I’m hiring my first employee – what I need from the occupational safety law / fire safety law

It is a question that many future employers ask with some reservation and fear since most of them have the impression that this is a Pandora’s box whose contents are unknown, complicated, unfeasible and too expensive.

For starters, let’s concentrate on the positive… You are hiring your first employee. That means you’re growing! Congratulations and good luck with further development, you have reason to be happy and proud! Now that I’ve armed you with euphoria, it’s time to open Pandora’s box…

You are hiring your first employee.

General list of the most common to-dos

(consider that I do not know what exactly the situation is in your company) implies that you should solve the following items:

1. Development of a risk assessment and training plan
2. Training all employees to work in a safe way
3. Training of all fire protection workers
4. Training of the employer and/or the employer’s delegate
5. Electrical installation testing
6. Environmental testing (lighting, noise, humidity, temperature, airflow)
7. Preparation of an evacuation plan (graphic – floor plan, textual – evacuation study, signalization – labels with directions of movement, etc.)
8. Testing and inspection of work equipment (only equipment with increased hazards, you do not need to test coffee cookers, computers and microwaves)
9. Purchase of fire extinguishers (the amount depends on the square footage and purpose of the space)
10. Performing safety at work (constant supervision and monitoring of all possible laws/regulations, monitoring the expiry of validity of individual records, etc.)

Yes, I listed as many as 10. This applies to all employers who employ at least one person regardless of what they do and how simple or complex their business premises are. But I’m not done yet because I have to say…

You hire your first employee

I’m hiring my first employee – what do I need from occupational safety law/fire safety law?

Any additional obligations:

• Training one or more first aid workers. (If more than one person works in one shift, then one person per shift should be trained to provide first aid. And no, it’s not worth first aid training from driving school. It’s funny, but it is. But that’s not the paper. You know how it goes with us.)
• Procurement of first aid cabinets – only if you have a training obligation.
• Gas installation tightness test – only if you have gas installations; this test is carried out by authorised gas testing institutions.
• Testing of everything related to fire fighting (panic lighting, buttons, hydrants, sprinklers, fire alarms…) – only if there are such systems in the space.

As you can see, the list of potential obligations is long and I assume that you are now slightly nervous, a vein at the forefront of the drum and you do not understand why all this and why they simply do not let you do your job… Please do not kill the messenger, bear in mind that it is my desire to convey to you things as they are, not as you or I want them to be. It’s going to be all right, take a breath, remember that you’re hiring and growing. Euphoria! Pride! Luck! Are? Let’s move on (yes, there’s more, but the worst is over).

All of the above is not as complicated as it seems.

Half of these things have permanent value, some must be renewed once every x times (every 3, 4 or 5 years – the exception is fire, for which all items are tested once a year). The only thing that requires constant up-to-dateness is risk assessment and performance of occupational safety activities in which any quality company from occupational safety can provide you with tremendous help and support. Thank you for asking – we are quality, do not worry 😉 .

Just performing occupational safety is something you can do yourself if you or any of your employees have the necessary qualification. And the qualification is as follows: that during your education you have listened to a subject /course /course / lecture on the topic of safety at work (from a personal example, technical high schools such as Ruđer Bošković condition that before joining practical classes, all students must listen to a week or two of occupational safety, which is enough to achieve the necessary qualification) and that you can prove it on paper.

If you do not have such a person at your disposal, you can always “produce” it by sending it for professional training, according to the Occupational Safety Specialist program. It may seem like an unnecessary hassle at first, but trust me, you will save yourself a lot of money and time in the long run.

Since I promised myself that I would not bother you for more than about one page of text, I would bring the writing to an end here. You have received the basic information , for everything else I am available.

At the very end, I will try to improve your mood; this is all a big shock when you go from a situation where only you as an owner/director work in a company to a situation where you hire your first employee (as they say, the first ones are remembered). When you hire another, the only thing you need to do is do his training (items 3. and 4.) and update the risk assessment. And that’s it for every next employee! A serious story about occupational safety is difficult to start, but it is easy to maintain if you cooperate with a quality partner in this field. So that you continue to grow, everything will be fine.

You hire your first employee