Understand what regulatory standards (NR) are and what they are for

24.10.2022

According to the Digital Observatory of Occupational Safety and Health, in the period from 2012 to 2018, absences due to accident or illness caused by employment activity reached the millions. To give you an idea, on average, every 3 hours and 40 minutes an employee dies due to work accidents. The numbers demonstrate non-compliance and, in many cases, ignorance of regulatory standards, the so-called NRs. As well, they aim to prevent these problems, contributing to the well-being and employee safety.

To understand more about NRs, continue reading. We have separated the main information on the topic so you can check what these standards are, what they are for and what the penalties are for companies that do not comply with them.

What are regulatory standards and what are they for?

The Ministry of Labor and Employment establishes regulatory standards that companies must apply to ensure the health of employees. There are 35 current standards. Each one has specific parameters, but they all aim to contribute to worker safety.

The objective of creating these guidelines is to offer adequate conditions for employees to act safely. It is worth highlighting that NRs are important for both professionals and organizations. This is because workplace accidents can cause a number of problems for the company, such as:

– Leave of absence of employees due to health problems;
– Reduction in productivity;
– Negative image of the business;
– Problems in the organization’s climate;
– Costs of hiring temporary employees to replace those injured;
– Possible occurrences of labor lawsuits.

What is the classification of standards?

Every company must check which regulatory standards fit their respective activities in order to comply with the obligations. NRs classified into three categories, in accordance with Ordinance No. 787: general, special and sectoral.

GENERAL: are those that concern aspects arising from the legal relationship provided for by law, without being conditioned by other requirements, such as activities, facilities, equipment or specific sectors and economic activities.

SPECIAL: related to the execution of work, considering activities, facilities or equipment employed, without being conditioned to specific sectors or economic activities.

SECTORAL: are the guidelines that regulate the execution of work in specific sectors or economic activities.

What are the penalties for companies that do not comply with regulatory standards?

By not complying with the rules, the company may be held liable by the Ministry of Labor in administrative, social security, labor, tax, civil and criminal terms.

Fines, additional payments, such as hazardous and unhealthy conditions, medical treatment expenses, lifetime pension, among other charges are sent to organizations that do not comply with the NRs. In more serious cases, when an employee dies due to an accident at work, the company may be held liable for the crime of bodily injury or homicide.