Decree No. 7.602, of 7 November 2011 provides for the National Policy on Occupational Health and Safety.
OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES
I – The objectives of the National Policy on Occupational Health and Safety (Política Nacional de Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho – PNSST) are to promote the health and improve the quality of life of workers and to prevent accidents and damage to health caused by, related to, or occurring in the course of work, by eliminating or reducing risks in the workplace;
II – The PNSST has the following principles:
a) universality;
b) prevention;
c) precedence of promotion, protection and prevention over assistance, rehabilitation and reparation;
d) social dialogue; and
e) comprehensiveness;
III – In order to achieve its objective, the PNSST shall be implemented through the continuous coordination of government policies in the areas of labour relations, production, consumption, the environment and health, with the voluntary participation of organizations representing workers and employers;
GUIDELINES
IV – Actions within the scope of the PNSST shall be included in the National Plan for Occupational Safety and Health and will be developed in accordance with the following guidelines:
a) inclusion of all Brazilian workers in the national system of health promotion and protection;
b) harmonisation of legislation and coordination of actions to promote, protect, prevent, assist, rehabilitate and reparate the health of workers;
c) adoption of special measures for high-risk work activities;
d) structuring an integrated network of information on workers’ health;
e) promoting the implementation of occupational health and safety management systems and programs;
f) restructuring training in occupational safety and health and promoting the education and training of workers; and
g) promoting an integrated agenda of studies and research on safety and health at work;
RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE PNSST
V – The Ministries of Labor and Employment, Health and Social Security are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the PNSST, without prejudice to the participation of other bodies and institutions working in the field;
VI – The Ministry of Labor and Employment shall be responsible for:
a) formulating and proposing guidelines for labor inspection, as well as supervising and coordinating the implementation of activities related to the inspection of the working environment and related working conditions;
b) preparing and revising, on a tripartite basis, the regulatory standards for occupational safety and health;
c) participating in the development of special labour protection programmes, as well as in the formulation of new procedures regulating capital-labour relations;
d) promoting, within the scope of its competence, studies on labor and related legislation and proposing their improvement;
e) monitoring the compliance with the agreements and conventions ratified by the Brazilian Government with international organizations, especially the International Labour Organization (ILO), in matters within its competence;
f) planning, coordinating and directing the implementation of the Workers’ Food Program; and
g) through the Jorge Duprat Figueiredo Foundation for Occupational Safety and Medicine – FUNDACENTRO:
1. carrying out studies and research relevant to problems affecting the health and safety of workers;
2. carrying out analyses, evaluations and tests of measures and methods aimed at eliminating or reducing occupational risks, including collective and individual protective equipment;
3. developing and carrying out educational activities on topics related to the improvement of working conditions in terms of health, safety and the working environment;
4. disseminating information that contributes to the protection and promotion of the health of workers;
5. contributing to the protection and promotion of workers’ health with public bodies and civil organizations, including the review and formulation of regulations, the planning and development of inter-institutional actions; conducting surveys to identify the causes of occupational accidents and diseases; and
6. establishing partnerships and technical exchanges with related national and international organizations and institutions in order to strengthen institutional action, train workers and contribute to the implementation of global actions by international organizations;
VII – The Ministry of Health is responsible for:
a) promoting the structuring of the comprehensive health care for workers, which includes the promotion of healthy work environments and processes, the strengthening of the monitoring of occuopational environments, processes and injuries, comprehensive health care for workers, physical and psychosocial rehabilitation, and the adaptation and expansion of institutional capacities;
b) establishing, in conjunction with the State and Municipal Health Secretariats, standards, parameters and indicators for monitoring the health actions to be developed in the Unified Health System, according to the respective levels of complexity of these actions;
c) promoting the periodic revision of the official list of occupational diseases;
d) contributing to the structuring and operationalization of the integrated workers’ health information network;
e) supporting the development of studies and research on workers’ health
f) encouraging the development of training programs for human resources in the area of workers’ health; and
g) promoting the participation of the community in the management of occupational health actions;
VIII – The Ministry of Social Security is responsible for:
a) promoting the formulation and proposal of guidelines and norms relating to the intersection between actions in the field of safety and health at work and the control and recognition of social security benefits arising from occupational risks; b) coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and supervising the actions of the General Social Security System, as well as those of the private social security systems;
b) coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and supervising the actions of the General Social Security Scheme, as well as the policies directed at the private social security schemes, in areas related to the health and safety of workers;
c) coordinating, monitoring and supervising the updating and revision of the financing and benefit plans in relation to matters within its competence;
d) carrying out studies, research and proposing training actions aimed at improving the legislation and actions of the General Social Security Scheme and the Private Social Security Schemes within the scope of its competence; and
e) through the National Social Security Institute – INSS
1. carrying out vocational rehabilitation actions; and
2. assessing occupational incapacity for the purpose of granting social security benefits.
