Republic of Latvia Cabinet Regulation No. 723 Adopted 8

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Disclaimer: The English language text below is provided by the Translation and Terminology Centre for information only; it confers no rights and imposes no obligations separate from those conferred or imposed by the legislation formally adopted and published. Only the latter is authentic. The original Latvian text uses masculine pronouns in the singular. The Translation and Terminology Centre uses the principle of gender-neutral language in its English translations. In addition, gender-specific Latvian nouns have been translated as genderneutral terms, e.g. chairperson.

Republic of Latvia

Cabinet

Regulation No. 723

Adopted 8 September 2008

Regulations Regarding the Requirements for Competent Authorities and

Competent Specialists in Labour Protection Issues and the Procedures for

Evaluating Competence

Issued pursuant to

Section 9, Paragraph six of the

Labour Protection Law

I. General Provisions

1. These Regulations prescribe the requirements for competent authorities and competent specialists in labour protection issues and the procedures for evaluating competence.

2. The competent specialists and the competent authorities shall provide their services in the field of labour protection in accordance with their mutual agreement.

3. The competent specialists and the competent authorities, when providing services in the area of labour protection, shall co-operate with the labour protection specialist or other employee and trusted person assigned by the employer, as well as with the employees of the undertaking.

4. If the competent specialist or competent authority should detect conditions that threaten the safety and health of employees, their responsibility shall be to immediately inform the employer, the labour protection specialist or other assigned employee and the relevant employees thereof.

5. The competent specialist, competent authority and its personnel, which perform internal supervision of the work environment in undertakings, as well as other labour protection services, may not be a State supervision and control institution or personnel performing State control and supervision in the area of labour protection.

6. Internal work environment services and other labour protection services to undertakings may be provided by specialists and authorities, which comply with the requirements prescribed for competent specialists and competent authorities by these Regulations. A competent specialist and competent authority shall be responsible that the tasks entrusted to them shall be executed professionally, in good faith, technically practicable and in accordance with the requirements of the regulatory enactments for labour protection.

Translation © 2009 Tulkošanas un terminoloģijas centrs (Translation and Terminology Centre)

7. The competent specialist and competent authority shall provide labour protection services, utilising such technical resources which ensure that the execution of their functions shall be of a suitable quality.

8. The competent specialist and the competent authority shall ensure that the work environmental risk factor examination and assessment results are objective and independent of any form of influence, particularly financial, which could influence the results of the examination or assessment.

II. Requirements for Competent Specialists and the Procedures for Evaluating Their Competence

9. In order to perform internal work environment supervision in enterprises, the competent specialist must possess the advanced level of knowledge (professional higher education) in labour protection in accordance with the second level professional higher education programme (Professional Standard PS 0100 “Senior Specialist in Labour Protection”) accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science.

10. A senior specialist in labour protection who has gained the education referred to in

Paragraph 9 of these Regulations, which is certified to by a relevant document, is comparable to a competent specialist and shall be entitled to perform internal supervision of the work environment in undertakings for five years from the date of receipt of the document attesting the education.

11. Upon expiration of the term referred to in Paragraph 10 of these Regulations, the senior labour protection specialist (hereinafter – the applicant) in order to obtain a competent specialist certificate attesting to the person’s competence in labour protection issues

(hereinafter – competent specialist certificate) shall turn to the personnel certification authority, which has been accredited by the State agency Latvian National Accreditation

Bureau in accordance with the requirements of the Standard LVS EN ISO/IEC 17024:2004

“Competence Evaluation – General Requirements for Personnel Certification Authorities” and regarding which the Ministry of Economics has published a notification in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis

[the official Gazette of the Government of Latvia] (hereinafter – personnel certification authority), and shall submit an application and the following documents to the personnel certification authority:

11.1. a document attesting to education regarding professional higher education in labour protection in accordance with the Professional Standard PS0100 “Senior Specialist in

Labour protection” (copy) or a competent specialist certificate regarding the previous activity period (copy);

11.2. one or more documents (or their copies) attesting to the applicant’s experience of at least three years in practical activity in the field of labour protection within the previous five years;

11.3. documents (copies) attesting to the applicant having obtained knowledge regarding labour protection issues for not less than 100 hours during the previous five years;

11.4. a valid civil liability insurance policy (copy) of the applicant, that guarantees to cover the costs of possible losses caused by an error by a competent specialist for a minimum amount of LVL 10 000.

