International treaties require an occupational health and safety act in the business life. This act which was promulgated as of 1 January 2013, aims to prevent accidents involving death or personal injury in many factories and workplaces. Acar Copartner Health and Safety Unit providing specialized services for prevention of the accidents in the textile sector, offers special solutions for applications that are included in the new regulation. This new regulation brings significant sanctions in its wake in terms of occupational health and safety. According to decisions taken in consequence of risk assessments, it will be determined whether this work will continue or not. The work cannot continue without eliminating the risk. It is stated that this system will minimize these problems with preventive sanctions if it is considered that 2000 workers lost their lives in 80000 accidents a year in Turkey.
The most important reason of this application that should be made in EU harmonization process is the frequent work accidents. The act covers both private sector and public employees and also appeals to a huge audience in number. The part that remains outside the occupational health and safety act will be security forces, disaster and emergency units, home services and work places of artisans but the artisans that employ workers will be in the scope of law.
In law, work places are categorized into three according to degree of danger in the work as “very dangerous, dangerous, slightly dangerous”. Occupational safety experts that that have (A) class certificate will work in very dangerous work places, those with (B) class certificate will work in dangerous work places and those with (C) class certificate in less dangerous workplaces. All workplaces of these categories will employ physician. In previous practice, there was external specialist physician support that employer provide and this practice is annulled now and according to occupational health and safety law, occupational safety expert and business physician have become compulsory for all work places.
Financial support will be provided for small businesses
Because of limit of 50 workers is removed in occupational health and safety practices in the new law, there will be new costs for small businesses. But with a provision inserted into law, Ministry of Labour and Social Security will subsidize employers with less than 10 employees. This law will enter into force two years after the date of publication of the law in the firms of the very dangerous class which have less than 10 employees, three years after in the firms of the dangerous class which have less than 10 employees, a year after in workplaces of all danger classes which have 10 or more employees. The most outstanding issue is that whether there will be enough occupational safety expert and physician for all the establishments.
With the occupational health and safety law, people who have no training certificate will be not employed in jobs that require vocational training. With employment of occupational safety expert and business physician, some analysis and trainings that employers should perform, are determined regardless of number of employees and business sector. Risk Analysis and Risk Analysis Training, Occupational Health and Safety Basic Training, Emergency Action Plan are steps expected from employers. In controls carried out by the Ministry, an administrative fine may be given in case of occupational health and safety violations and penalties may be up to 80 000 Turkish liras. Also in work places, such sanctions as activity pause may be imposed. Work places which carry the potential for big industrial accidents prepare big accident prevention policy or safety report before they begin to work. After these documents are reviewed in Ministry, they may begin to operate. The employer who does not prepare Major Accident Prevention Policy Document will be punished with a fine up to 80000 pounds and the employer who does not prepare Safety Report will be given a fine up to 50000 pounds.
