NR4 – Specialized Services in Occupational Health and Safety

(MTP Ordinance No. 4219 of December 20, 2022)

Summary
4.1 Objective
4.2 Scope of Application
4.3 Competence, Composition, and Operation
4.4 Modalities
4.5 Dimensioning
4.6 Registration
4.7 Final Provisions
Annex I – National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE) Version 2.0, with Corresponding Risk Level (GR)
Annex II – SESMT Dimensioning

4.1 Objective

4.1.1 This Standard establishes the parameters and requirements for the establishment and maintenance of Specialized Services in Occupational Health and Safety (SESMT), with the purpose of promoting health and protecting the integrity of the worker.

4.2 Scope

4.2.1 The organizations and public administration bodies, both direct and indirect, as well as the Legislative and Judiciary Powers and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which have employees governed by Decree-Law No. 5.452, of May 1, 1943 – Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), must establish and maintain SESMTs at the workplace, as defined in this NR.

4.2.2 As provided by law, the provisions of this NR apply to other legal labor relationships.

4.3 Competence, Composition, and Operational

4.3.1 The Specialized Services in Occupational Health and Safety (SESMT) is responsible for:

a) preparing or participating in the preparation of the risk inventory;

b) monitoring the implementation of the action plan of the Risk Management Program (PGR);

c) implementing preventive measures according to the risk classification of the PGR and the priority order established in NR-01 – General Provisions and Occupational Risk Management;

d) preparing a work plan and monitoring safety and health goals, indicators, and results;

e) being technically responsible for the guidance on complying with the provisions of the NR applicable to the activities carried out by the organization;

f) maintain permanent interaction with the Internal Commission for Accident Prevention and Harassment (CIPA), when existent;

g) promoting orientation, information, and awareness activities for workers on accident prevention and work-related diseases;

h) proposing the immediate interruption of activities and the adoption of corrective and/or control measures when conditions or situations that pose a serious and imminent risk to the safety or health of workers are identified;

i) conducting or accompanying investigations of work-related accidents and diseases, in accordance with the PGR;

j) sharing relevant information for accident and work-related disease prevention with other SESMTs within the same organization, as well as with CIPA, when requested by the latter; and

k) accompanying and participating in the actions of the Occupational Health Surveillance Program (PCMSO), in accordance with NR-07.

4.3.2 The SESMT must be composed of an occupational physician, an occupational safety engineer, an occupational safety technician, an occupational nurse, and an occupational nursing assistant/technician, as specified in Annex II.

4.3.3 SESMT professionals must have the necessary training and professional registration as required by the professional regulation and the normative instruments issued by the respective professional council, if existing.

4.3.4 The SESMT must be coordinated by one of the professionals who are part of this service.

4.3.5 The occupational safety technician and the occupational nursing assistant/technician must dedicate forty-four hours per week to SESMT activities, as established in Annex II, observing the provisions, including those related to work duration, of relevant legislation, agreement, or collective labor agreement.

4.3.6 In the individual SESMT modality, if the organization has more than one occupational safety technician, as provided in this NR, work schedules must be established to ensure coverage by at least one of these professionals in each shift with 101 or more workers, for activities with a risk level of 3, and fifty or more workers, for activities with a risk level of 4, without increasing the number of professionals specified in Annex II.

4.3.7 The occupational safety engineer, occupational physician, and occupational nurse must dedicate a minimum of fifteen hours (part-time) or thirty hours (full-time) per week to SESMT activities, as established in Annex II, during the establishment’s business hours.

4.3.7.1 Regarding the professionals mentioned in item 4.3.7, for the fulfillment of SESMT activities on a full-time basis, the organization may hire more than one professional, provided that each one dedicates at least half of the weekly working hours.

4.3.8 SESMT professionals are prohibited from performing activities outside the scope of those provided in item 4.3.1 of this NR and in other NR, during their working hours in this service.

4.3.9 The organization must provide the necessary means and resources to meet the objectives and responsibilities of the SESMT.

4.4 Modalities

4.4.1 The Specialized Services in Occupational Health and Safety (SESMT) must be established in individual, regionalized, or state modalities.

4.4.1.1 The SESMT, regardless of its modality, must serve establishments within the same federal unit, except as provided in item 4.4.5.

4.4.2 The organization must establish an individual SESMT when it has an establishment that meets the criteria in Annex II of this NR.

4.4.3 The organization must establish a regionalized SESMT when it has one establishment that meets the criteria in Annex II and another(s) that do(es) not, with the first extending safety and health assistance to the others and considering the total number of workers served in its dimensioning, as well as the provisions of item 4.5.1 and its sub-items.

