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Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
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Important: select the countries AND a theme (no result is displayed if no information is available).
Data is often available only for lower theme levels. In these cases, it is important to explicitly select those levels.

Countries

  1. +Africa
    1. Africa (all)
    2. Algeria
    3. Angola
    4. Benin
    5. Botswana
    6. Burkina Faso
    7. Burundi
    8. Cameroon
    9. Central African Republic
    10. Chad
    11. Comoros
    12. Congo
    13. Côte d'Ivoire
    14. Democratic Republic of the Congo
    15. Djibouti
    16. Egypt
    1. Equatorial Guinea
    2. Eritrea
    3. Eswatini
    4. Gabon
    5. Ghana
    6. Guinea
    7. Kenya
    8. Lesotho
    9. Libya
    10. Madagascar
    11. Malawi
    12. Mali
    13. Mauritania
    14. Mauritius
    15. Morocco
    16. Mozambique
    1. Namibia
    2. Niger
    3. Rwanda
    4. Senegal
    5. Seychelles
    6. Sierra Leone
    7. Somalia
    8. South Africa
    9. Sudan
    10. Tanzania, United Republic of
    11. Togo
    12. Tunisia
    13. Uganda
    14. Zambia
    15. Zimbabwe
  2. +Americas
    1. Americas (all)
    2. Antigua and Barbuda
    3. Argentina
    4. Bahamas
    5. Barbados
    6. Belize
    7. Bolivia, Plurinational State of
    8. Canada
    9. Chile
    10. Colombia
    11. Costa Rica
    12. Cuba
    1. Dominica
    2. Dominican Republic
    3. Ecuador
    4. El Salvador
    5. Grenada
    6. Guatemala
    7. Guyana
    8. Haiti
    9. Honduras
    10. Jamaica
    11. Mexico
    12. Nicaragua
    1. Panama
    2. Paraguay
    3. Peru
    4. Puerto Rico
    5. Saint Lucia
    6. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
    7. Suriname
    8. Trinidad and Tobago
    9. United States
    10. Uruguay
    11. Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  3. +Arab States
    1. Arab States (all)
    2. Bahrain
    3. Jordan
    4. Kuwait
    1. Lebanon
    2. Oman
    3. Qatar
    1. Saudi Arabia
    2. United Arab Emirates
    3. Yemen
  4. +Asia
    1. Asia (all)
    2. Australia
    3. China
    4. India
    1. Korea, Republic of
    2. Malaysia
    3. New Zealand
    4. Philippines
    1. Singapore
    2. Thailand
    3. Viet Nam
  5. +Europe
    1. Europe (all)
    2. Albania
    3. Armenia
    4. Azerbaijan
    5. Belarus
    6. Bulgaria
    7. Croatia
    8. Cyprus
    9. Denmark
    10. Finland
    11. France
    12. Georgia
    1. Greece
    2. Ireland
    3. Italy
    4. Kazakhstan
    5. Kyrgyzstan
    6. Latvia
    7. Moldova, Republic of
    8. Netherlands
    9. North Macedonia
    10. Norway
    11. Poland
    1. Portugal
    2. Romania
    3. Russian Federation
    4. Spain
    5. Sweden
    6. Switzerland
    7. Tajikistan
    8. Turkmenistan
    9. Ukraine
    10. United Kingdom
    11. Uzbekistan

Themes

  1. +Description of national OSH regulatory framework
    1. General description of OSH regulatory framework
  2. +Scope, coverage and exclusions
    1. Health and safety provisions cover physical and psychological health
    2. Definition of worker as defined in the relevant OSH legislation
      1. Coverage of particular categories of workers
        1. Migrant workers are included within the scope of OSH legislation
        2. Domestic workers are included within the scope of OSH legislation
        3. Home workers are included within the scope of OSH legislation
        4. Self-employed persons are included within the scope of OSH legislation
    3. Definition of employer as defined in the relevant OSH legislation
    4. Particular branches of economic activity in which OSH legislation does not apply
      1. Agriculture
      2. Construction
      3. Services
      4. Public sector
      5. Other
    5. Definition of occupational accident
    6. Definition of occupational disease
      1. List of occupational diseases
      2. Mechanism for compensating other diseases as occupational ones
  3. +Institutions and programmes relating to OSH administration and/or enforcement
    1. Competent national authority for safety and health at work
      1. Objectives, roles and/or functions
      2. Chairperson and composition
    2. A national OSH research programme or institute is established by law
      1. Objectives, roles and/or functions
      2. Governance board constitution and chairmanship
      3. Source of funding
    3. A national OSH programme is required by law
      1. Consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers on the national OSH programme is required
  4. +Employers’ duties and responsibilities to protect the safety and health of workers and others
    1. Employers’ general duty to ensure the safety and health of employees