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12. If the applicant works in a competent authority and does not perform individual commercial activities, in place of the copy of the insurance policy referred to in Subparagraph 11.4 of these Regulations the applicant shall submit to the personnel certification institution a copy of a valid insurance policy (copy) of the competent authority, by which his or her activity is insured.

13. The personnel certification authority shall, within 30 days from receipt of the documents referred to in Paragraph 11 of these Regulations, organise an examination of the applicant’s knowledge and abilities (hereinafter – certification examination) and evaluate his or her competence in the certification field applied for, taking into account the requirements prescribed by Professional Standard PS 0100 “Senior Specialist in Labour protection”, as well as by Standard LVS EN ISO/IEC 17024:2004 “Competence Evaluation – General

Requirements for Personnel Certification Authorities” and by these Regulations.

14. The personnel certification authority shall not permit the applicant to take the examination and shall not issue a competent specialist certificate, if:

14.1. the applicant’s qualification does not conform to the requirements prescribed by these Regulations;

14.2. the applicant has not submitted the documents referred to in Paragraph 11 of these Regulations;

14.3. the applicant has submitted false information;

14.4. during the previous five years the applicant has been administratively penalised at least three times for non-qualitative work while providing labour protection services

(including work environment risk evaluation) to undertakings.

15. The personnel certification authority shall, not later than five working days prior to the certification examination, inform the applicant of the time, place and procedure of the examination.

16. If due to the reasons referred to in Paragraph 14 of these Regulations the personnel certification authority does not permit the applicant to take the certification examination, the applicant shall be notified regarding this within 30 days of the moment of receipt of the applicant’s application.

17. The applicant’s knowledge and practical skills in the certification examination shall be evaluated by the competent specialist certification commission established by the personnel certification authority (hereinafter – Certification Commission).

18. Included in the composition of the Certification Commission shall be a representative of the personnel certification authority (Commission Chair), who shall have at least two years of practical experience in the field of labour protection, one representative from each the

Ministry of Welfare and the Latvian Association of Labour Protection Specialists (it shall be necessary for at least two members of the Certification Commission to have a higher education in the field of labour protection in accordance with the Professional Standard PS

0100 “Senior Specialist in Labour Protection”).

19. The Certification Commission shall have a secretary. The staff of the Certification

Commission, the Chair and secretary of the Certification Commission shall be approved by the head of the Certification Authority.

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20. Meetings of the Certification Commission shall be convened by the Chair of the

Commission. The Certification Commission shall have a quorum if the meeting is attended by the Chair of the Commission and at least one Commission member. The Commission shall take decisions by a simple majority of votes. If the voting is tied, the deciding vote shall be that of the Chair of the meeting.

21. Upon arriving at the certification examination, the applicant shall produce for a

Certification Commission a personal identification document – passport or driver’s licence.

22. The Certification Examination shall consist of two parts:

22.1. a theoretical part – a test where the applicant shall answer 30 test questions;

22.2. a practical part in which the applicant shall solve three previously prepared situational exercises.

23. The total time for the examination shall be 90 minutes. During the Certification

Examination the applicant shall not be permitted to utilise any supplementary aids.

24. The total maximum number of points that may be obtained during the examination is 60 points. The applicant shall gain 30 points if all the test questions have been answered correctly (one point for each correctly answered question), and 30 points – if the three situation exercises have been correctly solved and explained (10 points for each exercise).

