Employees’ Representative to deliver a report on the state of occupational safety and health of employees, as well as on the steps taken in that domain (Article 51, paragraph 3).
An employer who is a sole trader shall be fined 200,000 to 300,000 dinars for a misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
The manager or some other responsible person on the employer’s staff shall be fined 30,000 to 40,000 dinars for a misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 71
An employer having the status of a legal person shall be fined 100,000 to 150,000 dinars if it fails to notify in writing the competent labor inspector’s office of its compliance with the instructed obligation within eight days upon expiration of the term specified for the removal of deficiencies or irregularities (Article 68, paragraph 2).
An employer who is a sole trader shall be fined 50,000 to 100,000 dinars for the misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
The manager or some other responsible person on an employer’s staff shall be fined 30,000 to 50,000 dinars for the misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 72
Any health care establishment having an occupational medicine department shall be fined 400,000 to 600,000 dinars for a misdemeanor if it fails to present the requisite report on the medical examination of an employee (Article 41, paragraph 2, item 5).
The responsible person in a medical establishment shall be fined 20,000 to 30,000 dinars for the misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 73
A legal person shall be fined 400,000 to 600,000 dinars for a misdemeanor in the following cases:
1) If it fails to issue an expert's report on the conducted inspection and check of work equipment or inspection of the working environment conditions (Article 15, paragraph 3);
2) If it is performing occupational safety and health operations pursuant to Article 40 of the present Act without being duly licensed (Article 55, item 1);
3) If it is performing inspection and check of work equipment and testing the working environment conditions without being duly licensed (Article 55, item 2).
A sole trader shall be fined 200,000 to 300,000 dinars for the misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 item 2 of the present Article.
The responsible person in a legal person shall be fined 20,000 to 30,000 dinars for a misdemeanor referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as the person in a legal person who is, without an appropriate license (Article 55, item 3), performing the duties of a responsible person for which a license is required.
Article 74
A person responsible for occupational safety and health shall be fined 20,000 to 50,000 dinars for a misdemeanor if he is not performing the duties prescribed by the present Act (Article 40).
Article 75
An employee shall be fined 10,000 to 20,000 dinars for a misdemeanor in the following cases:
1) If he is not abiding by the requisite measures for safe and healthful work, if he is using work instruments and hazardous materials for purposes other than the intended ones or if he is not using the requisite means and equipment for personal safety at work or if he is not handling them with due care, if he arbitrarily turns off, modifies or removes the safety devices on the means for work (Article 35);
2) If he finds out but fails to promptly report to the employer any irregularity, deficiency, harmfulness, hazard or some other occurrence at his workplace which could endanger his safety and health and the safety and health of other employees (Article 36, paragraph 1).
XII TRANSITIONAL AND CONCLUDING PROVISIONS
Article 76
The legal persons which were authorized under the regulations valid until the effective date of the present Act to make preliminary and periodical medical examinations, preliminary inspections and testing of the work instruments and working environment, as well as to train employees in occupational safety, shall adjust their operations to the provisions of the present Act within a year from the day this Act enters into force.
Article 77
Pending the enactment of the regulations referred to in Art. 15, paragraph 2, 18, paragraphs 4, 6 and 7, 43, paragraph 2, 49, paragraph 2, and 51, paragraph 2, of the present Act, the following shall be applicable:
1) Rules setting the Requirements for Inspection of Technical Documentation, Inspection and Testing of Work Instruments, Hazardous Materials, Installations and Working Environment, Means and Equipment for Personal Safety and Training of Employees for Safe Work (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 13/00);
2) Rules of the Procedure for Inspecting and Testing the Working Environment, Hazardous Materials, Work Instruments and Personal Safety Equipment (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 7/99);
3) Rules of the Contents of the Building Site Arrangement Plan (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 31/92);
4) Rules of Keeping the Occupational Safety Records (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 2/92);
5) Rules of the Procedure and Requirements for the Conduct of Preliminary and Periodical Medical Examinations of Workers (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 23/92);
6) Rules of the Contents and Mode of Issuing the Injury at Work List (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 2/92);
7) Rules of the Procedure for Establishing the Fulfillment of Prescribed Occupational Safety Requirements (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 7/99);
8) Rules on the Amount of Costs of Procedure for Establishing the Fulfillment of Occupational Safety Requirements (“Official Herald of RS”, Nos. 40/01 and 53/01).
Article 78
Pending the adoption of regulations dealing with preventive measures for occupational safety and health, the occupational safety measures (rules) included in the following regulations shall be applicable, unless they are in contravention of the present Act:
1) Rules of Special Measures of Occupational Safety in the Processing of Non- metallic Minerals (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 2/83);
2) Rules of Special Measures of Occupational Safety in Railway Transport (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 19/85);
3) (Deleted)
4) Rules of Special Measures of Occupational Safety in Iron & Steel Industry (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 25/87);
5) Rules of General Occupational Safety Measures for Buildings Intended to Serve as Work and Appurtenant Premises (“Official Herald of RS”, No. 29/87);
6) Rules of Special Occupational Safety Measures in Forestry (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 33/88);
7) Rules of Special Occupational Safety Measures in the Mechanical Processing of Wood and Similar Materials (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 51/88);
8) Rules of General Measures of Protection at Work against the Hazardous Effect of Electricity in Buildings Intended for Work, Working Premises and Building Sites (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 21/89);
9) Rules of Occupational Safety in the Construction Works (“Official Herald of SRS”, No. 53/97).
