OSH Documentation for a Worker from Ukraine
Got a crew from Ukraine on your site? These days that's the norm, not the exception. Except it comes with one thing that most small firms forget about until the…
Got a crew from Ukraine on your site? These days that's the norm, not the exception. Except it comes with one thing that most small firms forget about until the inspector knocks. OSH (occupational health and safety) training and workstation instructions have to be in a language the worker understands. If they don't understand it, the paperwork exists but formally means nothing. And from July 2026, inspections are aimed at exactly these firms. The good news: with the BudoReady FULL package, every document comes ready to print in both Polish and Ukrainian. No translator, no workarounds.
Key points in brief
- OSH training and instructions must be in a language the worker understands - otherwise they are formally invalid (Art. 2373–2374 of the Labour Code).
- For a worker from Ukraine, this means bilingual documentation: workstation instructions, training records, risk assessment - in Polish and Ukrainian.
- You must have proof that the worker understood the training - a signature on a Polish document alone is not enough.
- Around 18,200 construction firms in Poland are run by Ukrainians - and these are now in the crosshairs.
- From 8 July 2026 the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) is introducing remote and hybrid inspections - the language barrier stops protecting you.
Why Polish paperwork isn't enough
Picture a typical situation. A new lad from Ukraine turns up, speaks Polish so-so. You sit him down for the initial training, hand him the record, he signs. All in Polish. On paper it looks fine - there's a date, a signature, the instructor's stamp.
Except the law doesn't ask whether you have a signature. The law asks whether the worker understood what you were teaching. Art. 2373 of the Labour Code is clear: you must not allow a worker to start work without knowledge of OSH rules and principles. And "knowledge" isn't a signature on a sheet in a language someone can't read. It's knowledge in their head.
On top of that comes Art. 2374: the employer has a duty to provide OSH information and instructions in a way the worker understands. "Understands" - that's the key word. The details are set out in the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997 on general OSH provisions, which requires instructions to be made available in a form the worker can grasp.
The conclusion is as simple as a hammer: if the lad can't read Polish, then a Polish instruction doesn't exist for him. And if it doesn't exist, then formally there was no training. And all your documentation becomes waste paper in the inspector's eyes.
And this isn't about nitpicking. It's about the fact that construction is the most dangerous industry in the country. If a person doesn't understand how to put up scaffolding or how to secure an excavation, that's not a paperwork problem - it's a problem of someone's health. The rules on understandable training weren't created for bureaucracy. They were created so people go home from work in one piece. And you, as the employer, are responsible for your crew knowing what they're doing.
What exactly must be in Ukrainian
It's not about translating all the bureaucracy into Ukrainian. It's about the documents the worker is meant to read and understand, and the ones you use to prove that it happened. Here's the list worth having in both languages:
- OSH workstation instructions - for every workstation where a person from Ukraine works (carpenter, steel fixer, bricklayer, operator, helper).
- Machine and tool operating instructions - concrete mixer, saw, grinder, scaffolding. Here a mistake in understanding ends in a lost finger or worse.
- OSH training records - initial and periodic, with the content and confirmation of understanding.
- Occupational risk assessment (ORZ) - the worker has to be familiarised with it, so they must understand it.
- Emergency and first-aid instructions - under stress a person reads in their own language, not a foreign one.
- Evacuation and fire-response rules - short, clear, bilingual.
- Instructions for using personal protective equipment (PPE) - helmet, harness, goggles, gloves.
Note one thing: it's not enough to have these documents "somewhere in a folder". The workstation instruction has to be where the person works - by the machine, at the workstation, within reach. If the concrete-mixer operator has the operating instruction tucked away in a cabinet in a container three sites over, it's as if he doesn't have it at all. Bilingual, accessible, legible - those are three conditions that must be met at once.
Here you don't have to write everything from scratch or hunt for a translator at 80 zł a page. The BudoReady FULL package has every one of these documents in two versions - PL and UA - ready, checked, tailored to the construction industry (PKD 43). You print it, fill in the company and worker details, and you're in order.