4.4.3.1 If there is more than one establishment that falls under Annex II, the company may establish more than one regionalized SESMT.

4.4.4 The organization must establish a state SESMT when the total number of workers in all establishments in the same state reaches the limits specified in Annex II, provided that no individual establishment meets the criteria, observing the provisions of item 4.5.1 and its sub-items.

4.4.5 One or more organizations in the same economic activity, located in the same municipality or neighboring municipalities, even if in different states, whose establishments meet the criteria in Annex II, may establish a shared SESMT, organized by the interested parties themselves or as defined in an agreement or collective labor agreement.

4.4.5.1 The shared SESMT may be extended to organizations whose establishments do not fall under Annex II, considering in the dimensioning the total number of assisted workers and the provisions of item 4.5.1 and its sub-items.

4.4.5.2 Workers served by the shared Specialized Services in Occupational Health and Safety (SESMT) are not included in the base calculation for dimensioning other SESMT modalities.

4.5 Dimensioning

4.5.1 The dimensioning of the SESMT is linked to the number of employees in the organization and the highest risk level among the main economic activity and the predominant economic activity in the establishment, as per Annexes I and II, observing the exceptions provided in this NR.

4.5.1.1 The main economic activity is the one listed in the National Register of Legal Entities (CNPJ).

4.5.1.2 The predominant economic activity is the one that employs the largest number of workers.

4.5.1.2.1 In cases of different economic activities with the same number of workers, the one with the highest risk level will be considered predominant.

4.5.2 When contracting a third-party service provider, the SESMT of the contracting organization must be dimensioned considering the total number of employees of the contracting organization and the workers of the contracted companies, when the work is performed non-occasionally at the contractor’s premises or a location previously agreed upon in the contract, observing the provisions of item 4.5.1 and its sub-items.

4.5.2.1 For the purposes of this NR, occasional work is considered to be that resulting from a future and uncertain event.

4.5.2.2 Workers of the contracted companies who are attended to by the SESMT of the contracted companies are excluded from the dimensioning of the SESMT of the contracting organization.

4.5.3 The dimensioning of the regionalized or state SESMT with establishments of different risk levels must consider the total number of workers in all the establishments served.

4.5.3.1 For risk levels 1 and 2 establishments of Micro Enterprises (ME) and Small Businesses (EPP), the sum of half the number of workers in these establishments should be considered.

4.5.4 For the purposes of dimensioning, construction sites and work fronts with fewer than a thousand workers and located in the same state are not considered establishments, but rather as part of the main engineering company responsible, which is responsible for organizing the SESMT.

4.5.4.1 For the purposes of applying item 4.5.4:

a) occupational safety engineers, occupational physicians, and occupational nurses can be centralized; and

b) the dimensioning for occupational safety technicians and occupational nursing assistants/technicians must be done per construction site or work front, as per Annex II.

4.5.4.2 The organization must ensure that the SESMT meets, in the exercise of its competencies, all construction sites and work fronts.

4.5.5 For contractors, the location where their employees are performing their activities is considered the establishment for the purposes of applying this NR.

4.5.6 For organizations that already have an established SESMT in any of its modalities, in the event of an increase in dimensioning due to the hiring of workers for a fixed term, the SESMT must be supplemented during the period of the increase to meet the provisions in Annex II.

4.6 Registration

4.6.1 The organization must register the SESMT as described in this NR through an electronic system available on the gov.br portal.

4.6.1.1 The organization must inform and keep the following data updated:

a) the individual taxpayer registry number (CPF) of the SESMT professionals;

b) the qualifications and registration numbers of the professionals;

c) the established risk level, as per item 4.5.1 and its sub-items, and the number of workers served, by establishment; and

d) the working hours of the SESMT professionals.

4.7 Final Provisions

4.7.1 Organizations required to establish both an SESMT, as per this NR, and a Specialized Service in Occupational Health and Safety in Rural Work (SESTR), as per NR-31 – Health and Safety in Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Logging, and Aquaculture, may opt to establish only one of these services, considering the total number of workers in both activities.

4.7.2 The organization that establishes the SESMT is responsible for complying with this NR, ensuring technical independence and the professional practice of the SESMT members.

4.7.3 The organization must appoint one of the SESMT physicians as responsible for the PCMSO.


Annex I – National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE) Version 2.0, with Corresponding Risk Level (GR)

Annex II – SESMT Dimensioning