Article 79
Pending the adoption of regulations dealing with general and special occupational safety and health measures, the occupational safety measures (rules) included in the following regulations shall be applicable, unless they are in contravention of the present Act:
1) (Deleted)
2) Rules of Hygienic and Technical Occupational Safety Measures in Hemp Plants (“FPRY Official Gazette”, No. 56/47);
3) (Deleted)
4) Rules of Hygienic and Technical Occupational Safety Measures in Quarries and Brickworks, as well as in Extraction of Clay, Sand and Gravel (“FPRY Official Gazette”, No 69/48), with the exception of Articles 58 through 61;
5) Rules of Technical and Health-Technical Occupational Protection Measures in Chemical Technological Processing (“FPRY Official Gazette”, No. 55/50) - Supplement No. 9;
6) Rules of Hygienic and Technical Protection Measures in Diving Works (“FPRY Official Gazette”, No. 36/58);
7) Rules of Hygienic and Technical Occupational Safety Measures in Cargo Ports (“FPRY Official Gazette”, No. 14/64);
8) Occupational Safety Rules for Thermal Processing of Light-metal Alloys in Nitrate Salt Baths (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 48/65);
9) Occupational Safety Rules for Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Transport (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 55/65);
10) (Deleted)
11) Rules of Occupational Safety for Loading and Unloading Trucks (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 17/66);
12) Instructions for Supervision over the Abidance to Occupational Safety Regulations in the Enterprises Producing Goods for Certain Military Purposes (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 23/66);
13) Rules of Occupational Safety and Technical Measures for Acetylene Developers and Acetylene Stations (“SFRY Official Gazette”, Nos. 6/67, 29/67, 27/69, 52/90 and 6/92);
14) (Deleted)
15) Order Prohibiting the Use of Engine Petrol for Degreasing, Washing or Cleaning of Metal Parts of the Objects Made of other Materials (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 23/67);
16) Rules of Occupational Safety in Agriculture (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 34/68);
17) Rules of Accommodation and Meals of Workers and their Transport from the Place of their Residence to Work and Back (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 41/68);
18) Rules of the Means of Personal Safety at Work and Personal Safety Equipment (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 35/69);
19) Rules of Occupational Safety in the Production of Explosives and Gunpowder and in Handling the Explosives and Gunpowder (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 55/69);
20) Rules of Special Measures and Norms of Occupational Safety in the Processing of Leather, Hides, and Leather Waste (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 47/70);
21) Rules of the Equipment for and Procedure for giving First Aid and Organizing Evacuation Service in the Event of Work Accident (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 21/71);
22) Rules of the Measures and Norms of Occupation Safety Relating to Work Instruments (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 18/91);
23) Rules of the Measures and Norms of Occupational Protection against Noise in Work Premises (“SFRY Official Gazette”, No. 21/92).
Article 80
Employers shall adopt the risk assessment memo referred to in Article 13, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the present Act within a year from the effective date of the document referred to in Article 13, paragraph 4, of the present Act.
Article 81
The validity of the Occupational Safety Act (“Official Herald of RS”, Nos. 42/91, 53/93, 67/93, 48/94 and 42/98) shall expire on the effective date of the present Act.
Article 82
The present enters into force on the eighth day upon the day of its publication in the “Official Herald of the Republic of Serbia”.
Independent Articles of the Act on Amendments and Additions
to
the
Occupational Safety and Health Act
("Off. Herald of RS", No. 91/2015)
Article 40
The secondary legislation referred to in Articles 3, 5 and 31 (the new Article 60a) of the present Act shall be passed within a year from the date of entry into force of the present Act, and the secondary legislation referred to in Article 18 of the present Act shall be passed within two years from the date of entry into force of the present Act.
The professional examination, passed prior to entry into force of the present Act, shall remain in force.
The person who is on 1 December 2017 found to be performing the occupational safety and health duties without fulfilling the requirements referred to in Article 17 of the present Act, may continue to perform such duties until the fulfillment of requirements prescribed by the present Act, for a maximum of five years, except for the persons who have been performing them until the date of commencement of application of Article 17 and who have a maximum of five years until the fulfillment of requirements for the termination of employment due to the right to old-age pension.
The legal entities and sole traders who have been issued licenses referred to in Article 55, items 1) and 2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act shall comply their operation to the provisions of the present Act within a year from the date of entry into force of the present Act.
The legal entities and sole traders who have had their license issued five and more years ago, shall submit a request for license renewal, in conformity with the present Act, without delay and within 30 days the latest from the date of entry into force of the present Act, while the legal persons and sole traders whose period of five years since the date of issue of the license has not passed shall submit the request for license renewal in conformity with the present Act by 30 days the latest prior to the expiry of five years from the date of issue of the license.
Article 41
The present Act enters into force on the eighth day upon its publication in the “Official Herald of the Republic of Serbia”, except for Article 17 that shall be applicable as of 1 December 2017.