The Ministry of Labor and Social Security has made occupational health and safety a priority area. In recent years, to prevent and reduce workplace accidents in Turkey, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 introduced the role of occupational safety specialists. Official records show an average of 172 workplace accidents per day, including several fatal incidents and many injuries. These figures are based on registered events; unreported accidents are known to exist as well. To better protect workers in both public and private sectors, the law requires each workplace to have an occupational health and safety specialist. Alongside this legislation, the Ministry developed the ÇSGB Occupational Health and Safety Registration, Tracking and Monitoring Program.
What Is Occupational Health and Safety?
The regulation for public and private workplaces mandates that businesses provide occupational health and safety personnel, and in many cases an occupational physician, depending on the number of employees. For workplaces with ten or fewer employees, the state covers the cost of the occupational health and safety specialist, which supports small enterprises. Workplaces with 50 or more employees must establish an occupational health and safety committee responsible for taking necessary precautions against workplace accidents, preparing emergency action plans, ensuring routine health checks for employees, and organizing training and seminars about workplace health and safety. The occupational safety specialist assesses the main causes of accidents at a workplace and prepares reports recommending corrective measures. Because working conditions differ among industries and workplaces, occupational health and safety practices are tailored to each workplace’s risks and needs.
To become an occupational health and safety specialist, candidates typically graduate from certain academic backgrounds such as engineering, architecture, technical education, physics, or chemistry. Candidates attend courses offered by universities or accredited private organizations, complete at least 220 hours of training, and must pass the related exam to receive certification. Certificates are categorized by workplace risk level: C for low-risk, B for moderate-risk, and A for high-risk workplaces. A score of 70 or higher is required to pass the exam, which the Ministry of Labor and Social Security administers twice a year. Employers who meet the criteria but do not provide an occupational health and safety specialist face significant fines. The ÇSGB Registration, Tracking and Monitoring Program helps employers find certified specialists and occupational physicians when needed.
Benefits of the Registration, Tracking and Monitoring Program
The ÇSGB program shows how many occupational health specialists and family physicians are available in your province. Through the platform you can contact firms that provide occupational health services and, based on your workplace’s conditions, recruit a suitable specialist or company physician. Once you reach an agreement, you can assign the selected occupational safety specialist and workplace physician to your company using the ÇSGB system. The platform is user-friendly: an authorized company representative (owner or manager) logs in with an e-Government password, selects the specialist and physician, and completes the contract online. This process automatically notifies the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, eliminating the need to send additional paperwork. If a contract is terminated for any reason, the employer must notify the Ministry in writing within five days.
When selecting a specialist through the ÇSGB program, it is important to know your workplace’s risk classification. If a workplace classified as high-risk hires a specialist with a C-level (low-risk) certificate, the agreement will be considered invalid and not approved by the general directorate. The Ministry’s official site provides guidance on which class corresponds to each sector and activity. The program also displays the number of certified specialists in each province, making it easier to find available professionals. For some low-risk workplaces, a separate workplace physician may not be required; the occupational health firms you contract with often have physicians on staff and will arrange physician services on your behalf. In such cases, you should record the physician’s identity information in the ÇSGB system.
Agreements with occupational health and safety specialists should be active and verifiable—not just paperwork. In large companies, in-house occupational health staff are present continuously; in smaller businesses, specialists may visit monthly for inspections. For the health of your employees and the safety of your workplace, schedule regular inspections and follow the recommendations of your occupational safety specialist. To avoid heavy penalties and ensure safe operations, every workplace should have an appropriate specialist assigned. We wish you safe, accident-free work.