İŞ SAĞLIĞI VE GÜVENLİĞİ

KANUNU

LAW FOR OCCUPATIONAL

HEALTH AND SAFETY
Law for Occupational Health and Safety in Turkey has
not been developed fully yet, to cover all the existing
areas of industry and occupation, in accordance to
European Law. Studies for conformity is on its way. In
the meantime, there are older laws and legislations in
use.

• State of current law

• What the new law will bring
 Laws and Legislations put into use in Turkey
the followings:

• Dilaver Paşa Nizamnamesi (1865)

• Maadin Nizamnamesi (1869)
• 28 Nisan 1921 tarih ve 114 sayılı Zonguldak
Ereğli Havzası Fahmiyesinde Mevcut Kömür
Tozlarının Amele Menafii Umumiyesine
Füruhtuna Dair Kanun.
• 10 Eylül 1921 tarih ve 151 sayılı Ereğli Havza-i
Fehmiyesi Maden Amelesinin Hukukuna
Müteallik Kanun.
• 3008 Sayılı iş kanunu (1936) Has been valid for 31 years.

• 931 Sayılı İş Kanunu (1967) Has been valid for 39 months.

• 1475 Sayılı İş Kanunu (1971) Has been valid for 32 years.

• 4857 Sayılı İş Kanunu (2003) Is currently valid.

Legislation of Article Number 4857 has 31 regulations.

18 of these are in conformity with European Law, and
remaining 13, not.
Legislation includes 1 notification (tebliğ), 2 sets of
regulations set by TAEK (Türkiye Atom Enerjisi Kurumu)
(for safety for radioactivity,
And The Set of Regfulations to prevent large scale work
accidents in industry, set by Çevre ve Şehircilik
Bakanlığı (Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation)
 The Characteristics of the Article 4857, and
legislations which are currently in use:

• Based on observation and detection, focuses on

results and consequences (reactive).
• Contribution of workers is limited.
• Covers a part of the workers only.
• No priority order in management.
• Protective approach
 The Characteristics of the new vision which is
under development:

• Based on risk determination, has a preventive approach

(pro-active)
• Provides contribution of workers extensively at every
stage.
• Gets the support of qualified persons, seeks certification.
• Provides communication between related parties, includes
the contribution of each one of them.
• Notification and registration of events, statistics
• Structured and qualified education and documentation.

• The new law and legislations is aiming to set up the new

culture of Occupational Health and Safety, based on the
prevention of work accidents and protection from work
related illnesses.
 Overview of the new İSG (İşçi Sağlığı ve
Güvenliği) Occupational Health and Safety Law :

• Duties of employer and employees,

• Internal and external inspection,
• Education, notification, contribution,
• İSG organisation and coordination,
• Managerial and monetary penalties.
 All the employees of the government and the
private sector are covered by the new law.

• Irregardless of the number of employees, all

white collar office workers, bodily workers,
employers, apprentices, trainees, whether
employed by the government or the private
sector in all areas, including agriculture are
covered by the law.
• Excluded are the members of TSK (Turkish
Armed Forces) and the police force, rescue
teams operating in natural disasters, persons
working inside a home and those working for
their own selves.
 İSG (İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği) applications
became compulsory at every work place.

• Provided by the work place or company:

• Work Safety experts, workplace doctor and other
security personell, preferably employed by the
company itself,
• Formation of all İSG related teams.
• Provided externally by:
• OSGB (Organize Sanayi Geliştirme Bölgesi)
Local Industrial Estates,
• Ministry of Health and Social Security.
Government is providing monetary support to
small companies employing less than 10
workers to cover their security expenses.

• Exempting government offices, all the

“Dangerous” and “Very Dangerous” work places
employing less than 10 workers will be directly
supported by the government.

• Work places having less levels of danger,

employing less than 10 workers will be
supported by the permission of Council of
Ministers (Bakanlar Kurulu)
Work Places will be classified into 3 groups as:

• “VERY DANGEROUS”. These will employ

Grade-A İSG Expert
• “DANGEROUS”. These will employ Grade-B İSG
Expert
• “LESS DANGEROUS”. These will employ
Grade-C İSG Expert
• Classification will be done according to the main
activity in the work place.
To facilitate Occupational Health and Safety
(İSG), every work place is obligated to do a
Risk Evaluation.

Dangers effecting the health and safety of

workers at every work place will be determined
and necessary precautions will be taken to
elliminate or reduce them.
 Risk Evaluation:

• In risk evaluation, dangers already existing at a

work place or that can come from outside will be
determined,
• Factors that can convert the dangers into risks
will be analysed and graduated
• Control measures will be determined to elliminat
or reduce them, as to minimise risks into
acceptable limits, will be determined.
 When is Risk Evaluation done ?

• At the beginning of a work activity,

• When a change is done in the work activity,
• When work accidents or work-related illnesses
occur,
• Periodically, at equal time intervals.
 Acceptable Risk Level is:

That will not cause any casualties or injuries,

conformable with the regulations and the
prevention policies of the work place.
 Precautions will be determined according to
the levels of risks that are evaluated.