    2. Employers’ duty to protect safety and health of people other than their own employees
    3. Employers’ duty to collaborate in ensuring OSH legislation when two or more undertakings are engaged simultaneously at one workplace
    4. Duty to ensure periodic surveillance of workers’ health in relation to work
      1. Specific hazards for which periodic health surveillance is required
    5. Duty to ensure surveillance of the working environment and working practices which may affect workers' health
    6. Duty to provide and/or maintain personal protective equipment
    7. Duty to ensure the usage of personal protective equipment
    8. Duty to provide first-aid and welfare facilities
      1. Arrangements for providing first-aid in case of work injury
      2. Provision and maintenance of sanitary installations
      3. Provision of clean drinking water to workers
      4. Provision of rest and eating areas
  5. +Employers’ duty to organize prevention formally along generally accepted OSH management principles and practices
    1. Duty to establish an OSH management system or key elements of it
      1. Developing a policy or plan specifying objectives, responsibilities and/or internal arrangements for health and safety
      2. Appointing a person in charge of health and safety
      3. Undertaking a written risk assessment
      4. Establishing safe operating work systems and procedures
      5. Providing training and information on risks at the workplace
      6. Periodically reviewing or assessing the results of preventive measures taken
      7. Consultation with workers in organizing health and safety and undertaking related activities
    2. Obligation for employers to implement a specific international or national OSH management system or standard
  6. +Employers’ duty to ensure availability of expertise and competence in health and safety
    1. Duty to have the competence to achieve OSH requirements
      1. Requirement to access expert advice and/or support in health and safety
        1. Qualifications of experts and/or professional services required
    2. Appointment of an OSH practitioner (manager, professional, coordinator, advisor, technician, officer, other)
      1. Workforce size threshold for the appointment of OSH practitioners
  7. +Workers' rights and duties
    1. Duty to take reasonable steps to protect their own safety and health
    2. Duty to take reasonable steps to protect the safety and health of others
    3. Supervisors’ duty to take reasonable steps to protect the safety and health of others
    4. Senior officers’ duty to take reasonable steps to protect the safety and health of others
    5. Self-employed persons’ duty to take reasonable steps to protect their own and others’ safety and health
    6. Duty to comply with OSH-related requirements
    7. Right to enquire about risks and preventive measures in relation to their work
    8. Right to remove themselves from a situation which they believe presents an imminent or serious danger to their life or health
    9. Right to be reassigned to non-hazard work when their health has shown signs of alteration
      1. Workers’ right to withdraw with compensation in case they are not reassigned to non-hazard work when their health has shown signs of alteration
  8. +Consultation, collaboration and co-operation with workers and their representatives
    1. A national OSH committee, commission, council or similar body is required or established by law
      1. Objectives, roles and/or functions
      2. Constitution and chairmanship modalities
    2. Employers’ duty to consult workers on risks associated with their work
    3. Workers’ right to select their representatives for health and safety matters
      1. Workforce size conditions for workers’ representation in health and safety
      2. Conditions of eligibility to represent workers in health and safety
    4. OSH representatives’ functions, rights and powers
      1. OSH representatives’ right to inspect the workplace
      2. OSH representatives’ right to access OSH information
      3. OSH representatives’ right to be present at interviews
      4. OSH representatives’ right to receive professional assistance from experts of their choice
      5. OSH representatives’ right to accompany inspectors
      6. OSH representatives’ right to use facilities
      7. OSH representatives’ right to have time off work with pay to perform duties
      8. OSH representatives’ right to issue remedial notices
      9. OSH representatives’ right to resolve OSH issues in consultation with employers
      10. OSH representatives’ right to direct that dangerous work cease
    5. Right of workers’ representatives from outside the undertaking to address OSH issues at the workplace
