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Dust Exposure at the Workplace in Poland: Risks and Employer Obligations

ByAgnieszka Kuźmicka

Dust exposure at the workplace — what does it actually mean? How harmful is it, and how can employees be protected? Dust is present in almost every manufacturing facility, generated by cutting, welding, casting, spraying, and countless other industrial processes.

What exactly is dust?

The term covers all kinds of mists, fumes, haze, aerosols, and particulate matter that remain suspended in the air for a period of time.

Is workplace dust genuinely dangerous?

There’s no single answer — but it’s fair to say that dust in a production facility is never doing anyone any favours.

How harmful dust actually is depends on several factors:

  • the composition of the dust — the more hazardous the substance, the worse it is for the body,
  • particle size — the smaller the particles, the longer they take to clear from the body, and sometimes clearance is impossible altogether,
  • concentration in the air,
  • duration of exposure.

Construction sites are among the environments where exposure to harmful dust is most common — for more on that specific setting, see our article on OSH in construction.

What types of dust are there?

Under Polish regulation (the Ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Journal of Laws 2002 No. 217, item 1833), dust and fibres are classified by particle size and their effect on human health:
● total dust — the full set of particles present in a given volume of air,
● respirable dust — particles that pass through the nose and mouth, with an average aerodynamic diameter of 3.5 ± 0.3 µm,
● respirable fibres — length above 5 µm, maximum diameter below 3 µm, and a length-to-diameter ratio greater than 3.
Respirable dust plays the biggest role in the history of pneumoconiosis (dust-related lung disease) — it’s the most dangerous fraction, fine enough to reach all the way into the alveoli of the lungs.

Depending on the changes they cause in the body, these conditions fall into two main categories:
● collagenous pneumoconiosis — caused by dust with fibrosing properties (e.g. asbestos), leading to permanent damage or destruction of the pulmonary alveoli,
● non-collagenous pneumoconiosis — caused by dust with weak fibrosing properties (e.g. zinc oxide), which does not alter the structure of the alveoli.
The main symptoms of pneumoconiosis are shortness of breath on exertion, a persistent cough, mucous or muco-purulent expectoration, breathing difficulties, and chronic low-grade fever. It most commonly affects people whose work involves constant exposure to hazardous dust — miners and quarry workers, construction workers, and people employed in the pyrotechnics, metallurgical, and electrical industries, as well as carpenters, farmers, and poultry workers.

What can prolonged exposure to a dusty environment without protection cause?

  • Irritation of the mucous membranes and respiratory tract, most often caused by chalk dust, coal dust, or certain plastics,
  • allergic reactions (pneumonia, rhinitis, laryngitis) — most often triggered by natural dust such as animal hair, flower pollen, insect-derived particles, and household dust,
  • cancer — different substances give rise to different cancers, but prolonged time in a dusty environment on its own has been linked to cancers of the lung, bronchi, pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, nose, sinuses, and urinary bladder.

The environmental side of dust

The processes that generate the most dust include:
● sharpening,
● grinding,
● polishing,
● milling,
● crushing,
● screening,
● transport,
● mixing of bulk materials.

How can employees be protected from dust exposure?

Where dust levels are high, the employer is required to:

  • change the production technology wherever possible,
  • dampen the material being processed and install extraction over every machine used for processing it,
  • install mechanical ventilation throughout the facility, and in particularly dusty areas, local extraction fitted with air filters,
  • provide dust masks and, in extreme cases, full protective dust suits.

Pneumoconiosis is classified as an occupational disease

A condition is treated as an occupational disease if it appears on the official list of occupational diseases and, based on an assessment of working conditions, it can be established — conclusively or with high probability — that it was caused by harmful factors present in the work environment, or by the way the work was performed (referred to as “occupational exposure”). An occupational disease can be diagnosed either during the period of occupational exposure or after it has ended, provided documented symptoms appear within the timeframe set out in the official list of occupational diseases. An employee who suffers a workplace accident or is diagnosed with a listed occupational disease is entitled to social insurance benefits.

Employer obligations in the event of an employee’s occupational disease

The employer is required to immediately report any suspected case of occupational disease to the relevant State Sanitary Inspector and the relevant District Labour Inspector. A suspected occupational disease can also be reported by the employee or former employee themselves, if they suspect their symptoms may indicate such a disease — a currently employed worker reports it through the physician providing their preventive healthcare.

