IBWR: Safe Work Instructions on a Site

Doing work at height, digging a trench or bringing a crane onto a developer's site? Without an IBWR (safe-work instructions) you go nowhere. It's the one paper the OSH coordinator at the gate checks before they even look at the rest of the documents. Missing it - you go back to the car. At BudoReady you have ready-made IBWR for 6 types of specialist work in the FULL package, but first understand what it's about and when you really need to have it.

Key points in brief

• You prepare the IBWR before starting particularly hazardous work - not after the fact, not "when there's an inspection".
• The IBWR is not the same as a job-specific instruction: the IBWR concerns specific works on a specific site, the instruction - a workstation.
• It's prepared by the works manager, and you familiarise workers with it by signature before they start the task.
• The IBWR is most often missing for: work at height, excavations, live electrical work, demolitions, confined spaces and crane transport of heavy elements.
• Without an IBWR the main contractor (Skanska, Budimex, Strabag) won't let you onto site - end of story.

What exactly is an IBWR

IBWR stands for Instrukcja Bezpiecznego Wykonywania Robót - Safe-Work Instructions. In plain terms: a plan written down on paper for how to do a dangerous job so nobody comes to harm. Not a generic one, not something copied off the internet - specific to your task and your site.

The legal basis is simple. Particularly hazardous work is governed by the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997 (the chapter on particularly hazardous work). Construction work and site safety - the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 6 February 2003. These two documents are your foundation. They apply to you regardless of whether you're a sole trader under PKD 43 (specialised construction) or have five lads on site.

And one more thing to start: from 8 July 2026 the PIP reform (the Polish Labour Inspectorate) comes in (Journal of Laws 2026 item 473). The inspector will have more scope to act, and OSH documentation - including the IBWR - is the first thing they check. Better to have it sorted in advance.

When an IBWR is mandatory

Remember one sentence: you do the IBWR before starting particularly hazardous work. Not during, not after an accident, not when the inspector calls. Before.

"Particularly hazardous" isn't your whim - it's a specific catalogue from the 1997 regulation, plus whatever the main contractor classifies as such on their site. In practice, if a job risks a fall from height, burial, electrocution, poisoning or crushing - treat it as particularly hazardous and have an IBWR.

The signal that you need an IBWR

• You work above 1 metre off the ground, without permanent protection.
• You enter a trench deeper than 1 metre.
• You touch an electrical installation, especially live or near live parts.
• You dismantle a structure or part of it.
• You enter a well, tank or duct - a confined space.
• You lift or transport heavy elements with a crane or hoist.

If even one of these is on your task - the paper has to be ready before you start the job.

IBWR vs job-specific instruction - don't confuse them

This is the most common mistake I see in lads starting out with documentation. They toss in a job-specific instruction and think they've dealt with it. They haven't.

• A job-specific instruction describes a workstation - e.g. how to safely operate an angle grinder or a concrete mixer. It's general, it concerns the tool or machine regardless of where you work.
• An IBWR describes specific works on a specific site - e.g. installing the roof on this building, in this weather, with these hazards and this equipment. It's tailored to one task.

Put another way: a job-specific instruction says "how to use the tool", and an IBWR "how to do this job here and now so nobody gets killed". The main contractor watches for this. If you bring a job-specific instruction instead of an IBWR, the OSH coordinator will spot it at once.

While we're at it, it's worth knowing the difference between a BIOZ plan vs BIOZ information - because that's another pair of documents people mix up.

Who prepares and signs the IBWR

The IBWR is prepared by the works manager - the person responsible for running a given scope of work. In a small firm that's often you yourself. You know the job, the site and the crew, so it falls on you to make sure the plan is realistic and not copied from someone else's file.

The document itself is only half the matter. The other half is familiarising the workers by signature. Everyone who takes on the task must read the IBWR and sign that they've been familiarised with it. Without those signatures the document is dead - both at an inspection and in the event of an accident.

