{"id":1757,"date":"2025-04-04T12:48:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T10:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2025-02-23T13:30:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T12:30:53","slug":"employment-of-foreigners-and-health-and-safety-regulations-the-most-important-principles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/employment-of-foreigners-and-health-and-safety-regulations-the-most-important-principles\/","title":{"rendered":"Employment of foreigners and health and safety regulations - what is worth knowing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Employment of foreigners and health and safety regulations - what is worth knowing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The employment of foreigners in Poland is becoming increasingly common, especially in industries such as construction, industry, logistics or agriculture. However, with the increasing number of foreigners on the labour market, employers need to pay special attention to occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations. In 2025, employers' health and safety obligations towards foreigners are the same as towards Polish employees, but require an additional approach due to language and cultural barriers. Below is the most important information you should know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employer's health and safety obligations towards foreign nationals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An employer who employs foreign nationals is obliged to provide them with safe and hygienic working conditions in accordance with the Polish Labour Code and occupational health and safety regulations. Key obligations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Pre-work safety training<\/strong>
    Pursuant to Article 237(3)(2) of the Labour Code, the employer must train each employee in health and safety rules before he or she starts his or her professional duties. This also applies to foreign nationals, regardless of their country of origin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Ensuring interpretation of health and safety rules<\/strong>
    The regulations do not specify in which language health and safety training should be conducted, but the employer must make sure that the foreigner fully understands the information provided. The training can be provided:\n
      \n
    • In the employee's mother tongue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • In English or another language understood by both parties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • With the involvement of an interpreter or using materials translated into a language understood by the employee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Carrying out periodic safety training<\/strong>
      The employer is obliged to organise periodic health and safety training for all employees, including foreign nationals, according to a schedule based on the type of work performed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Instructions and documentation in a language the employee understands<\/strong>
      All safety procedures and instructions for the operation of machinery or equipment must be available in a language that the foreigner understands. The same applies to documentation related to health and safety training.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Personal protective equipment<\/strong>
      The employer is obliged to provide all employees - including foreign nationals - with appropriate work clothing and personal protective equipment (e.g. helmets, protective gloves), adapted to the specific nature of their work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      How to conduct health and safety training for foreigners?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Health and safety training for foreigners can be challenging due to language barriers and cultural differences. To ensure effective training, there are a few key principles to keep in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Adaptation of the training language<\/strong>
        The training should be provided in the employee's mother tongue or in another language he or she understands (e.g. English). Alternatively, an interpreter may be used.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Translation of training materials<\/strong>
        All materials used during the training (presentations, instructions, tests) should be translated into a language understood by the participant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Bilingual documentation<\/strong>
        The health and safety training card should be drawn up in two language versions - Polish and in the language of the foreigner - to ensure that the employee understands the content of the signed document.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Use of modern technology<\/strong>
        Online training courses can facilitate the education process by allowing the learning pace to be adapted and content to be translated into different languages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Most common problems in implementing health and safety rules for foreigners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. Language barriers<\/strong>
          Workers' lack of knowledge of the Polish language can lead to a misunderstanding of safety rules and increase the risk of accidents at work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Inadequate instructions and procedures<\/strong>
          Machine manuals or emergency procedures are often only available in Polish, which can be a problem for foreigners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Lack of awareness of cultural differences<\/strong>
          Cultural differences may affect foreigners' perceptions of safety rules. Employers should take these differences into account when organising training.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Benefits of complying with health and safety regulations for foreign nationals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          Ensuring proper working conditions and effective health and safety training benefits both employers and employees:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          • Reducing the risk of accidents at work<\/strong> - Well-trained workers are less vulnerable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Increased work efficiency<\/strong> - knowing the safety rules allows you to perform your duties more efficiently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Improved corporate reputation<\/strong> - compliance with legislation and attention to the welfare of employees build a positive corporate image.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Avoiding financial penalties<\/strong> - Failure to comply with health and safety obligations can result in high sanctions from the State Labour Inspectorate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            Health and safety regulations are crucial when employing foreign nationals. Employers must ensure that all employees - regardless of their origin - are fully aware of health and safety rules and are properly prepared to perform their duties in safe conditions. By properly organising training and adapting procedures to the needs of foreign nationals, it is possible not only to comply with legal requirements, but also to increase efficiency and safety at work.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Employment of foreigners and health and safety regulations - what is worth knowing? The employment of foreigners in Poland is becoming more and more common, especially in industries such as construction, industry, logistics or agriculture. However, with the increasing number of foreigners on the labour market, employers need to pay particular attention to occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations. In 2025, employers' obligations [...].<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dla-pracodawcy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1758,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions\/1758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}