Heves county occupational safety and occupational accident authority

An occupational health and safety open day was organized on Thursday by the in a work accident in connection with the memorial day for deceased and disabled employees (April 28) a Heves County Government Office.

The specialists of the Employment Supervision and Labor Protection Department draw the attention of the participants to safe working, regular employment, legislative changes affecting the field of labor protection and employment supervision, as well as provide information and advice.

Head of department Zsolt Szabó said that 710 work accidents were reported in Heves county last year, which is seven more than the figure for 2022. At the same time, while there were no fatal cases in 2022, last year there were three and ten serious, disfiguring occupational accidents occurred.

The authority checked 533 employers last year and found some kind of irregularity in every second one! Labor protection fines were imposed 24 times due to serious and direct endangerment of employees. Introduced by Pál Veres. Most of the time, they were penalized due to the danger of entering and falling, as well as safety technical deficiencies related to operation (for example, the lack of a protective cover).

In Zsolt Szabó’s presentation, he talked about the complaint reporting system, on which internal employees and managers can make reports. He spoke about the Complaints Act and that when an irregularity is found due to a complaint, the authority cannot fine, only issue a warning and oblige the violator to eliminate the problem. He explained the changes in sanctions, for example, there are cases when the authority can only issue a warning, but the fine ceiling was raised to HUF 20 million for smaller businesses and HUF 25 million for larger ones (those employing at least 249 people). He said that there are cases in which they must impose mandatory fines, such as employment without notification and sham contracts, non-payment of wages, child labour, illegal temporary employment, irregular employment of a third-country worker, or in the case of qualified temporary employment agencies, the case when third-country workers are employed without information. In the latter case, the fine can be ten or twenty times the minimum wage per person.

Zsolt Szabó also said that the employment supervision inspection of manufacturing companies was completed last week. The work with hazardous materials will be investigated until May 31, followed by the occupational health and safety target inspection of the construction industry in June. In May and June, working and rest time will be in the crosshairs of the authority, in June and July black employment will be the focus. In September and October, metal industry companies can expect occupational safety inspections, and those interested in tourism and hospitality can prepare for the appearance of labor inspectors.