Introduction: Why 2026 Is a Turning Point for H&S
Czech workplace safety legislation is undergoing its most significant overhaul in over a decade. Act 318/2025 Sb., which amends the foundational Act 309/2006 Sb. on ensuring further conditions for occupational health and safety (OHS), came into force in two phases — November 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026 — and introduces obligations that directly affect how companies manage contractors, suppliers, and external workers at their facilities.
For facility managers, HSE officers, and building operators, the changes are not incremental. They introduce new obligations around contractor coordination, tighten training documentation requirements, expand the powers of H&S coordinators to stop work immediately, and — most concretely — eliminate paper accident reporting entirely from January 1, 2026.
The financial consequences of non-compliance are significant. SÚIP (State Labour Inspection Office) can now impose fines of up to 2,000,000 CZK for serious violations — a figure that has doubled compared to the previous legislative framework. In 2024, SÚIP issued fines totalling 469 million CZK across 18,969 inspections, with safety violations accounting for the majority of penalties.
This article provides a practical overview of the new requirements, places them in the context of existing Czech Labour Code obligations and EU directives, and examines how digital entry management systems are being deployed to address compliance systematically — at the physical point where contractors enter your building.
What’s Changing — Key Legislative Updates
Act 318/2025 Sb. amends Act 309/2006 Sb. (further conditions for H&S) and related provisions of Act 251/2005 Sb. (on labour inspection). The changes affect three primary areas: coordinator powers, accident reporting, and documentation requirements.
Two-Phase Implementation
The Act came into effect in two phases deliberately, giving organisations time to adapt the most operationally demanding changes:
| Effective Date | Changes Coming Into Force |
|---|---|
| 1 November 2025 | Majority of provisions: strengthened H&S coordinator powers, expanded scope of coordinator obligation, updated definitions of construction-phase coordination, new qualification requirements for coordinators |
| 1 January 2026 | Mandatory electronic accident reporting — all accident records must be submitted exclusively through the SÚIP electronic portal; paper reporting eliminated |
| 1 February 2025 (already in force) | Tightened training documentation — employers must document not only that training occurred but also its specific content and the method of delivery (lecture, e-learning, practical demonstration) |
Strengthened H&S Coordinator Powers
One of the most operationally significant changes is the expanded authority of the H&S coordinator on construction sites and complex multi-employer workplaces. Under the revised Act 309/2006 Sb., the coordinator now has explicit statutory authority to:
- Stop work immediately — without prior warning — if the coordinator identifies an imminent risk of accident or serious injury
- Issue binding instructions to all contractors on site regarding safety measures
- Require proof of worker qualification and safety training before allowing entry to specific areas
- Demand updated risk assessments from any employer on site within specified deadlines
These powers previously existed in a more limited form. The 2025 amendment aligns Czech law more closely with the EU Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive (92/57/EEC), under which coordinator stop-work authority was already standard practice in several other member states.
Mandatory Electronic Accident Reporting from 1 January 2026
From 1 January 2026, all workplace accident records (accident records) must be submitted to SÚIP exclusively via the electronic portal at suip.cz. Paper forms are no longer accepted for this purpose. Practically, this means:
- Every employer with more than 25 employees must be registered on the SÚIP portal before the year-end 2025 deadline
- Employers with fewer than 25 employees have a transitional period, but electronic reporting is strongly recommended from the outset
- Immediate verbal/telephone notification of serious and fatal accidents is still required first — followed by electronic record submission within the statutory deadline (typically within 5 days of the accident)
- The electronic record must include detailed information about the injured person, the sequence of events, contributing factors, and the employer’s initial assessment of cause
Tightened Training Documentation (Since February 2025)
The February 2025 change to documentation requirements is already in force and deserves particular attention. Employers can no longer simply record that training happened. Documentation must specify:
- The exact content of the training (topics covered, risks addressed)
- The method of delivery (classroom instruction, e-learning, on-the-job demonstration, video presentation)
- The date, duration, and trainer identity
- Confirmation that the participant understood and acknowledged the content (signature or digital equivalent)
This applies equally to safety induction (entry safety induction) given to contractors and temporary workers — not only to regular employees. Verbal inductions without contemporaneous documentation are no longer sufficient.
