Accident prevention

In 2021, expenditure on accident prevention tasks totalled PLN 79.8 million. The Social Insurance Institution carries out the following activities within the framework of accident prevention:

• subsidises the activities of contribution payers aimed at maintaining earning capacity throughout the period of professional activity,
• analyses the causes and effects of 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.

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 carried out by the payers under projects that are intended to reduce or eliminate the effects of harmful and onerous factors at workplaces, and thus reduce the number of accidents and occupational diseases. 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 2021, ZUS concluded agreements on co-financing with over 7.5 thousand contribution payers for an amount of over PLN 554 million. In 2021, ZUS concluded an agreement on co-financing projects with 1,062 payers – for this purpose ZUS allocated the amount of over PLN 78.4 million. Thanks to the co-financing, the payers were able to implement projects that contributed to the improvement of working conditions of over 77.9 thousand employees, including over 8.5 thousand employees in 2021.

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

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

The Social Insurance Institution disseminates knowledge about threats which contribute to 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 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:

• shape the right approach of employees and employers to safety in the workplace,
• promote safe attitudes and behaviour.

In 2021, a ‘Comparative analysis of causes of occupational diseases in 2016–2019 in Poland aimed at determining the dynamics of changes in this area together with the identification of recommendations for preventive measures’ was carried out for ZUS; the second stage of the scientific and research work entitled ‘Comprehensive assessment of psychosocial working conditions, lifestyle and psychophysical health in selected occupational groups performing shift work and development of three guides with recommendations to support the conduct of preventive actions’ was also completed.

ZUS has commissioned the reproduction of information material for the campaign entitled ‘Dobry przepis na bezpieczeństwo’ (‘Good Recipe for Safety’). In addition, it has commissioned the printing of information material on accident prevention for dissemination at mining sites.

ZUS has organised 800 training courses, attended by more than 16.5 thousand people. In 2021, the expenditure for these purposes amounted to PLN 1.37 million.

Legal status as of 2022