• LOW RISK : will be reduced to acceptable limits by

simple precautions and spending a minimum time.
• MEDIUM RISK : will be reduced to acceptable limits by
greater precautions and longer time.
• HIGH RISK : will be reduced to acceptable limits by
utilising all the resources of the work place.
• UNACCEPTABLE RISK : will be reduced to acceptable
limits by taking all the precautions including the stopping
of the work.
 Means of Preventing Dangers:

• REPLACEMENT : A dangerous material, tool or method

will be replaced by the one which generates less or no
danger.
• PREVENTION AT THE SOURCE, ENCLOSURE : Dangerous
material tool or process will be isolated such that danger
it produces will be confined within the enclosure.
• ISOLATION : Dangerous area will be isolated from the
rest of the work place.
• ACCORDING TO THE SOURCE OF DANGER :
a) Duration of exposure to the danger will be reduced
b) Dose of the danger exposed will be reduced
c) Detection and alarm systems will be installed.
 Approaches in the prevention of dangers:

• PERSONAL PROTECTİON : Bearing in mind

that the precautions taken to reduce a danger
may fail, appropriate peronal protection gear
(Kişisel Koruyucu Donanım KDD) for every
worker should be provided.
• When a new method is put into use, it must
not generate a new danger of its own.
 Documentation:

Risk evaluation will be documented. Documentation will

contain the following information :

• Names oh the persons who have done the evaluation, their

affiliations and qualifications,
• Time at which risk evaluation is done and duration for which
it will be valid,
• Names of different sections or departments in the work
place,
• Dangers noticed and their sources,
• Risks noticed,
• Methods used in risk analysis,
• Results of Risk analses,
• Precautions set to prevent or reduce the level of dangers,
• Risk levels observed after the precautions are taken.
 Principles of Protection from Dangers:

• Analysis of risks if they can not be prevented.

• Fighting against risks at their sources.
• Prevention of risks or their reduction.
• Replacement of any materials, tools or
processes by the ones which impose less or no
dangers.
• Giving emphasis on mass protection rather than
person al protection.
• Keeping clear feom dangers as much as
possible.
 Plans will be made at workplaces for
Emergency Situations.

• To reduce the adverse effecte of emergency

situations, necessary measurements and
discussions must be made and emergency plans
must be prepared accordingly.
• Adequate number of personell and gear must be
supplied to cope with the emergency situations.
• Special education must be given to relevant
personell and exercises must be carried out.
 Any worker who is exposed to a serious and
proximate danger, has the right to refuse
working.

• Anybody who is exposed to a serious and proximate

danger, can demand necessary precautions to be taken.
• If decision is taken for necessary precautions, a worker
can refuse working until the requirements of the
precautions are taken.
• If a serious and proximate danger can not be prevented,
workers can skip the conditions above and can leave the
dangerous area or work place and go to a safe place.
This right can not be alienated.
 In case of a danger of fatality, work will be
stopped partially or completely, at a work
place.

• In mines, metal and construction

businesses and chemical industries where
danger of fatality exists, work will be
stopped immediately until a risk evaluation
is done and precautions taken.
 For work sites where fifty or more workers
work and which endure longer than 6 months,
a comittee for work safety should be formed.

Duties of the employer in this respect are as follows :

• a) Comittee directives on work safety should be put into
application,
• b) Other employers working at the same site, if any, will
be acknowledged about the comittee directives put into
effect,
• c) Any sub-contractors will also be acknowledged and
coordinated in the application of comittee directives.
 Employer is responsible for acknowledging the
employees about their rights and responsibilities about
occupational safety under the following headings :

• a) Risks of accidents,
• b) Precautions to reduce risks to acceptable
limits,
• c) Rights and responsibilities of the employees
in work accidents
• d) How to reach the archives and documentation
about the work safety
 Employees should actively take part in
occupational health and safety activities…

• a) They will be educated by the employer about

the risks and precautions.
• b) Their opinions will be taken on how to reduce
the risks by the employer
• c) Contribution of every worker to related
activities should be facilitated,
• d) Workers will be represented in every comittee
making policies of work safety.
 Employees will undergo medical check-ups
periodically.

Every worker will have a medical check-up

• When newly starts working at a plant
• When his or her workplace within the same plant
is changed,
• When a work accident has occurred or a work-
related illness has appeared.

Every worker will have a medical check-up before

starting doing a dangerous or very dangerous
job and get a medical report indicating that he is
bodily and mentally fit for the job.
 Industrial plants having a big risk of work
accidents will not start working before
preparing an accident prevention policy and
getting a safety report.

• Accident prevention policies will be examined by

the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and if
found satisfactory, will grant a report
accordingly.
At work places where more than one employer
works, coordination between them will be
established on work safety applications.

• A central administration should be established at

places where more than one employer works,
like work sites, business centers, industrial
estates etc.
Effective legal enforcements should be applied
to facilitate the acceptance and applicability of
the new law and related rules and regulations.

Monetary Penalties :
• Violation of the general responsibilities of the employer : 1,120
TL/article
• Missing risk evaluation : 3,000 TL in the first instance, 4,500 TL in
continuation.
• Missing reports of work accidents and work related illnesses : 1,680
TL/worker
• Missing health service and safety experts: 5,601 TL /worker
• Missing worker education : 1,120 TL/worker
• Missing Occupational health and safety committee :
• Work not stopped in necessity : 11,203 TL
• Missing big accident prevention policy or safety report : 61,681 TL,
98,690 TL.
• Disregard of any legislation article : 1,233 TL/article/month.