Scope: Contractors, Suppliers, and Self-Employed
A consistent theme across all changes is that the obligations apply broadly — not only to the company’s own employees. Contractors, subcontractors, self-employed tradespeople, delivery drivers with regular site access, maintenance firms, and any other party performing work on your premises all fall within the coordinated H&S framework. The 2025 Act reinforces that the principal employer (the organisation controlling the workplace) bears ultimate responsibility for ensuring this coordination actually occurs in practice, not just on paper.
Existing Obligations Under the Czech Labour Code
While the 2025 Act introduces new and strengthened obligations, it builds on a framework that has existed since 2006. Many organisations still fail to fully implement the existing baseline requirements, which means inspectors can and do cite violations under the original provisions in addition to the new ones.
Section 101 of Act 262/2006 Sb. — The Labour Code
Section 101, paragraph 3 of the Czech Labour Code remains the cornerstone obligation for multi-employer workplaces. It requires that when two or more employers carry out activities at the same workplace simultaneously or consecutively, they must:
Exchange risk information in writing
Each employer must inform the others about the specific risks present in their work activities that could affect workers of the other party. This exchange must be documented in writing before work commences.
Conclude a written coordination agreement
A formal written agreement must be in place defining how safety coordination will work, who is responsible for which elements, and how conflicts between safety rules of different employers will be resolved.
Define safe entry points and corridors
The organisation controlling the workplace must define and communicate designated entry points, routes, and parking areas that contractors must use. Contractors may not enter restricted zones without explicit authorisation.
Provide safety induction to all contractors
Before any contractor begins work on your premises, they must receive a safety induction covering your site-specific risks, PPE requirements, emergency procedures, and prohibited activities. Since February 2025, this induction must be documented with its content and delivery method recorded.
Maintain awareness of who is on site at all times
During emergency situations — fire, gas leak, evacuation — the controlling employer must be able to account for all persons on site, including contractor employees. Without a systematic entry log, this is practically impossible.
The practical reality is that in many organisations, these obligations are met in a partial and informal way — a verbal briefing, a paper visitor book, or a generic contractor form that is never cross-referenced against actual entries. SÚIP inspectors increasingly check for systematic, demonstrable compliance rather than the mere existence of a policy document.
EU Context: Framework Directives and Vision Zero
The Czech legislative changes do not occur in isolation. They are part of a broader EU-level drive to strengthen occupational health and safety standards, with a particular focus on multi-employer workplaces, temporary workers, and the use of technology to improve compliance.
EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC — The Foundation
The EU OSH Framework Directive (89/391/EEC) remains the foundational EU legislation on workplace safety. Article 6, paragraph 4 specifically addresses multi-employer situations, requiring that:
“Where several undertakings share a workplace, the employers shall cooperate in implementing the safety, health and welfare provisions and, taking into account the nature of the activities, shall coordinate their activities in the interests of protection and prevention of occupational risks.”
This provision has been transposed into Czech law through Act 309/2006 Sb. and the Labour Code. However, the EU directive sets minimum standards — member states can and do impose more stringent national requirements, which is precisely what Act 318/2025 Sb. does.
Directive 91/383/EEC — Temporary and Agency Workers
Directive 91/383/EEC provides additional protection specifically for temporary workers and agency workers — two categories that typically have the highest accident rates. The directive requires that:
- Temporary workers receive the same level of safety protection as permanent employees of the user undertaking
- The host employer (not just the temporary work agency) bears responsibility for day-to-day safety measures
- Temporary workers must be informed of any special occupational qualifications or skills required and of any occupational health surveillance required
Research by EU-OSHA consistently shows that temporary and contract workers experience workplace accidents at rates up to five times higher than permanent employees at the same facility. The causal factors are well-documented: unfamiliarity with site-specific hazards, insufficient induction, language barriers, and pressure to work quickly without adequate training.
