On the threshold of 2026: waiting for miracles – working for changes

Dear readers!

Another difficult year for all of us is coming to an end, a year of Ukraine's struggle for the right to life, independence and freedom of choice, for a society where democratic values prevail and where people and their lives and health are the centre of the universe! This is an ideal that, without a doubt, most Ukrainians strive for.

At the same time, this cherished ideal is being fought for not only on the front lines in open warfare and behind the scenes by anti-corruption agencies. Each of us fights for it every day at our workplace in all spheres of activity in Ukraine. We have become maximalists, and the lack of visible results, wherever it may be, causes a violent public reaction and discontent.

Every month, with your help, the magazine meticulously and scrupulously monitors everything related to occupational safety in Ukraine. We highlight all problems because they are clearly visible when brought to light, and change can be made. One such problem has long been recognised by public institutions: the inability of officials to create modern, high-quality, easy-to-use regulations that are agreed upon by all interested parties, particularly in the field of occupational safety and health. A striking example of this is the pro-European draft law "On the Safety and Health of Workers at Work," which has been "kneaded" behind the scenes of power for an unacceptably long time. It is evident that we will enter the new year with the same old vehicle (legislation), even though it seems that more than enough effort has been made to move forward with a modern one.

Here is another example that caused concern and confusion among employers. Before December, occupational safety engineers were surprised by the new Procedure for organising and conducting mandatory medical examinations of certain categories of employees. It is difficult to understand the logic of the creators of this document. After all, every year before 1 December, employers already had to determine the categories of such employees and then agree on the relevant lists with the State Labour Service. This means that specialists did not have time to study and analyse in detail the new regulatory act governing the very important area of occupational safety.

Moreover, and this has already become the norm in lawmaking, this document was not supported by trade unions, which are primarily called upon to protect the rights of workers, in particular the right to healthy work. This further confirms that the new, supposedly integrative document, which was intended to introduce continuous monitoring of workers' health, falls short of its goal. In addition, it creates an excessive burden not only on employers but also on other participants in the "medical examination" procedure. First and foremost, on the State Labour Service (see A. Sevruk's article "The State Labour Service and compulsory medical examinations: powers without grounds?", p. 52) and on healthcare institutions, which have been involved in this process so "deeply" for the first time and are neither methodologically nor organisationally prepared for it. And how many absolutely illogical and contradictory requirements are there in this document that experts cannot answer?

This is probably why neither the Ministry of Health nor the State Labour Service responded to the invitation to participate in an open webinar (which attracted around 1,000 occupational safety specialists!) and answer questions or provide substantive explanations. It is difficult to explain this. So, there is no need to mention the function of the authorities to conduct information work with society, social dialogue, and trust. We talk about it, but we do not see any movement.

In the previous version of the above-mentioned Order, the Ministry of Health did not act as the main executor, because organisationally everything was closed on the State Labour Service (previously on the SES), and the institutions of the Ministry of Health system conducted medical examinations according to a simpler procedure than that prescribed in the new document. Now, medical officials will have to rack their brains to breathe life into their masterpiece of preventive medicine.

I am not exaggerating when I say that 2026 will be marked by a new procedure for organising and conducting mandatory medical examinations for certain categories of employees. We will study it, discuss it, refine it and... change it. Everything as usual. Unless, of course, the regulators throw us another surprise.

And the magazine will keep its finger on the pulse of all these events. Stay with us in the new year 2026.