25. A personnel certification institution, in developing a test, shall utilise questions approved by the Latvian Association of Labour Protection Specialists (each question shall contain at least three, but not more than five possible replies) and shall conform to the following breakdown of questions in accordance with the fields referred to by Professional Standard PS

0100 “Senior Specialist in Labour Protection”:

25.1. fundamentals of labour law – one question;

25.2. labour protection and the associated regulatory enactments – five questions;

25.3. protection of the surrounding environment and the associated regulatory enactments – one question;

25.4. production technology safety – three questions;

25.5. work environment risk factors, their determination, measurement and assessment

– five questions;

25.6. sub-sectors of labour protection – three questions (one for each sector);

25.7. safety equipment at work (collective, individual) – two questions;

25.8. fundamentals of occupational health and occupational medicine – three questions;

25.9. fundamentals of psychology at work – two questions;

25.10. fundamentals of ergonomics at work – two questions;

25.11. storage and safety measures for dangerous substances (for example, chemical)

– two questions;

25.12. pedagogy and psychology of education – one question.

26. During the second part of the certification examination the applicant shall prepare answers in writing on the following three situational exercises:

26.1. the applicant, according to the description of the given practical situation, shall give a work environment risk assessment in a branch of the undertaking, identifying the probable work environment risk factors and assessing the employees’ occupational safety and health risks (if possible, without additional measurements of the work environment, where it

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is impossible – the work environment measurements that are needed in the relevant situation shall be specified);

26.2. the applicant, according to the description of the given practical situation in a branch of the undertaking, shall determine the compliance of the situation with regulatory enactments, indicating violations of the relevant regulatory enactments in the actual situation described and the answer shall be justified based on the requirements prescribed by regulatory enactments;

26.3. the applicant, according to the description of the given practical situation, shall determine the necessary work protection measures in one of the branch undertakings.

27. When developing the situational exercises, the personnel certification authority shall comply with the following conditions:

27.1. every situational exercise shall be developed for a different branch (there shall not be several situational exercises for one branch) and it shall be supplemented with visual information (figure, photograph);

27.2. the branch (field) shall be indicated in the description of the situational exercise, in which the undertaking operates, the work organisation procedures, the utilised technology, a description of the work force (age, physiological characteristics) and other information necessary in order to assess the work environment risks and determine compliance with regulatory enactments;

27.3. in addition to the information referred to in Sub-paragraph 27.2 of these

Regulations the risk factors shall be indicated for the situational exercise description referred to in Sub-paragraphs 26.2 and 26.3 of these Regulations, to which the employed person is subject to (if necessary, also indicating a specific exposure level).

28. The Certification Commission shall take a decision regarding the certification examination results within 15 days after the examination.

29. The certification examination shall be considered to have been completed satisfactorily if the applicant has not exceeded the time restrictions referred to in Paragraph 23 of these

Regulations and has achieved at least 70% of the possible total points for the certification examination (at least 42 points) – he or she has correctly answered at least 60% of the test questions and in the situational exercises has gained at least 60% of the possible total points

(at least 18 points).

30. The secretary of the Certification Commission shall inform the applicant of the

Commission’s decision within five working days from the day it was taken. If a decision has been taken to issue a competent specialist certificate, the time and place when the certificate is to be issued shall be indicated in the notification.

31.Persons who have passed the certification examination, shall be issued a competent specialist certificate by the personnel certification authority. The term of validity of the certificate shall be 5 years.

32. The certified person’s given name, surname, personal identity number, date of issue of the certificate, validity period of the certificate, the field of the certificate, the certificate number, the name of the personnel certification authority and the signature of the certified person, the conditions and restrictions for utilising the certificate, as well as the other information referred to in the Standard LVS EN ISO/IEC 17024:2004 “Competence Evaluation – General

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Requirements for Personnel Certification Authorities” shall be indicated in the competent specialist certificate.

