Harmful and hazardous working conditions: definition, characterization, classification

To obtain information on whether there are optimal, permissible, harmful, dangerous working conditions at the workplace of an enterprise (company) is possible only by organizing a set of measures carried out sequentially. For the sake of these goals, recently, all employers have been legally obligated to carry out a certain procedure. It was called SOUT - a special assessment of the conditions in which labor activity takes place - and replaced the familiar to everyone certification of jobs (AWP).

However, there are exceptions to all the rules. SOUT do not carry out relative to the working conditions of remote and home-based employees, employees who entered into labor relations with the employer (individuals). The procedure is strictly regulated, the parties are required to know their rights and obligations.

Employer Rights

In order to determine whether harmful and hazardous working conditions are present on the ground, the employer is obliged to organize the TEC, while he has certain rights:

1. From the organization that conducts special assessment, require justification of the results.
2. Ask the company conducting the SOUT for documentation that confirms its compliance with regulatory requirements.
3. In accordance with the law, organize an unscheduled SUT.
4. In accordance with the established procedure, appeal the inaction (actions) of the company engaged in the assessment of working conditions.

Employer Responsibilities

In order to obtain objective and reliable data on what difficult, harmful, dangerous working conditions are present at the workplace, the employer must fulfill certain requirements. In particular, it is necessary to provide the organization involved in the implementation of the SUT, a specific package of documents, which is stipulated in the civil contract between the parties. In addition, the employer should not in any way impede the conduct of activities, deliberately narrow the scope of issues that are subject to consideration. In the final stage of the SUT, it is his responsibility to familiarize all employees with its results directly at the workplace, while providing the necessary explanations.

Once harmful and hazardous working conditions are identified, it is also imperative to draw up a plan of measures aimed at improving them.

Environmental factors

In order to determine whether specific working conditions pose a danger or harm to humans, specialists need to evaluate a number of factors that serve as the basis for the following final conclusions:

1. Physical factors. These include vibration (local and general), noise, airborne ultrasound and infrasound, aerosols, mainly of fibrogenic effect, non-ionizing radiation (constant magnetic and electrostatic fields) and ionizing, variable electromagnetic field, indoor microclimate indicators (humidity, air temperature and speed its movement), the parameters of the light environment (the degree of illumination of the workplace with artificial light).
2. Chemical factors. Harmful and dangerous working conditions can be established after measuring the concentration and composition of chemicals, including biological substances (enzymes, hormones, antibiotics, vitamins), synthesized artificially on the skin of employees and in the air of the workspace.
3. Biological factors. They are assessed by the presence or absence of contact with producer microorganisms, spores and living cells found in bacterial preparations, pathogens of infectious diseases (in accordance with pathogenicity groups).

Labor factors

As already mentioned above, harmful and dangerous working conditions can concern not only the production environment, but also the work itself. In the process of conducting SOUT, the following points regarding labor activity are taken into account:

• Tension. The sensory load on the central nervous system and sensory system of the employee is evaluated.
• Severity. The physical load on the body systems and musculoskeletal system is evaluated. For example, the nature of weight lifting and their maximum weight.

In accordance with article 14 of the Federal law on self-regulating safety systems dated December 28, 2013 No. 426-ФЗ, it is customary to distinguish optimal, permissible, harmful and dangerous working conditions (4 classes).

On optimal conditions: Grade 1

Optimal is understood to mean such conditions of the labor process under which there is no exposure to any harmful or (or) dangerous factors on the employee, or their level of influence does not exceed the standards established for this production. At the same time, the employee's health is maintained and there are prerequisites for the subsequent maintenance of his high level of working capacity.

Allowed conditions: 2 class

In this case, it is understood that, as a result of the SOUT performed at the workplace, certain harmful or (and) hazardous production factors were identified. However, the level of their impact on the employee does not exceed the established standards (hygienic), while the body manages to recover by the beginning of the next shift (working day).

Harmful conditions: Grade 3

Such working conditions are recognized as those under which the degree of influence of harmful and (or) dangerous factors exceeds the standards established by law. We are talking about the already mentioned MPC, severity, tension, etc. The classification of harmful (dangerous) working conditions further implies a division into four subclasses:

1. When they are exposed, it takes longer to restore the changed functional state of the employee’s body than before the start of the next shift or working day. The risk of damage to health is greatly increased.
2. With this level of exposure, persistent changes occur in the employee’s body. They entail the appearance and subsequent development of the initial stage or, without loss of ability to work, of a mild severity of an occupational disease. They arise after a long period of exposure to similar production factors - 15 or more years.
3. In this case, the level of exposure to production factors is such that it causes persistent changes in the employee’s body that provoke the development of occupational diseases of moderate or mild severity directly during the period of employment in the workplace.
4. When they exist, the impact on the employee during work is so great that it can lead to a severe form of occupational disease with subsequent loss of working capacity, directly during the period when a person carries out labor activity.

Working conditions dangerous to humans: Grade 4

Here, the employer is dealing with the most critical situation. Hazardous and harmful production factors affecting the employee during the entire shift are so strong that they pose a threat not only to health, but also to human life as a whole. The consequences of their influence are the cause of the development of occupational diseases in acute form during the period of direct labor activity.

Harmful (dangerous) working conditions, the definition of which is given above, can be reduced by one degree, in accordance with the methodology defined by the legislator and on the basis of an expert opinion.A prerequisite for such measures is the use by local workers of personal protective equipment that has been certified in the prescribed manner.

Benefits and Compensation

Carrying out the SOUT at workplaces allows revealing the presence of dangerous and (or) harmful production factors and, based on its results, develop a plan of effective measures to eliminate them. Moreover, in accordance with the law, this is the direct responsibility of each employer. In addition, harmful, hazardous working conditions, the characteristics of which are given above, are the basis for the appointment of benefits and compensations to the employee. With an optimal and admissible class, they are absent.

In cases where a third class of harmful conditions is exposed at the workplace, the nature of the benefits will be overestimated by their degree. So, in accordance with labor legislation, at degree 3.1, an employee is entitled to cash compensation of at least 4%, at 3.2 - 7 days of additional leave are added, at 3.3 - the duration of the working week is reduced to 36 hours. In cases where benefits are set at the minimum mandatory level, their increase is allowed at the discretion of the employer and agreed with the trade union bodies.