- IF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN?

WHAT HAPPENS IF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN?

If the occupational health and safety obligations brought by the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 and related regulations are not met at the workplace, the risk of occupational accident or occupational disease will increase. If it is a result of a work accident or occupational disease, the employer will have legal, administrative and penal liability.

1. Legal sanctions:

The employer's requirement to take occupational health and safety measures arises from the employer's obligation to protect and watch over the worker, which is regulated in article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098. In the event that the employer does not take the occupational health and safety measures required by the employment contract, it will be required to pay a high amount of compensation to the worker or his beneficiary relatives who die, are injured or have an occupational disease.

2. Criminal sanctions:

If the employer consciously refrains from fulfilling its obligations, there is also a criminal liability in case of work accident or occupational disease.

As a matter of fact, it is frequently seen in judicial decisions that many employers and other responsible persons in the workplace are punished for injury and murder in accordance with the relevant articles of the Turkish Penal Code as a result of work accidents.

3. Administrative sanctions:

3.1: Administrative fine:

In Article 26 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331; The amounts of administrative fines for employers who violate the occupational health and safety measures in this law are stated.

On the official website of the Turkish Metal Industrialists' Union, there is a table regarding the amount of fines to be applied in 2021. (https://www.mess.org.tr/media/filer_public/9f/9b/9f9b714a-6989-4402-8f4b-bf01e59129b9/6331_tablo.pdf )

3.2: Suspension of work:

Article 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 states that labor inspectors affiliated to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security will inspect whether occupational health and safety obligations are complied with at workplaces. If, as a result of the inspection, the labor inspectors are convinced that the relevant workplace poses a life-threatening threat to the employees, a suspension of work will be sanctioned in accordance with Article 25 of the Law.

3.3: Ban from public tender:

Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 25/A. In mining workplaces where a fatal work accident occurred, the employer, whose fault is determined by a judicial decision, will be prohibited by the court from participating in public tenders for a period of two years.