33. The certificate is certified by the responsible person’s signature of the personnel certification authority and the seal of the referred to institution.

34. If the applicant has not passed the certification examination, the personnel certification authority shall send him or her a relevant notification. The notification shall indicate the examination results, as well as the procedure by which the applicant can re-apply for to sit for the certification examination. The applicant may re-apply to sit for the certification examination not earlier than 30 days after sitting for the previous examination.

35. The applicant, whose examination results were not accountable because of cheating, may re-apply to sit for another examination not earlier than one year’s time.

36. It shall be the duty of a personnel certification authority to revoke a competent specialist certificate, if it determines that:

36.1. the competent specialist does not comply to the requirements of these

Regulations;

36.2. the competent specialist has violated the conditions for the utilisation of a competent specialist certificate;

36.3. the competent specialist has violated the regulatory enactments governing his or her field of activity;

36.4. the applicant has furnished false information in order to receive the certificate.

37. If, on the basis of the cases referred to in Paragraph 36 of these Regulations, a decision has been taken to revoke a competent specialist certificate, the personnel certification authority shall, within five working days after taking the relevant decision, issue or send to the relevant person a substantiated written decision regarding revocation of the certificate.

38. The competent specialists whose competent specialist certificate has been revoked may reapply for re-sitting the certification examination not earlier than two years from the date of revocation of the competent specialist certificate.

39. If the validity term of the competent specialist certificate has expired, the competent specialist shall repeatedly submit to a personnel certification authority an application and all the documents referred to in Paragraph 11 of these Regulations and sit for a certification examination.

40. The personnel certification authority shall, not less than once every three months, send to the State Labour Inspectorate a list of the competent specialists certified during the previous quarter (indicating the competent specialist’s given name, surname, certificate number and date of issue), as well as information regarding revoked competent specialist certificates.

41. The State Labour Inspectorate shall, after receipt of the information referred to in

Paragraph 40 of these Regulations, ensure public accessibility thereto.

42. A personnel certification authority shall inform other personnel certification authorities regarding persons, to whom in accordance with the reasons referred to in Sub-paragraphs 14.3

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and 14.4 of these Regulations it has refused the opportunity to sit for a certification examination, and the competent specialists for whom it has revoked a certificate.

43. The personnel certification authority shall register the issued competent specialist certificates in the Competent Specialist Certificate Registration Register. Information regarding a competent specialist evaluation and certification shall be stored for at least 10 years after issuance of the competent specialist certificate.

44. A competent specialist shall not divulge information that he or she has obtained in performing his or her work tasks, excluding such information which has been officially requested by law enforcement institutions or institutions, which in accordance with labour protection regulatory enactments are performing State supervision and control in the field of labour protection.

45. Prior to commencing practical activities, a competent specialist shall insure his or her civil liability in such an amount that would cover any losses incurred by the service recipient, that might be caused as a result of his or her professional actions, but not by less than in the amount of LVL 10 000. The civil liability of the competent specialist must be insured throughout all of his or her time of activity.

III. Requirements for Competent Authorities and the Procedures for Evaluating Their Competence

46. The competent authority is entitled to perform work environment surveillance in undertakings if a relevant notification regarding this has been published in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis and it ensures fulfilment of the following minimal requirements:

46.1. it shall provide for the requirements specified in the Standard LVS EN ISO

9001:2001 “Quality Management Systems – Requirements”, and its competence in labour protection issues are in accord with the requirements of these Regulations;

46.2. the competent authority has insured its civil liability in such an amount that shall cover any losses incurred by the service recipient, which have been calculated in co-operation with the insurer selected by the authority for the risk evaluation of the authority’s field of activity, but not for an amount less than LVL 20 000. The civil liability of the competent authority must be insured throughout all of its time of activity.

