SCOPE OF THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

The Occupational Health and Safety Code numbered 6331 (hereinafter referred to as the “Code”) has entered into force on the date of 1 January 2013 and provided the regulation of the provisions regarding occupational health and safety, which heretofore were regulated in diverse codes, in a unique code.

Scope

The aim of the Code, involvement of the vast majority of workers into the scope of protection, becomes visible through replacement of the word “worker” with the word “employee” in the provisions herein and through adoption of a uniform practice thereof, unlike the previous legal situation. Hence the Code applies to all workers in both public and private sectors, regardless of the occupational code being subject to and of whether or not they are subject to any of the said codes. That is, the protection provided by the Code includes employers and their representatives,  workers -without  exclusion of apprentices and interns- in any field of activity.

It is notable to know that the use of the word “employee” placing “worker” includes primarily the workers of public sector into the scope and is in compliance with (the Article 51/1 of) the Constitution. However, the notion of “worker” shall not be considered within the limits of the work upon a labor contract given the fact that the Code does not exclude interns and apprentices.

In the light of the abovementioned statements, it is expressly understood that the scope of application of the Code is considerably wide.. Two main reasons of this situation are as follows:

• The high unemployment rate in Turkey leading to the will to cover a notably high number of business lines,
• The unique and the lex specialis character of the Code with regard to the occupational health and safety area leading to the will to unify all related labor relations.

Exceptions

People and fields of activity placed out of scope by the Article 2/II of the Code are as follows:

• Activities of the Turkish Armed Forces, the police and the Undersecretariat of National Intelligence Organization with the exception of those employed in workplaces such as factories, maintenance centers, sewing workshops etc.,
• Intervention activities of disaster and emergency units,
• Household services,
• People producing goods and services on their own behalf without employment of workers,
• Prison workshop, training, security and vocational course activities as part of rehabilitation works during the enforcement services for convicts and inmates.

Nevertheless, considering the fact that certain people placed in the abovementioned category such as those working in household services or in facilities and workplaces within penal institutions and prisons are subject to insurance pursuant to The Social Security and General Health Insurance Code numbered 5510, their exclusion from the protection provided by the Code constitutes an explicit contradiction.

Employers’ Duties

The employer shall delegate or employ occupational safety specialists, occupational physicians and other healthcare personnel taking into consideration the danger class of the workplace determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The employer shall fulfill his obligations upon the risk evaluation, supervision, measurement and research as well as the preparations regarding emergency plans, firefighting measures and first-aid organization at the workplace according to the danger class to which the workplace is subject. As a result of any breach thereof, the employer shall be subject to an administrative fine.

References

Any reference of the legislations to The Labor Code numbered 4857 regarding occupational health and safety is deemed to be made to The Occupational Health and Safety Code. Notwithstanding the status of the said references, the provisions regarding occupational health and safety in The Turkish Code of Obligations (“TCO”) numbered 6098, namely the subclauses II and III of the Article 417, are not abrogated by the Code. Consequently, the Article 4 of the Code competes with the Article 417/II and 417/III of the TCO. Nonetheless, in the event of a conflict of laws, the initially applicable provision is The Occupational Health and Safety Code due to its character as the lex specialis.

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