Legislative Updates in OHS and Fire Safety 2026: What's Changing for Employers

What the Amendment to the OHS Act Brings and How It Will Affect Your Company

The year 2026 brings two fundamental changes in the field of occupational health and safety that employers should not underestimate. Both stem from Act No. 318/2025 Coll., parts of which come into effect gradually. This article summarizes only verified legislative updates, no speculation or client statistics. If your company employs even a single worker under an employment agreement (HPP or DPP), these changes directly affect you – and the penalties for non-compliance can be substantial.

Electronic Recording of Workplace Injuries from 1 January 2026

The most visible change, starting exactly on 1 January 2026, is the obligation to keep records of workplace injuries electronically via the portal of the State Labour Inspection Office (SÚIP). The existing paper injury logbook remains as a source document, but the key injury record (including reporting changes and the final assessment) must now be entered directly into the central SÚIP system by the employer.

What this means in practice:

• Registration and Access: Every employer (both legal entities and natural persons) must secure access to the SÚIP electronic system. It is ideal to do this in advance, avoid the January rush, and verify who will be responsible for the entries.
• Entry Deadlines: The deadlines for reporting an injury remain unchanged – the obligation to immediately inform the inspectorate if a hospitalization exceeds 5 days or a fatality occurs still applies. However, everything is now recorded in the electronic system, which will also serve as a basis for inspections.
• OHS Documentation: This change necessarily affects the company’s internal directives and trauma plan. Procedures for reporting injuries must be updated to correspond with the electronic format. If you use external services for OHS for companies, consult with the provider about updating the documentation in a timely manner.

The Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll., § 105) always requires the employer to keep injury records. Amendment 318/2025 Coll. only changes the form – from paper to digital. Ignoring this obligation means risking a penalty, which, in conjunction with other OHS deficiencies, can reach up to CZK 2,000,000.

OHS Coordinator on Site and OZO – Changes from 1 November 2025

The second part of the amendment, effective from 1 November 2025, clarifies the status and duties of the OHS coordinator on a construction site (§ 14 of Act No. 309/2006 Coll.) and the professionally qualified person (OZO) in risk prevention. For companies acting as builders or construction clients, it brings several important clarifications:

• Expansion of the Scope of Constructions: An OHS coordinator must always be appointed whenever multiple contractors are working on a site – regardless of whether the construction requires a building permit or just a notification. The amendment explicitly confirms this requirement and tightens supervision.
• OHS Plan on Site: The documentation must be up-to-date, signed, and correspond to the actual situation on the construction site. A formal, “tick-box” plan will not withstand an inspection.
• OZO in Risk Prevention: The professionally qualified person (formerly “safety technician”) must meet the qualification requirements according to Act No. 309/2006 Coll., and the amendment emphasizes their responsibility for identifying and evaluating risks. If your company does not have its own qualified employee, outsourcing OHS is the solution.

The costs for a flat-rate OHS service provided by an external supplier are approximately from CZK 1,500 per month, depending on the number of employees and the nature of operations. The exact price can only be determined after assessing the specific scope – use the non-binding inquiry for this purpose.

Impacts on OHS and Fire Safety Documentation

Every legislative change must be reflected in the company documentation. In the case of Amendment 318/2025 Coll., this mainly concerns the following documents:

• Trauma Plan and Injury Reporting Directive: Updating the procedure to correspond with the SÚIP electronic recording system.
• Risk Assessment and Work Categorization: If work activities or the environment have changed, it is necessary to reassess the categorization according to Act No. 258/2000 Coll. and incorporate it into the risk register.
• Fire Safety Documentation: The OHS amendment affects fire safety indirectly, but when updating directives, it is also advisable to check compliance with Act No. 133/1985 Coll. and Decree No. 246/2001 Coll. – especially the classification into a fire hazard category, training deadlines for managing employees (once every 3 years), and professional training for preventive fire patrols.

Practical advice: if you already cooperate with an external company for OHS and fire safety, request a documentation review with a view to 2026. If not, it is high time to start addressing the situation.

What to Prepare for During an Inspection in 2026

During inspections in 2026, labour inspectorates and fire rescue services will particularly monitor:

1. Functional access to the SÚIP system and the existence of records (even null records – that is also information).
2. Updated OHS documentation reflecting Amendment 318/2025 Coll.
3. Valid professional competence certificates – for electrical inspections, for example, the certified electrical inspector’s certificate according to Government Decree No. 194/2022 Coll. is valid for only 3 years (not 5 years, as is sometimes mistakenly believed). If your company has designated technical electrical equipment, do not forget about electrical installation inspections within the legal inspection intervals according to Government Decree No. 190/2022 Coll. and relevant ČSN standards.

Summary and Recommended Steps

The changes are not revolutionary, but they require timely preparation. We recommend:

• Securing access to the SÚIP electronic system before the end of 2025.
• Reviewing and updating the trauma plan and OHS directives.
• Verifying the validity of professional certificates (certified electrical inspectors, OZO, fire safety preventionists).
• For construction projects, checking whether the OHS coordinator is appointed in accordance with the amendment.

Are you looking for a partner to manage OHS, fire safety, and electrical inspections for you? Contact us – we will gladly do the job for you as if we were doing it for ourselves. Write to info@sohe.cz, call +420 724 689 762, or use our non-binding inquiry.