EU OSH Strategic Framework 2021–2027: Vision Zero
The European Commission’s Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021–2027 sets an ambitious target: Vision Zero — zero fatal accidents at work in the EU by 2030. Key elements of the framework relevant to facility managers include:
- Increased use of digital tools for safety management, training delivery, and accident reporting
- Stronger enforcement of multi-employer coordination requirements at member state level
- Expanded scope to cover platform workers and self-employed — categories increasingly relevant to facilities that rely on app-dispatched contractors for maintenance and services
- Cross-border data sharing of accident statistics to identify systemic patterns
The Statistics Behind the Drive
| Geography | Period | Fatal Accidents | Non-Fatal Accidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU-27 | 2023 | 3,298 | 2.83 million |
| Czech Republic | 2024 | 70 | 35,944 total (746 serious) |
EU-OSHA data further indicates that a disproportionate share of these accidents involve contractors and temporary workers — particularly during their first weeks at a new site, when unfamiliarity with local hazards is highest.
Penalties & Enforcement — The Numbers
Understanding the enforcement landscape is essential for prioritising compliance investments. SÚIP’s inspection activity and penalty levels have increased materially in recent years, and Act 318/2025 Sb. has further raised the maximum fines.
SÚIP Penalty Schedule (Post Act 318/2025 Sb.)
| Violation Category | Maximum Fine | Previous Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Standard H&S violations (failure of duty of care, inadequate risk assessment, insufficient training) | 1,000,000 CZK | 500,000 CZK |
| Serious violations (imminent risk to life or health, failure to stop dangerous work) | 2,000,000 CZK | 1,000,000 CZK |
| Information obligation failures (not informing contractors of risks, missing written coordination) | 300,000 CZK | 200,000 CZK |
| Failure to meet electronic accident reporting obligation (from Jan 1, 2026) | 200,000 CZK | N/A (new) |
| Documentation failures (training records insufficient, content or method not recorded) | 300,000 CZK | 200,000 CZK |
Note: Fines are typically cumulative — an employer can be cited for multiple violations arising from the same inspection. The amounts above are statutory maximums; actual fines depend on severity, whether the employer has previous violations, and whether corrective action was taken promptly.
SÚIP Enforcement Activity — 2024 Data
The scale of SÚIP enforcement in the most recent full reporting year underscores that inspection risk is real, not theoretical:
- 18,969 total inspections conducted in 2024
- 8,017 of those inspections were safety-focused (H&S-specific)
- 469,000,000 CZK in total fines issued across all labour inspection activities
- H&S violations consistently rank among the top categories cited, alongside working time and employment relationship violations
Inspections are not purely random. SÚIP prioritises sectors with high accident rates (construction, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics), facilities that have had previous violations, and organisations reported following an accident. Companies that cannot demonstrate systematic, documented compliance processes are at materially higher risk of significant fines when inspected.
How Digital Reception Solves H&S Compliance
The entry point — the moment a contractor or supplier arrives at your facility — is where most H&S compliance obligations either succeed or fail. A verbal briefing given at the front desk by a busy receptionist, with a paper signature in a visitor book, is unlikely to satisfy SÚIP inspectors looking for documented, systematic, verifiable compliance.