      1. Right of workers’ representatives from outside the undertaking to enter the workplace
      2. Right of workers’ representatives from outside the undertaking to investigate suspected non-compliance with OSH legislation
      3. Right of workers’ representatives from outside the undertaking to consult with workers
      4. Right of workers’ representatives from outside the undertaking to advise workers
      5. Right of workers representatives from outside the undertaking to initiate enforcement action
    6. Joint OSH Committee is required by law
      1. Participation of workers’ representatives in joint OSH committee
      2. Workplace related conditions for establishing a joint OSH committee
      3. Objectives, roles and/or functions of joint OSH committees and/or their members
      4. Requirement to keep record of the work of joint OSH committees
      5. Requirement to share the minutes of joint OSH committees meetings
    7. Mandatory training for members of joint OSH committees
    8. Protection of workers, OSH representatives and members of joint OSH committee against reprisals for engaging activities or exercising their rights and/or representation duties in OSH
    9. Immunity from civil and criminal liability for members of joint OSH committee(s) and OSH representatives for exercising their rights and duties
  9. +Specific hazards or risks
    1. Biological hazards
    2. Chemical hazards
      1. Handling, storage, labelling and use
      2. Duty of manufacturers, suppliers and importers of chemicals in relation to the safety and health of users
      3. Pesticides
    3. Ergonomic hazards
    4. Physical hazards
      1. Ionising radiation
      2. Vibration and noise
      3. Working at height
      4. Working in confined spaces
      5. Risks arising from poor maintenance of workplace facilities
      6. Exposure to extreme temperatures
      7. Fire risks
      8. Tobacco
      9. Asbestos
      10. Risks related to nanotechnology
      11. Contraction of HIV in the workplace
    5. Psychosocial hazards
      1. Psychosocial risks
      2. Occupational violence
    6. Other hazardous substances
    7. Machineries
      1. Risks related to machinery and tools
      2. Duty of designers and/or manufacturers of machineries in relation to the occupational safety and health of operators’ machineries
      3. Duty of designers, manufacturers, importers or suppliers of machineries to provide machineries information
      4. Duty to purchase machineries from authorised/certificated suppliers or only if approved/certificated
      5. System and frequency of maintenance of machinery and equipment and/or requirement for those carrying out plant and equipment maintenance to be approved/certificated
        1. List of equipment where applicable
    8. Provisions to protect workers in specific condition of vulnerability
      1. Protection of pregnancy at work
      2. Protection of lactating women at work
      3. Specific provisions limit women’s access to specific occupations, undertakings or shifts
      4. Specific provisions limit workers’ access to specific occupations, undertakings or shifts by reason of age
  10. +Recording, notification and investigation of accidents/incidents and diseases
    1. Employers’ duty to record and/or investigate the causes of work accidents, near misses incidents and cases of occupational diseases
      1. Work-related accidents
      2. Near miss incidents
      3. Occupational diseases
    2. Employers’ duty to notify OSH authorities of work related death and/or injuries to health
  11. +OSH inspection and enforcement of OSH legislation
    1. Provisions on the appointment of inspectors to carry out OSH-related duties
    2. OSH inspectors’ powers
      1. Power to enter workplaces
      2. Power to inspect workplaces and gather evidence
      3. Power to investigate the causes of work accidents, near misses incidents and occupational diseases
      4. Duty to provide advice on OSH
    3. Inspectors have enforcement powers under OSH legislation
      1. Power to issue orders or notices
      2. Power to impose financial penalties
      3. Power to revoke or suspend licenses or authorisations
      4. Power to require the cessation of dangerous work
      5. Power to initiate prosecutions
      6. Power to conduct prosecutions
      7. Other enforcement powers
    4. Imposition of financial, custodial and non-financial sanctions for violations of OSH legislation by Courts
      1. Financial penalties for legal persons
      2. Financial penalties for natural persons
      3. Non-financial sanctions
      4. Criminal liability for violation of OSH legislation
      5. Minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment for natural persons
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