47. The requirement prescribed by Paragraph 7 of these Regulations regarding technical resources shall be fulfilled by the competent authority in one of the following ways:

47.1. the competent authority has at its disposal a laboratory, which has been accredited in this field by the State agency “Latvian National Accreditation Bureau” or by a recognised accreditation authority of member states of the European Union and European

Economic Area in accordance with the requirements of Standard LVS EN ISO/IEC

17025:2005 “General Requirements for Testing and Calibration Laboratory Competence” and regarding which the Ministry of Economics has notified the newspaper Latvijas Vēstnesis

(hereinafter – accredited laboratory);

47.2. the work environment factor measurements are performed in accordance with the labour protection regulatory enactments and regulatory enactments regarding the taking of measurements, utilising calibrated measuring equipment;

47.3. the competent authority has entered into co-operation agreements with accredited laboratories regarding the measurement of work environment factors.

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48. The competent authority in order to evaluate its technical resources shall prepare a work environment risk assessment report. The work risk assessment report shall include a report regarding ensuring measurement of the work environment factors. The referred to procedure report shall be presented to the quality system certification authority referred to in Paragraph

49 of these Regulations by the competent authority during the certification process.

49. In order to fulfil the requirements referred to in Sub-paragraph 46.1 of these Regulations and to demonstrate its competence in labour protection issues, the competent authority shall turn to a quality systems certification authority, which in this field is accredited in State agency “Latvian National Accreditation Bureau” or in an accreditation authority recognised in member states of the European Union or European Economic Area in accordance with the requirements of Standard LVS EN ISO/IEC 17021:2007 “Compliance assessment.

Requirements for authorities ensuring management systems audit and certification.”

50. The evaluation of the competence of the quality system certification authority in the field of labour protection shall be performed in accordance with the requirements of Standard LVS

EN ISO 9001:2001 “Quality Management Systems – Requirements” and of these

Regulations.

51. During evaluation of the competence of the authorities in the area of labour protection, the quality system certification authority, in addition to the requirements of the standard referred to in Paragraph 50 of these requirements, shall take into account:

51.1. requirements for the personnel of the competent authority in accordance with

Paragraphs 69, 70, 71, 72 and 73 of these Regulations;

51.2. the compliance of the resources and technical capabilities of the institution for the intended services.

52. The quality systems certification authority shall not perform certification of a competent authority if, within the previous three years, it has been administratively penalised at least three times for not complying with these Regulations or provision of non-qualitative labour protection services (including work environment risk assessment) to undertakings.

53. If the authority’s competence has been evaluated to be in compliance with the requirements of the standard referred to in Paragraph 50 of these Regulations and these

Regulations, the quality systems certification authority shall issue thereto a quality system certificate, indicating in it the compliance of the authority with the requirements of these

Regulations.

54. After the issue of the quality system certificate referred to by Paragraph 53 of these

Regulations, the quality systems certification authority shall perform an examination of the activities of the competent authority at least once every year, evaluating the compliance of the competent authority to the requirements of the standard referred to in Paragraph 50 of these

Regulations and these Regulations and paying special attention to the following issues:

54.1. compliance of the personnel of the competent authority to the requirements prescribed by Paragraphs 69, 70, 71, 72 and 73 of these Regulations;

54.2. the civil liability insurance of the competent authority for an amount not less than LVL 20 000, that shall guarantee covering losses incurred due to errors by the competent authority.

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55. In performing the examination of the competent authority’s activities referred to in

Paragraph 54 of these Regulations, the quality systems certification authority shall visit at least one undertaking, where the competent authority has performed internal work environment supervision (including risk assessment), paying special attention to the work performed by the competent authority in work environment risk assessment, the preventative measures plan that has been developed, as well as compliance with the requirements referred to in Paragraph 74 of these Regulations.

56. The quality systems certification authority shall revoke the quality system certificate if the competent authority no longer complies to the requirements of the standard referred to in

Paragraph 50 of these Regulations and the requirements prescribed by these Regulations or the requirements for ensuring the referred to compliance are not fulfilled in the prescribed time period.