Digital reception systems (AI-powered kiosks and tablets deployed at building entrances) directly address the compliance gap by automating the processes that are most difficult to execute consistently through human-only reception. The table below maps specific legal requirements to the corresponding technical capability:
| Legal Requirement | Legal Basis | How Digital Reception Addresses It |
|---|---|---|
| Written risk information exchange with contractors | § 101(3) Labour Code | Kiosk displays site-specific risk information at every entry; contractor acknowledges receipt digitally; timestamp and content are logged automatically |
| Safety induction — entry safety induction | § 103 Labour Code + Act 309/2006 | Interactive safety briefing delivered via kiosk screen with audio and video capability; covers PPE requirements, emergency evacuation, restricted areas, and site rules; acknowledgment captured before entry is permitted |
| Documentation of training content and delivery method (since Feb 2025) | Act 318/2025 Sb. (amending Act 309/2006) | Every interaction log contains the specific briefing modules presented, delivery method (digital kiosk presentation), duration, and acknowledgment — exportable as a compliance report |
| PPE verification before entry | Act 309/2006, § 104 Labour Code | Configurable checklist displayed at entry requiring contractor to confirm PPE compliance; optional camera integration for visual verification; non-compliance flags an alert to the facility manager |
| Digital records (mandatory from Jan 1, 2026) | Act 318/2025 Sb. | All visitor and contractor records are natively digital; portal provides structured export for SÚIP reporting; no manual digitisation of paper records required |
| Emergency evacuation accountability | Act 309/2006, § 101 Labour Code | Real-time on-site person list accessible to fire marshals and emergency coordinators; shows every contractor currently on premises with their name, employer, and zone of work |
| Multi-employer coordination records | § 101(3) Labour Code + Act 309/2006 | Centralised entry log shows all employers active on site at any given time; supports H&S coordinator oversight; enables instant cross-referencing of which contractors were on site at the time of any incident |
| Restricted zone access control | Act 309/2006, site security obligations | Zone-specific access authorisation assigned during check-in; contractor receives access credentials only for areas relevant to their work order; audit trail of which zones were accessed |
The Documentation Advantage
The single most valuable aspect of digital reception for H&S compliance is the automatic creation of complete, timestamped, tamper-resistant records. When an SÚIP inspector asks to see documentation of contractor safety inductions for the past 12 months, a digital system can produce an exportable report in minutes. A paper visitor book with partial signatures cannot.
aReception.ai, deployed at industrial parks, office buildings, and logistics facilities across Czech Republic and Slovakia, uses Zebra Technologies enterprise hardware — including the KC50 kiosk (15″ and 22″ variants) and ET-series tablets — to deliver digital entry management that operates 24/7, without dependence on reception staff being present or following a manual procedure correctly on each occasion.
The key principle is consistency: every contractor who enters through a digitally managed reception point receives exactly the same safety information, in exactly the documented form, every single time — regardless of what time they arrive, whether the morning or evening shift is on duty, or whether the regular receptionist is absent.
Practical Compliance Checklist
The following steps provide a structured path to achieving full compliance with the 2025–2026 H&S requirements. The checklist is designed to be actionable for facility managers and HSE officers who need to demonstrate systematic, verifiable compliance.
Audit your current contractor entry process
Map every entry point contractors use. Identify where safety information is currently communicated, how it is documented, and where the process fails or is inconsistently applied. This baseline assessment is the starting point for any remediation.
Create or update written risk exchange protocols
Prepare a written risk information document for each category of contractor (maintenance, cleaning, construction, delivery, IT services). This document must describe your facility’s specific hazards and how they interact with the contractor’s work. Update it when site conditions change.
Implement a digital entry management system
Deploy a digital visitor and contractor management solution at all active entry points. The system must log arrivals and departures, capture identity information, and record acknowledgment of safety information. Paper visitor books do not create the audit trail required under the 2025 Act.
Set up automated safety briefings at entry points
Configure your entry system to deliver safety induction automatically to each contractor before they are permitted to proceed. The briefing should include emergency procedures, PPE requirements, restricted zones, and reporting procedures for incidents and near-misses. Record the content of each briefing session.
Ensure all training records are digitally documented
Review all existing safety training records against the February 2025 requirement: each record must specify training content and delivery method, not merely the fact that training occurred. Retrofit existing records where possible; ensure all new training generates compliant documentation automatically.
Register for the SÚIP electronic reporting portal
Access suip.cz and complete the employer registration for electronic accident reporting before 1 January 2026. Test the system by submitting a test record. Ensure the person responsible for H&S in your organisation is trained on the portal procedures — this process must be routine, not something to learn under pressure after an actual accident.
