Accident prevention

As part of the accident prevention, ZUS:

• subsidises the activities of contribution payers aimed at maintaining earning capacity throughout the period of professional activity,
• analyses the causes and effects of an accidents at work (especially fatal, serious and collective accidents) and occupational diseases,
• disseminates knowledge of hazards causing accidents at work and occupational diseases and methods of their prevention,
• conducts scientific and research work aimed at eliminating or reducing the causes of accidents at work and occupational diseases.

In 2023, the expenditure on accident prevention tasks totalled PLN 104.4 million.

From 2013, the Social Insurance Institution has been subsidising the activities of contribution payers aimed at maintaining earning capacity throughout the period of professional activity. These activities are implemented by the payers under projects that are intended to:

• improve the occupational health and safety,
• reduce the risk of an accidents at work or occupational diseases,
• reduce adverse effects of risk factors at workplaces.

Since 2018, ZUS President has been announcing an annual competition for co-financing these projects. From the launch of the programme until the end of
2023, ZUS concluded agreements on co-financing with over 9.7 thousand contribution payers for an amount of over PLN 727 million. In 2023, ZUS concluded contracts on co-financing projects with 1,160 payers who applied under the 2022 competition – for this purpose ZUS allocated the amount of over PLN 94 million. Thanks to the co-financing, the payers were able to implement projects that contributed to the improvement of working conditions of over 102 thousand employees, including almost 16 thousand employees in a competition launched in 2022 with implementation in 2023.

As part of other tasks in the field of an accident prevention, the Social Insurance Institution commissions scientific and research studies and analyses of the causes and consequences of accidents at work and occupational diseases. Then, on the basis of conclusions from these studies ZUS:

• sets out the directions for preventive activities;
• organises trainings on accident prevention,
• develops information materials.

In 2023, ZUS commissioned an analysis of the causes and consequences of an accidents at work in 2018–2021, with a focus on the areas (types of enterprises, occupations, activities performed at workplaces) where accidents at work cause the greatest economic and social losses and the identification of recommendations for preventive measures.

The Social Insurance Institution disseminates knowledge about hazards causing accidents at work and occupational diseases, as well as ways of counteracting these threats by, inter alia, organising training, issuing brochures and leaflets with information about the safety and protection of people in the work environment, participation in information campaigns, co-financing conferences, congresses and scientific symposia on safety in the work environment.

These activities are aimed to:

• develop the proper approach of employees and employers to safety in the workplace,
• promote safe behaviours.

In 2023, the dissemination of knowledge about hazards causing accidents at work and occupational diseases continued, including the promotion of a proper approach to safety in the workplace. 689 accident prevention training courses were organised. More than 15,960 people took part in the training sessions.

As part of the cooperation with the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) in the implementation of the ‘Construction. STOP accidents!’ campaign, banners with the campaign slogan were made at ZUS commission – to be displayed on construction sites.

In cooperation with the State Mining Authority (Wyższy Urząd Górniczy, WUG), a two-day training workshop on ‘Educational measures for effective improvement of safety and health protection of workers’ was organised. In 2023, ZUS co-financed, for a total amount of PLN 115 thousand, 8 scientific projects focusing on accident prevention.