57. The quality systems certification authority shall, within five working days from the date of issuance or revocation of a quality system certificate, send this information to the Ministry of

Welfare.

58. A competent authority that, after receiving a quality system certificate, wants the Ministry of Welfare to publish a notification in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis

regarding this shall submit a submission to the Ministry of Welfare. The following shall be indicated in the submission:

58.1. name of the undertaking, registration number in the Commercial Register, the legal and actual address;

58.2. head of the undertaking (given name, surname);

58.3. the field of activity which shall be informed about the competent authority;

58.4. if the competent authority is a division of an undertaking, information regarding its affiliation with the undertaking;

58.5. the responsible contact person (given name, surname, telephone, facsimile number and electronic mail address, if applicable).

59. The competent authority shall append the following documents to the submission referred to in Paragraph 58 of these Regulations:

59.1. a copy of the competent authority’s quality system certificate issued by the quality systems certification authority;

59.2. the employer’s attestation regarding employment of the specialists referred to in

Paragraph 69 of these Regulations, indicating the date when their labour agreement was entered into, number and term thereof;

59.3. copies of documents certifying to the qualifications and competence of the competent authority’s personnel (for example, university diploma, certificates);

59.4. proofs regarding the civil liability insurance of the competent authority for an amount not less than LVL 20 000, that shall guarantee covering losses incurred due to errors by the competent authority;

59.5. if the competent authority is a division of some undertaking – the scheme of the undertaking’s structure;

59.6. a description of the competent authority’s planned services.

60. If the competent authority is utilising an insurance policy to fulfil the requirements referred to in Sub-paragraph 59.4 of these Regulations, at least the insuring of the liability of the specialists referred to in Paragraph 69 shall be indicated and, in addition to the policy, a

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receipt shall be submitted or a bank payment order attesting to payment for the insurance policy.

61. An applicant evaluation commission (hereinafter – Commission) formed by the Ministry of Welfare, which shall operate in accordance with these Regulations and the By-law approved by the Ministry of Welfare, shall examine the competent authority’s application.

62. After receipt of the documents referred to in Paragraphs 58 and 59, the Commission shall examine them within 10 working days and submit a proposal to a responsible official of the

Ministry of Welfare to publish a notification in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis

regarding the issue of a quality system certificate to the competent authority or refusal thereof, if the requirements prescribed by these Regulations have not been fulfilled. If a decision has been taken to cancel the notification in the newspaper Latvijas Vēstnesis , if the requirements prescribed by these Regulations have not been fulfilled, the Chair of the Commission shall send the applicant a written refusal, indicating the reasons for this and the procedures for contesting or appealing the decision.

63. The Commission shall take a decision to cancel publication of the notification in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis regarding the competent authority obtaining the quality system certificate, if:

63.1. all the documents referred to in Paragraphs 58 and 59 of these Regulations have not been submitted;

63.2. the validity term of any of the submitted documents has expired or the information mentioned therein is false;

63.3. false information has been submitted.

64. If, after the cancellation by the Commission, the competent authority has corrected the deficiencies and repeatedly submits the relevant application, it shall be examined in accordance with the general procedures.

65. If the decision taken by the Commission to cancel publication of the notification due to the requirements prescribed by these Regulations not having been met is considered unsubstantiated by the competent authority, the competent authority has the right to challenge the Commission’s decision in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the

Administrative Process Law, by submitting a written application to the State Secretary of the

Ministry of Welfare.

66. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare shall, within 20 working days, examine the competent authority’s submission regarding contesting of the Commission’s decision, organise a repeated evaluation of the document submitted by the competent authority, take a decision regarding leaving the Commission’s decision as valid or revocation thereof and inform the competent authority regarding the decision. The competent authority may appeal the decision by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare to a court according to the procedure prescribed by the Administrative Process Law.