The practical order

1. The works manager writes the IBWR for the specific task.
2. You discuss it with the crew - briefly, on site, in your own words.
3. Each worker signs the familiarisation list.
4. Only now do you start the job.

That list of signatures is your shield. If something happens, you show that the people knew how to work safely - and that you gave it to them in writing.

6 types of work for which the IBWR is most often missing

In my experience it's the same six categories in which crews get caught out at the site gate. The main contractor asks about IBWR precisely for these works, because they're the ones that most often end in an accident.

1. Work at height

Roofs, scaffolding, installation at height, facade work. A fall from height is still number one in construction accident statistics. The IBWR has to describe the safeguards: guardrails, harnesses, anchor points, safety lines.

2. Excavations

A trench deeper than a metre carries the risk of collapse and burial. The IBWR sets out how to secure the walls (shoring, sloping), the descent, the distance for storing spoil from the edge.

3. Electrical work near or under voltage

There's no room for improvisation here. The IBWR describes the isolations, the check for absence of voltage, earthing, protective measures and who holds the authorisations. Electrocution doesn't forgive.

4. Demolitions

A demolition means an unpredictable structure, dust, falling elements, the risk of an uncontrolled collapse. The IBWR sets out the demolition sequence, the danger zones and the way to remove rubble.

5. Work in confined spaces

Wells, tanks, ducts, chambers. The hazard is lack of oxygen, gases, no escape route. The IBWR must describe atmosphere testing, ventilation, external attendance and rescue equipment.

6. Crane work and transport of heavy elements

Lifting heavy elements with a crane or hoist, transporting prefabricated units. Here it's about the crane's working zones, slings, a signaller, the ban on standing under a load. The IBWR sets this out step by step.

For each of these works it's also worth having a current occupational risk assessment - the IBWR and ORZ (occupational risk assessment) play on one team, and the OSH coordinator likes to see both documents.

Without an IBWR you won't get onto a developer's site

I'll say it straight, because it's the most important point for your wallet. Skanska, Budimex, Strabag - the big main contractors have hard procedures for entering the site. At the gate the OSH coordinator checks the documentation. The IBWR for particularly hazardous work is at the top of the list.

No IBWR? You don't go in. You lose a day, you lose money, and sometimes you lose the whole contract, because the main contractor prefers a crew with its papers sorted. This isn't bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake - it's a ticket to bigger money.

I've seen crews turned back at the very gate because one instruction was missing. A day of standstill, a phone call to the client, frayed nerves. And all it took was having the complete set ready.

What an IBWR must contain

For an IBWR to be valid, and not just fill the folder, it must have specific content. Here's the minimum every OSH coordinator looks for:

• Scope of works - what exactly you're doing, on what, where.
• Sequence of the works - step by step, in what order.
• Hazards - what risks arise on this task.
• Safeguarding measures - how you eliminate or reduce those hazards.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) - what protective gear is required (helmet, harness, goggles, gloves).
• Supervision - who oversees that it's carried out in line with the instruction.

If each of these points is genuinely filled in for your job - you have a document that holds up both at an inspection and in the event of an accident. An empty template from the internet won't give you that.

Ready-made IBWR for 6 types of work - the BudoReady FULL package

Writing an IBWR from scratch, for every job, takes time you don't have on site. That's why at BudoReady we prepared the FULL package for 749 zł - 45 files of OSH documentation, including ready-made IBWR for 6 types of specialist work: work at height, excavations, electrical work, demolitions, confined spaces and crane transport of heavy elements.

In FULL you also have Ukrainian (UA) versions for bilingual crews and a package arranged around the typical requirements of large main contractors - so as to ease verification by the OSH coordinator at the gate. You just fill in the details of your site and crew, collect the signatures and you're ready.

The promotion runs until 7 July 2026 - right before the PIP reform takes effect. Do it now, before the inspections begin.

See BudoReady packages

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from an OSH specialist or an analysis of the current legal state. Document templates require individual adaptation to the realities of your firm and specific jobs, and the current legal state is worth verifying as at the date of use.