S.L. 646.8 ст. 13Floors, walls, stairs, ceilings and roofs of rooms.

(1) The employer shall take all the necessary steps to ensure that all floors, steps, stairs, passages, gangways and traffic routes are of sound and suitable construction and properly maintained, and they shall be kept free from any obstruction, from any defect in the surface, and from any substance likely to cause persons to slip, trip, fall or otherwise cause accidents.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subregulation (1):

(a) the surfaces referred to in subregulation (1) shall have no hole, slope, or opening or be uneven or slippery so as in each case to expose any persons to a risk to health or safety: Provided that no account shall be taken of an opening where adequate measures have been taken to prevent persons or objects from falling;

(b) where any process is carried out which renders the floor liable to be wet by any liquid, effective means of drainage shall be provided and maintained;

(c) all suitable measures are taken to render slip-proof any highly polished surfaces.

(3) A workplace containing a workstation must be adequately insulated, bearing in mind the type of undertaking involved and the physical activity of the workers.

(4) The employer shall provide and maintain suitable and sufficient hand-rails and, if appropriate, guards for every staircase in a building or which afford a means of exit from a building.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subregulation (4):

(a) where a staircase has an open side, there shall be suitable hand-rails on that side;

(b) where a staircase has two open sides, or where, owing to the nature of its construction or the condition of the surface of the steps or other special circumstances, a staircase is specially liable to cause accidents, a hand-rail and a lower rail, or other effective means shall be provided and maintained on both sides.

(6) The employer shall ensure that all roofs at the workplace are of sound and suitabIe construction, rendered waterproof, adequate1y maintained and not overloaded.

(7) The employer shall bar access to roofs made of materials of insufficient strength or where there is a risk of collapse of the roof or part thereof: Provided that where an urgent need arises for such work to be performed, the employer shall ensure that all suitable measures are taken in order that works can be carried out safely without risk to persons on or underneath the roof.

(8) The employer shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the surfaces of floors, walls and ceilings in rooms are of appropriate materials that allow them to be cleaned or refurbished to an appropriate standard of hygiene and that every workplace is kept in a clean state and free from any effluvia arising from any drain, sanitary convenience or nuisance.

(9) Without prejudice to the generality of subregulation (8), suitable provision shall be made to ensure that:

(a) accumulations of dirt and refuse are removed as often as required by a suitable method from the floor and benches of workrooms, and from the staircases and passages;

(b) the floor of every workroom in workplaces where fumes, dusts, fibres or vapours capable of causing ill health are generated, and the lower part of the walls thereof up to a height of two meters shall be cleaned at least once in every week by the most effective and suitable means, including by sweeping, washing or by vacuuming;

(c) all inside walls and partitions and all ceilings or tops of rooms and all walls, sides and tops of passages and staircases are adequately and appropriately kept clean, and whitewashed, painted or tiled as necessary.

(10) An employer shall ensure that transparent or translucent walls, including partitions made wholly or substantially of glass, which are situated in rooms or in the vicinity of workstations and traffic routes, are clearly indicated and made of safety materia1, and are shielded so as to prevent workers from coming into contact with the walls or from being injured should the walls shatter.