Safe manual work is a shared responsibility of the employer, supervisors and every employee. This lesson explains which regulations apply and what BHP (occupational health and safety) training looks like for a manual worker.
Which regulations apply
- The Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), Division Ten (the provisions on occupational health and safety). This is the main legal act for employees.
- The regulation on occupational health and safety training of 27 July 2004. It sets out the types of training, their programme, duration and deadlines. Its consolidated text was published in Dz.U. (Journal of Laws) 2024, item 1327. An amendment of 24 November 2025 (Dz.U. 2025, item 1640) has allowed instruction to be confirmed electronically as well since 12 December 2025.
- The regulation on general occupational health and safety provisions of 1997. It contains rules on, among other things, work at height, machines and storage.
- Regulations on specific topics: on manual handling, on chemical agents, and on maximum admissible concentrations and intensities of agents harmful to health.
Who is responsible for what
The employer is responsible for the state of health and safety at the workplace (Article 207 § 1 of the Labour Code). The employer bears the costs of BHP (Article 207 § 2¹). They must not be passed on to the employee.
Supervisors look after safety within the scope of their authority.
The employee must know the regulations, take part in training and follow instructions on BHP.
Compliance is supervised by the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP). An inspector can issue an order and, in the event of a minor offence, impose a fine.
Initial training
Before you are allowed to work, the employer provides initial training. It has two parts:
- general instruction (at least 3 teaching hours), in which you learn the basic regulations and the rules of first aid,
- workstation instruction (for a manual worker at least 8 teaching hours), in which you learn about the working environment factors at your workstation, the occupational risk, the ways of protection and safe working methods.
One teaching hour lasts 45 minutes. The employee confirms completing the instruction in the initial training record card, on paper or electronically. The card goes into their personnel file.
Periodic training for a manual worker
- Periodic training takes the form of instruction.
- It is repeated at least once every 3 years.
- If especially dangerous work is done at the workstation, periodic training takes place at least once a year.
- The first periodic training should take place within 12 months of starting work at the workstation.
Training takes place during working hours and at the employer's expense.
What this course is
This course refreshes the knowledge usually covered by periodic training for a manual worker. After the test you can buy a certificate of completion. It is not a BHP training attestation (zaświadczenie) or a document required by the regulations. Whether this course is enough is up to the employer. Training at your workstation, with its risks and practical exercises, is organised by the employer.
Key points
- The employer is responsible for safety, but you have duties too.
- Periodic training for a manual worker: at least once every 3 years, and for especially dangerous work at least once a year.
- Training takes place during working hours, at the employer's expense.