8 questions on the obligation to appoint an occupational physician and occupational safety expert
1. Is there an obligation to appoint an occupational safety expert and occupational physician?
Yes, there is.
Occupational health and safety obligations, especially for workplaces classified as low-risk, have been postponed for many years. However, as of January 1, 2025, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, regardless of the workplace hazard class and number of employees, the obligation to appoint an occupational safety expert and an occupational physician has begun in all workplaces, including CSOs.
Additionally, a regulation regarding occupational health and safety training was established with Circular No. 40 titled “Regarding Occupational Health and Safety Training” dated February 7, 2025. This circular outlines the obligations of employers and employees regarding OHS training and details how such training should be conducted. In short, the requirement to have an occupational safety expert and an occupational physician in low-risk workplaces, which had been postponed until 2025, now applies to all workplaces. CSOs are subject to the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 when they are considered employers with employees. In other words, if there are employees in CSOs, the occupational health and safety obligations that employers must fulfill also apply to CSOs. With the regulation in January, employers are required to fulfill all legal obligations related to occupational health and safety, regardless of the number of employees, even if they have only one employee.
2. What are the obligations that CSOs must pay attention to regarding occupational health and safety services?
There are four mandatory obligations related to occupational health and safety services. During inspections, it is expected that all of these obligations have been fulfilled by the employer. These obligations are:
- Developing an emergency action plan
- Conducting a risk analysis and preparing a risk assessment report
- Conducting pre-employment and periodic medical examinations for employees
- Providing occupational health and safety training to employees
3. Who is the employer's representative? What are the legal obligations?
This legislative amendment imposes responsibilities on employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees. The employer's representative acts on behalf of the employer STÖ and may assume various responsibilities, such as ensuring occupational health and safety. In STÖs, the employer's representative may be one of the board members or a senior manager (e.g., general coordinator).
Article 4 of the law imposes the following obligations on employers:
- Conducting risk assessments in the workplace
- Preparing emergency plans, firefighting, and first aid measures
- Developing an evacuation plan
- Recording and reporting workplace accidents and occupational diseases
- Conducting health surveillance
- Informing employees
- Providing occupational health and safety training to employees
- Appointing an employee representative/representatives
4. How can I fulfill these obligations? What are the methods for obtaining services?
- You can purchase services from joint health and safety units (OSGB).
OSGBs are organizations that provide services to workplaces through experts such as OSH specialists, workplace physicians, and other health personnel. This method can be a cost-effective solution, especially for small and medium-sized CSOs. OSGBs can offer various services such as risk assessment, emergency plan preparation, training, and health screenings.
- You can obtain services from employee health centers (ÇASMER).
ÇASMERs are centers operated by the public sector that provide OSH services to workplaces. Community health center units affiliated with provincial health directorates have become employee health centers (ÇASMER). Similar to OSGBs, they provide various OSH services through specialized personnel, but they may not be as widespread as OSGBs and may not be available in every province.
- You can hire an occupational safety expert and an occupational physician.
Large-scale workplaces such as CSOs can hire their own OSH experts and occupational physicians. However, this method may be more costly than others, and there may be difficulties in finding specialized personnel. Employers are responsible for ensuring that the occupational physician, occupational safety expert, and other health personnel working at the workplace, as well as the OSGBs from which services are obtained, are assigned with a valid authorization certificate in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Law.
5. What can CSOs facing financial difficulties do? Is it possible for them to obtain certification and provide the service themselves?
Considering the financial difficulties faced by CSOs , allocating a budget for OSH services may strain the organization's resources.
However, CSOs are expected to strive to fulfill their OSH obligations by developing solutions suitable for their workplace budgets. At this point, only individuals in an employer capacity can obtain certification by completing the training programs specified by the Ministry and, in this way, provide occupational health and safety services (including the creation of emergency action plans, risk analysis, and risk assessment reports) to their workplaces (excluding pre-employment and periodic examinations), as well as deliver OHS training programs in accordance with the established standards and methods. Special attention should also be paid to potential issues that may arise if the employer's representative obtains a certificate and their term of office expires or changes.
Application links: https://casgem.gov.tr/egitimler/online-basvurular/
https://esertifika.anadolu.edu.tr/program/14/isveren-ve-isveren-vekili-icin-is-sagligi-ve-guvenligi
Important note: The requirement to conduct an exam at the end of these training programs was abolished by the regulation dated March 5, 2025. However, differences still exist in practice. The registration fee for these applications is 750 TL as of 2025. For candidates who were unable to successfully complete the program in the previous period and will re-enroll in the program, the registration renewal fee has been set at 500 TL.
In conclusion, obtaining a certificate in this way to fulfill the responsibilities that CSOs facing financial difficulties are required to fulfill through OSH may provide them with convenience in the medium to long term.
6. What are the penalties and inspections if we fail to fulfill our obligations?
The Ministry has stated that it will not impose automatic penalties at this time. However, when the Ministry of Labor and Social Security or the Ministry of Interior conducts an inspection at the workplace, they may impose an administrative fine based on the grounds that legal obligations have not been fulfilled.
7. What needs to be done for volunteers?
Volunteers are not considered insured under the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, and volunteering does not form the basis for social insurance relations.
The legal obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 apply only to employees (all full-time and part-time employees). Therefore, volunteers are outside the scope of Law No. 6331. However, addressing OHS services in a way that also covers volunteers contributes to the development of an occupational health and safety culture and enables the necessary measures to be taken to prevent future workplace accidents. In other words, it is recommended that the risks volunteers may encounter in the workplace be taken into account and that the necessary measures be taken at the workplace.
8. Is there an obligation to appoint a separate occupational safety expert and workplace physician for economic enterprises?
When associations have an economic enterprise in addition to the association, the question arises as to how the obligations related to OSH, service procurement, and training will be fulfilled independently of the association. In this regard, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 and related regulations, economic enterprises must be treated as separate workplaces, and OHS obligations must be fulfilled by conducting a risk assessment specific to the economic enterprise's field of activity. (Note: Economic enterprises have a separate workplace number in the Social Security Institution (SGK).)
Therefore, the obligations mentioned above, such as having an occupational health physician, an occupational safety expert, preparing emergency plans, and providing training to employees, must be fulfilled separately for the economic enterprise.
At this point, it should also be noted that if an association has offices in different provinces, i.e., different workplaces, it must obtain services through an occupational health and safety institution located within the province where the offices are located, independently of the association. On the other hand, in practice, if the SGK numbers of the employees working in this office are registered through the association, the employees can undergo periodic examinations and receive the relevant training through the institution from which the association receives services.