Appoint or confirm your H&S coordinator and verify qualifications
Act 318/2025 Sb. introduces updated qualification requirements for H&S coordinators. Confirm that your current coordinator’s certification is current and covers the new provisions. If your organisation is above the threshold requiring a coordinator (typically sites with 10+ workers or with specific construction activities), ensure the appointment is formally documented.
Schedule periodic review of compliance processes
H&S legislation continues to evolve. Set a calendar reminder for quarterly internal audits of your contractor entry management process, and an annual review of all H&S documentation against the current statutory requirements. Ensure that any changes to your site layout, hazard profile, or contractor relationships trigger an immediate review of the risk information documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What penalties do I face for H&S non-compliance in 2026?
Under Czech Act 318/2025 Sb. (amending Act 251/2005 on Labour Inspection), SÚIP can impose fines of up to 1,000,000 CZK for standard H&S violations — doubled from the previous 500,000 CZK limit. Serious violations that create imminent risk to life or health carry penalties of up to 2,000,000 CZK. Failures to meet information obligations (not informing contractors about workplace risks) can result in fines of up to 300,000 CZK. In 2024, SÚIP conducted 18,969 inspections and issued 469 million CZK in fines across Czech workplaces.
Do I need to coordinate H&S with every contractor entering my premises?
Yes. Under Section 101(3) of the Czech Labour Code (Act 262/2006 Sb.), when two or more employers operate at the same workplace, each employer is obligated to cooperate on safety coordination, share written risk information, and conclude a written agreement on coordination arrangements. This applies to all contractors, suppliers, maintenance personnel, and self-employed individuals working on your premises — not only to your own employees. The obligation arises from the first contractor entering the site.
What is mandatory electronic accident reporting?
From 1 January 2026, Act 318/2025 Sb. mandates that all workplace accident reports (accident records) must be submitted electronically through the SÚIP portal (suip.cz). Paper-based reporting is no longer accepted for this purpose. Employers must register on the SÚIP electronic portal, and all serious and fatal accidents — which must still be reported immediately by telephone — must subsequently be followed up with an electronic record submitted via the portal within the statutory deadlines.
How does an AI receptionist help with H&S compliance?
An AI receptionist (digital reception kiosk) addresses multiple H&S compliance requirements simultaneously. At the point of entry, it displays mandatory risk information and workplace rules to each contractor and records their acknowledgment with a timestamp — satisfying the written risk exchange obligation under Section 101(3) of the Labour Code. It delivers automated safety induction including PPE requirements, emergency procedures, and restricted area rules. Every interaction is logged digitally with date, time, contractor identity, and content of information provided — creating the demonstrable record required since February 2025. The system also maintains a real-time list of all persons currently on site for evacuation management.
Do EU regulations also require contractor coordination?
Yes. EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC (Article 6, paragraph 4) requires that when workers from several undertakings are present at the same workplace, employers must cooperate in implementing safety and health protection provisions and must coordinate their activities for the protection of workers. Directive 91/383/EEC provides additional protection for temporary and agency workers, who statistically face accident rates up to five times higher than permanent staff. The EU OSH Strategic Framework 2021–2027 sets a Vision Zero target for work-related fatalities and promotes digital tools as a means of improving compliance. All EU member states, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, are bound by these directives.
Automate H&S Compliance at Your Reception
See how aReception.ai automates contractor safety induction, documents risk information exchange, and maintains a real-time on-site log — all at the point of entry, automatically, with no dependence on reception staff following a manual checklist.
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About aReception.ai
aReception.ai is a Czech AI company building digital avatar receptionists and assistants for office buildings, industrial parks, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions. As an official Zebra Technologies ISV partner, aReception.ai combines enterprise-grade hardware with conversational AI to automate front desk operations — including contractor safety induction and H&S compliance logging. The platform serves clients in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, United Kingdom, United States, and UAE. Learn more at www.areception.ai.