Brazil’s Government Updates 3 More Occupational Health and Safety Regulations

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Labor Ministry Regulatory Norm NR-3, on embargo and interdiction; NR-24, which deals with hygiene and comfort conditions in the workplace; and NR-28, on monitoring and penalties, have been rewritten.

This increases to six the number of rules on workers’ health and safety applicable to both private and state-owned companies, that have already been reviewed this year.

Upgrades

According to the Special Secretary of Social Welfare and Labor, the upgrade of the 36 regulatory standards in force in February, provides for a review of its entirety.

Conducted by the Secretariat of Labor of the Special Secretariat of Welfare and Labor of the Ministry of Economy, the upgrading is based on discussions in the Permanent Tripartite Parity Commission (CTPP), which has representatives of government, employers, and workers.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions are also being taken into account.

Embargo and Interdiction

Regulatory standard NR-3, as previously worded, had five items, causing its content to be subjective, in the assessment of the secretariat.

“The new NR-3 establishes guidelines and objective technical requirements to define the situations or working conditions that lead to an embargo and interdiction. These technical requirements, which until then were unclear, are intended to help inspectors make consistent and transparent decisions.”

Hygiene and comfort conditions in the workplace

For the Secretariat, NR-24’s most pressing problems were related to the fact that the standard was outdated. Published in 1978, it was still in force with the same wording and contained 41-year-old requirements.

“Among the rule’s obsolete items were the requirement that windows in lodgings be made of wood or iron; it determined the use of incandescent light bulbs; it required the installation of a male and female restroom for any business type and size; and it provided the possibility of imposing more than 40 fines for having only one restroom.”

Under the revised NR-24, establishments with commercial, administrative or similar functions with up to ten workers may have only a single shared restroom for all genders, provided that privacy is ensured.

Also according to the changes, all the facilities provided, such as toilets, changing rooms and dining areas, for instance, should be sized based on the number of workers, based on the shift with the largest contingent.

Inspection and penalties

The updating of NR-28, which sets monitoring guidelines, has reduced the number of possible fines for the entire production sector to 4,000.

As they are designed for the entire economy, the same company is not subject to all these inspection guidelines. For instance, civil construction has 600 applicable items, while the mining sector has 534.

With the review of the remaining 30 NRs, the number will decrease even further.

The old rule provided for approximately 6,800 potential fines. In the new NR-28, a rationalization of these fines was carried out.

Topics that dealt with the same subject were unified, without prejudice to the workers or the inspection and audit action, reported the secretariat.

Source: Agência Brasil