67. The Ministry of Welfare shall, within 10 working days of a positive decision being taken, send a notification for publication in the newspaper

Latvijas Vēstnesis regarding recognition of the authority as a competent authority, but once half-yearly – a list of those competent authorities which have had their certificates revoked during the previous half-year. After publication of the notification in the newspaper Latvijas Vēstnesis , the Ministry of Welfare

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shall, within 10 working days, send the notification to the competent authority and place information on its Internet homepage regarding the competent authority.

68. The Ministry of Welfare shall withdraw the notification in the newspaper Latvijas

Vēstnesis and remove a competent authority from the list of competent authorities published on its homepage, if the competent authority has had its quality system certificate revoked or if within the previous three years it has been administratively penalised at least three times for not complying with these Regulations or for provision of non-qualitative labour protection services (including work environment risk assessment) to undertakings.

69. A competent authority shall employ at least the following specialists:

69.1. a senior labour protection specialist;

69.2. an occupational disease or occupational health doctor.

70. A competent authority may employ one specialist, if the referred to specialist has education and qualification of a senior labour protection specialist and doctor of occupational diseases or a senior labour protection specialist and doctor of occupational health.

71. The employees of a competent authority, who have obtained the highest level of education

(professional higher education) in labour protection in accordance with the second level professional higher education programme accredited by the Ministry of Education and

Science (Professional Standard PS 0100 “Senior Labour Protection Specialist”), shall be certified in accordance with the requirements specified in Chapter II of these Regulations.

72. Occupational disease doctors or occupational health doctors employed by a competent authority shall necessarily have a higher medical education obtained through an accredited full-time medical study programme and shall specialise as a doctor in the speciality of occupational disease (Profession code 2221-05) or occupational health (Profession code 2221-

06) according to the procedures prescribed by the Medical Treatment Law, which fact shall also be certified to with a professional qualification certificate.

73. In providing labour protection services, depending on the field of activity of the undertaking and nature of the task to be performed (labour protection service), the competent authority shall, in addition to the specialists referred to in Paragraph 69 of these Regulations, involve a specialist in the relevant branch or other specialists in order to fulfil the task.

74. In providing labour protection services to an undertaking engaged in commercial activities in accordance with the regulatory enactments regarding the requirements for types of commercial activity, for which a competent authority shall be mandatorily involved, the internal work environment supervision (including work environment risk assessment) shall be performed by both competent authority specialists (senior labour protection specialist and an occupational disease doctor or occupational health doctor) referred to in Paragraph 69 of these

Regulations, confirming with their signatures both the work environment risk assessment and the labour protection measures plan.

75. In order to guarantee the objectivity of the personnel of the competent authority, their salary shall not be dependent on the results of the examination of the enterprise’s work inspection.

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76. A competent authority (its personnel) shall not disclose information to a third person, which it obtained in fulfilling its work tasks, with the exception of the information that is officially requested by law enforcement institutions or institutions, which in accordance with occupational safety regulatory enactments perform State supervision and control in the field of labour protection.

77. A competent authority shall provide services and fulfil the prescribed obligations in accordance with the quality system certified by a quality system certification authority, ensuring the effectiveness of the service.

IV. Closing Provisions

78. Cabinet Regulation No. 101 of 8 February 2005, Regulations Regarding the Requirements for Competent Authorities and Competent Specialists in Labour Protection Issues and the

Procedures for Evaluating Competence (

Latvijas Vēstnesis

, 2005, No. 27) is repealed.

79. Quality system certificates, that the competent authorities have obtained in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 101 of 8 February 2005, Regulations Regarding the

Requirements for Competent Authorities and Competent Specialists in Labour Protection

Issues, are valid for the term indicated on these certificates, but not longer than until 31

December 2011.

80. Sub-paragraph 11.3 of these Regulations shall come into force on 1 July 2012.

81. These Regulations shall come into force on 1 January 2009.

Prime Minister

Acting for the Minister for Welfare,

Minister for the Environment

I. Godmanis

R. Vējonis

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