The campaign of the Polish National Labour Inspectorate aimed to raise awareness of professional drivers and employers in the road transport sector on the importance of the rest periods for drivers and to educate them on working time legislation. The main goal was to prevent road traffic accidents resulting from violations of drivers’ working time regulations or from drivers’ poor psychophysiological condition.

To spread the message, the inspectorate used a dedicated web page, publications, digital advertising, radio and local activities such as trainings, lectures. They also cooperated with the local media. As a result 141,500 people visited the web page, 56,200 hard-copy publications and guidelines during trainings, fairs and events were distributed. 2,000 employers attended the training events and over 1500 professional drivers and their employers visited information stands organised by the District Labour Inspectorate during an annual Master Truck Show. The campaigns radio spot was broadcasted 5355 times during the campaign.

Most breaches of the drivers’ working time provisions are caused by the difficulty  to understand ​the legislation and its changes, time pressure ​arising from ​the need to deliver goods on time and staff ​shortages. For that reason, the campaign web site (and publications) were used to offer information about drivers’ working time regulations and employers’ duties. The web site also contained a questionnaire asking questions related to stress level. The District Labour Inspectorate ​organised training sessions and lectures on the relevant legislation and its practical use for employers and self-employed professional drivers. ​They also provided information stands during sectoral events such as conferences, seminars, fairs, industry meetings and the biggest truck rally in Poland. To reach drivers while at work, Inspectorate developed cooperation with the local media so the inspectors had a chance to  use radio spots and to reply on-air to radio listeners’ questions on drivers’ working time and road transport safety. They also gave telephone advice to local press readers and published informative articles and banners in magazines dedicated to professional drivers and their employers.

This good practice is fully transferable to another sector or geographical context and the details are available here.

The Call for Good Practices is a recurring initiative first launched by ELA in June 2022. The purpose of the Call is to exchange, disseminate and uptake good practices and knowledge collected by Member States and other stakeholders that operate at the national, regional or local level, including social security institutions, civil society and social partner organisations. Each annual Call has a specified deadline for submission of good practices. Each year there is a different set of priorities.

The findings from the calls are anticipated to contribute to the effective application and enforcement of EU labour mobility law within the EU, by encouraging good practice exchange, and their potential further application by Member States.