Basic Health and Safety for New Employees (Poland)

Yes, but the employer provides it. Under Article 237³ of the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), the employer must train you in health and safety before allowing you to work and must provide periodic training. Initial training consists of general instruction and workstation instruction (Regulation of the Minister of Economy and Labour of 27 July 2004). You confirm that you have completed the training on the initial training record card (on paper or electronically), which goes into your personnel file. This course can help you prepare for the training or repeat it. Whether the employer uses it is the employer's decision.

No. You receive a certificate of course completion: a document showing that the course has been completed and the test passed. It is not a regulated or accredited qualification. Nor is it the initial training record card or a periodic training attestation (zaświadczenie); those documents are issued and kept by the employer or by a training provider the employer has chosen. The course does not give you the authorisation to operate machines and equipment and does not replace a first aid course. The employer decides whether the course meets its needs.

No. General and workstation instruction is carried out by the employer before you are allowed to work, and is confirmed on the initial training record card in your personnel file. The employer must also assess occupational risk, inform you about it, show you the rules at your workstation, point out evacuation routes and firefighting equipment, and check your knowledge and skills. The course cannot do this. It covers general knowledge only.

No, the course completion certificate has no expiry date. Training with the employer, however, has its own deadlines. The 2004 Regulation sets maximum intervals between periodic training: for manual (blue-collar) positions at least once every 3 years, for particularly dangerous work at least once a year, and for administrative and office positions at least once every 6 years. Some office positions may be exempt if the risk assessment shows no need for training (Article 237³ § 2² of the Labour Code). The exemption does not apply to remote work (Article 67³¹ § 3). The employer decides when to refresh your knowledge.

Yes. Health and safety rules apply in the same way to everyone working in Poland. The lessons are written in plain language, in short sentences. If you do not understand something during training with the employer, say so before you sign the training card and ask for an explanation, an interpreter or materials you can understand. Sign only what you understand.

The course covers general rules for most jobs, for example in offices, shops, warehouses and services. Higher-risk work, for example at height, on construction sites, with hazardous substances, with machinery or forklift trucks, requires additional training and often also authorisations or medical examinations. The employer provides these in line with specific regulations.

Most people need about an hour for the lessons and the test; some take longer. You can read the lessons in stages and come back to them later. The test has 25 questions, and you need at least 80 percent correct answers to pass.

Nothing happens. You will see which lessons are worth repeating, and you can take the test again as many times as you like. The course and the test are free.

Only after you pass the test: PLN 49 for the course completion certificate as a PDF. The course and the test are free.

Every certificate has a number and a QR code. After scanning the code or entering the number on our verification page, the person checking sees your name, the course name and the date you passed the test.

The course is based on the regulations known to the authors in October 2026, including the Labour Code and the Regulation of 27 July 2004 on health and safety training. Regulations change. In disputed matters, check the current wording in the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw), on the website of the National Labour Inspectorate (pip.gov.pl), or ask your employer.