BHP is a Polish abbreviation for occupational health and safety (bezpieczeństwo i higiena pracy). The aim is that nobody falls ill or is injured because of work. This course is for people starting work in Poland, including foreign nationals. We use plain language.
Which rules apply
- The Labour Code (Kodeks pracy, the Act of 26 June 1974). The health and safety rules are in Division Ten, from Article 207. Article 15 says it briefly: the employer provides employees with safe and hygienic working conditions.
- The Regulation of the Minister of Economy and Labour of 27 July 2004 on health and safety training. It sets out what initial and periodic training looks like.
- The Act on the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP). It describes who inspects employers.
- The Act on social insurance for accidents at work and occupational diseases. It says what counts as an accident at work and which benefits are due.
- Fire safety rules and workplace rules, for example the work regulations and the instructions at your workstation.
Health and safety rules apply in the same way to everyone who works in Poland. Citizenship makes no difference.
Who is responsible for health and safety
The employer is responsible for the state of health and safety in the workplace (Article 207 § 1). The costs of health and safety must not fall on employees (Article 207 § 2¹). But employees have duties too. Lesson 2 describes them.
Initial training: two steps
Before you start work, the employer must train you (Article 237³ of the Labour Code). Initial training has two parts.
- General instruction (instruktaż ogólny).
- Every newly hired person takes it before being allowed to work.
- It also applies to students on placements and pupils in practical vocational training.
- It is given by a person who carries out the health and safety service's tasks in the company, or by the employer or an employee the employer appoints who has up-to-date health and safety training (§ 10(2) of the Regulation).
- The framework programme has 11 topics and lasts at least 3 teaching hours. A teaching hour is 45 minutes.
- Workstation instruction (instruktaż stanowiskowy).
- It applies to manual workstations and other workstations with exposure to harmful, burdensome or dangerous factors.
- It shows how to work safely at your workstation.
- It is given by a supervisor appointed by the employer, or by the employer personally (§ 11(5)).
- It ends with a test of knowledge and skills. Only after it may you work at that workstation.
Training takes place during working hours and at the employer's expense (Article 237³ § 3).
What you have to sign
You confirm that you have completed general and workstation instruction on the initial training record card, on paper or electronically (§ 12 of the Regulation, from 12 December 2025). The card is kept in your personnel file. The law also requires you to confirm, on paper or electronically, that you have read the health and safety rules and regulations (Article 237⁴ § 3).
Sign only what you understand. If the instruction was not clear to you, say so before you sign. Ask for an explanation, an interpreter or materials in a language you understand.
Periodic training
After the first health and safety training, you need to refresh it. The Regulation sets maximum intervals.
- Manual workstations: at least every 3 years, and for particularly dangerous work at least once a year.
- Administrative and office workstations: at least every 6 years.
- Other employees and people who manage staff: at least every 5 years.
For some office workstations in low-risk companies, periodic training may not be required (Article 237³ § 2²). This depends on the company's risk category and the risk assessment. The exemption does not apply to remote workers (Article 67³¹ § 3).
What this course gives you and what it does not
This course organises general knowledge of health and safety: rights and duties, hazards, accidents, fire, first aid. It helps you prepare for the training with your employer or repeat it.
This course does not replace general or workstation instruction. It is also not an initial training record card or a periodic training attestation (zaświadczenie). These documents are issued and kept by the employer. The employer decides what it accepts as sufficient.
Key points
- The basis is the Labour Code, Article 207 and following.
- Initial training = general instruction + workstation instruction, before you start work.
- You confirm completing the training on the initial training record card (on paper or electronically), in your personnel file.
- Training takes place during working hours and at the employer's expense.