What is the essence of the document?
Amendments have been made to some regulatory legal acts of the Ministry of Labor regarding the procedure for conducting special labor assessments. All this is connected with the adoption of Federal Law No. 451-FZ of December 27, 2021.
This law improved the procedure for conducting a special assessment, made adjustments to the rules for applying its results, and also strengthened control over the entry of information about the results of the special assessment into the Federal State Information System for recording the results of the special assessment (hereinafter referred to as FSIS).
Let us recall the main innovations introduced by Law No. 451-FZ:
- the obligation of organizations conducting a special assessment is fixed to transfer certain information to the FSIS and receive an identification number for the upcoming special assessment, which is assigned automatically and included in the report on its implementation;
- employers were prohibited from using the results of the SOUT until information about them appears in the FSIS;
- It has been established that the declaration of conformity of working conditions also begins to be valid only after information is entered into the FSIS. Previously, the declaration was considered valid from the date of approval of the special assessment report;
- The special assessment report must include the employee’s comments and objections regarding its results, submitted in writing. The employer is obliged to consider such objections and, if necessary, conduct an unscheduled special assessment.
Requirements for organizations included in the register
According to Resolution No. 599 of June 30, 2014, firms that meet the following requirements are placed in the register of accredited labor protection organizations:
— the company has a testing laboratory, which is necessarily accredited by the Federal Accreditation Service; — the company employs at least five experts who have been certified to conduct special assessments. An employment contract must be concluded with each expert. At least one of the experts must have a higher education as a doctor in the field of occupational hygiene.
The register of SOUT experts includes persons who meet the following requirements:
— the expert must have higher education; — in the absence of specialized education, the expert must have confirmation of advanced training in relevant training programs for assessing working conditions lasting at least 72 hours. — the expert must be able to assess working conditions and have at least 3 years of work experience in the field of labor protection, including in the labor protection system.
What responsibilities do organizations conducting SOUT have?
Such organizations must now each time receive from FSIS an identification number for the upcoming special assessment. This must be done before the start of the relevant work, but no later than five working days from the date of the conclusion of the GPD with the employer on the implementation of the special assessment and assessment work. This number must then be communicated to the employer before work on the special assessment begins.
Notification of receipt of an identification number can be sent to the employer on paper by registered mail with return receipt requested or in the form of an electronic document signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature.
