Abstract:

Occupational safety is closely linked to the work environment organisation[1], which  impacts on human well-being, health, productivity and length of working age. Appropriate creation of work environment allows the organisation to develop, compete on the market and function in accordance with the applicable occupational health and safety standards. Therefore, it is a fundamental factor influencing the effective growth of every business activity. There are many factors of work environment that may have a negative impact on occupational safety (e.g. poor organisation of work, occurrence of onerous factors), which may have a destructive influence on the employee's well-being. They usually result in reduction of physical or mental performance and excessive fatigue leading to reduced productivity or accidents in the workplace. They also often have more serious health consequences, such as disabilities as a direct result of occupational accident or diseases. The work environment plays an important role in all sectors of the national economy. One of them is the furniture industry, which for many years has been one of the most dynamically developing branches of the Polish economy. Polish furniture is sold all over the world and its production is one of the most significant industries of both Polish and world economy. In 2019, the Polish furniture industry reached the value of sold production of 49 billion zloty, which accounted for over 4% of the total sold production of own products[2]. Approximately 90% of the produced furniture is exported[3]. Analysing the statistical data, it can be noticed that companies that have mastered the furniture market in Poland are primarily micro and small enterprises (they account for over 98%[4] of the total number of entities on the furniture manufacturing market), a large proportion of which are family businesses. Unfortunately, the sector, in spite of significant sale successes, technological, technical and organisational progress, is characterised by numerous factors that  negatively influence the quality of working conditions and non-compliance with contemporary OHS standards. It is reflected in the high level of threats and a large number of accidents at work, which weaken human capital to a large extent.