If an employee is diagnosed with an occupational disease, the employer is required to:

1. determine the cause of the occupational disease and the nature and scale of the associated hazard, in cooperation with the relevant State Sanitary Inspection authority,
2. immediately begin removing the factors causing the occupational disease and apply any other necessary preventive measures,
3. ensure that medical recommendations are followed.

Under Article 235 of the Polish Labour Code, an occupational disease can be diagnosed during the period of occupational exposure or after it has ended, provided documented symptoms appear within the period set out in the official list of occupational diseases.

A suspected occupational disease may be reported by:
● the employer,
● a physician from a facility authorised to diagnose occupational diseases,
● the employee or former employee, if they suspect their symptoms may indicate such a disease — a currently employed worker reports it through their occupational health physician; a former employee reports it directly to the authorities listed below.

Diagnosing an occupational disease — the process step by step

Reporting
A suspected occupational disease is reported to:
● the relevant State Sanitary Inspector,
● the relevant District Labour Inspector; jurisdiction is determined by the place where the work is or was performed, or by the employer’s registered office if the occupational exposure records are kept there.

Opening the procedure
● The State Sanitary Inspector who receives the report opens the procedure and, in particular, refers the employee or former employee concerned for examination by an authorised diagnostic body, in order to issue a ruling on the occupational disease.

First-instance diagnostic bodies
● occupational disease clinics and departments at regional occupational medicine centres,
● occupational disease clinics at medical universities,
● infectious disease clinics at regional occupational medicine centres, or regional infectious disease clinics and departments, for infectious and parasitic occupational diseases,
● healthcare facilities where the patient was hospitalised, for diagnosing occupational diseases presenting with acute symptoms.

Second-instance diagnostic bodies

Second-instance bodies, which review rulings issued by physicians at first-instance diagnostic bodies, are occupational medicine research institutes, including:
● the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź,
● the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health in Sosnowiec.

Assessment of occupational exposure is carried out by:

● the physician providing preventive care — at the stage of suspected disease,
● a physician at the diagnostic body — while the medical ruling is being issued,
● the relevant State Sanitary Inspector — while the administrative decision is being issued.

If the examining physician finds the documentation incomplete, they may request additional information from:
● the employer — regarding work methods and organisation, exposure levels, overtime work, protective measures used, and samples of the products used (for diagnostic purposes);
● the occupational health physician — for a supplementary exposure assessment or access to preventive medical records;
● the treating physician — for access to medical records related to the occupational disease;
● the relevant State Sanitary Inspector — for exposure assessment data or archival records;
● the employee — for a supplementary work history interview.

Confirming an occupational disease, or finding no grounds for one

Appeal procedure

  • Either the employee or the employer may appeal a first-instance decision by the State Sanitary Inspector within 14 days of receiving it, to the second-instance State Sanitary Inspector (the provincial or Chief State Sanitary Inspector),
  • a second-instance decision by the State Sanitary Inspector is final, but can be challenged before the relevant Provincial Administrative Court within 30 days of delivery,
  • a ruling by the Provincial Administrative Court can be further appealed by cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw, within 30 days.

Employer obligations

  • inform employees of the occupational risk associated with their work and the rules for protecting against it,
  • if an employee shows symptoms suggesting the onset of an occupational disease, transfer them to work that does not expose them to the factor that caused those symptoms,
  • if an employee is diagnosed with an occupational disease, determine the cause and the nature and scale of the hazard, in cooperation with the relevant State Sanitary Inspector,
  • immediately begin removing the factors causing the occupational disease and apply any other necessary preventive measures,
  • ensure medical recommendations are followed,
  • keep a register of confirmed and suspected occupational disease cases,
  • refer employees for initial, periodic, and follow-up medical examinations, and accurately describe the hazards present at the relevant workstation in the referral,
  • cooperate with occupational health services,
  • notify the relevant institute of occupational medicine and the relevant State Sanitary Inspector of the outcomes of an occupational disease.

    Regulation of the Minister of Health of 1 August 2002 on the method of documenting occupational diseases and their outcomes

Have questions about organising a safe workplace?

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