How to prove the worker really understood
This is the question most firms trip up on. A signature alone isn't enough. The inspector can ask the worker directly - in Ukrainian or through an interpreter - what to do if scaffolding gives way or a cable sparks. If the lad can't answer, your paperwork goes in the bin and you get a fine.
How to protect yourself the sensible way:
- Give the material in Ukrainian. Training and instructions in a language the worker reads. That's the basis of everything.
- Run a short comprehension test. A few questions in Ukrainian with answers. A completed test is hard proof that the person knew what it was about.
- Bilingual training record. Have the worker sign a document in which the declaration of understanding is also in Ukrainian. Then the signature means something.
- Record who trained and in what language. If the instructor conducted it in Ukrainian or with an interpreter - note it down.
You'll find more about the process itself in our post on how to run OSH training in Ukrainian so that it holds up to the rules.
18,200 firms in the crosshairs - why right now
Around 18,200 construction firms in Poland are run by Ukrainian nationals. That's not a handful - it's a huge chunk of the market. Small crews, sole traders, micro-companies with a few people. Exactly the type that most often has documentation "just barely" or none at all.
For years these firms had one informal "shield": the language barrier. The inspector would come, communication was hard, the inspection went slower, some things got blurred over. That time is coming to an end.
From 8 July 2026 the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) is entering a reform with remote and hybrid inspections. The inspector can request documents by email, through the system, with no prior notice at the gate. The language barrier no longer slows things down - they check the paperwork, not how you get on at the site. We've laid this out in more detail in the post on how remote PIP inspections work.
And here's the crux: a remote inspection looks only at the documents. There's no face-to-face conversation, no "look, inspector, we'll sort it out". There's a file or there isn't. There's a Ukrainian version or there isn't. What gave small firms slack for years now works against them - because if the paperwork goes in remotely, it has to be complete and correct from the very first page. A firm that has everything in Polish only for a Ukrainian crew simply looks bad in a remote inspection.
What the inspector will actually check
When inspecting a firm with workers from Ukraine, the inspector looks at specific things. Worth knowing in advance so you don't get caught out:
| What is checked | What is expected |
|---|---|
| OSH training records | Content and declaration of understanding in the worker's language |
| Workstation instructions | Available at the workstation, in a version the worker understands |
| Occupational risk assessment | Confirmation of familiarisation - genuine, not just a signature |
| Machine instructions | In the operator's language, by the machine |
| Proof of understanding | Test, bilingual declaration or a note about training in UA |
If each of these items is in place and bilingual, the inspection goes smoothly. If something is missing or everything is only in Polish for a person who doesn't read Polish - it gets tense and costly.
Why translate separately when you can have it ready
I'll be honest with you, as an old hand in the trade. Doing this documentation yourself is a journey through pain. First you write the instructions in Polish, then you look for a translator, pay per page, wait, check whether they've written nonsense, because the translator doesn't know construction. And in the end you still can't be sure it holds up to the rules.
That's why we did it for you. The BudoReady FULL package is 45 files - a full set of OSH documentation for a construction micro-company, where you get every document in a Polish and a Ukrainian version. Plus a module for firms working for developers. Everything tailored to PKD 43, ready to be filled in with details and printed.
If you don't need the Ukrainian version, there are cheaper options: STARTER at 299 zł (10 files, the absolute minimum) and STANDARD at 449 zł (27 files). But if you've got people from Ukraine on site - and the statistics say that's increasingly the case - then FULL gives you the full set of documentation (including UA versions) required when employing workers from Ukraine.
Do it once, do it right - the FULL package with UA versions
Don't wait for the inspector. Sort out the full PL + UA set once and have peace of mind. The FULL package at 749 zł is 45 files, every document in Polish and Ukrainian, plus a section for developer building sites. The promotion runs until 7 July 2026 - the day before the new PIP inspections start. After that the price goes up and the risk grows.
Better to have the paperwork ready in the binder than to explain to the inspector why your man doesn't know what to do when something goes wrong. Sort it out today.
This article is informational in nature and does not replace individual advice from an OSH specialist or an assessment of the current legal situation. Document templates require individual adaptation to the realities of your company and its specific workstations, and the current legal situation should be verified as at the date of use.