Workplace Health and Safety in Türkiye in 2025: New Duties for Small, Low-Risk Businesses

[عاشق تركيا]

At a glance:
From 1 January 2025, the occupational health and safety service duties under Law No. 6331 became mandatory for previously deferred workplaces,
including low-risk businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Employers must arrange the required occupational physician (İşyeri Hekimi) and occupational safety specialist (İş Güvenliği Uzmanı) services, or use a lawful alternative: eligible trained employers or their representatives may provide services themselves in these small, low-risk workplaces, excluding medical examinations and tests.

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Which workplaces are covered?​

• Workplaces concerned include:
  • Very small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
  • Tourism and travel offices.
  • Retail shops.
  • Service offices, including accountancy, consultancy and estate agencies.
  • Light workshops and other businesses officially classified as low risk. Classification depends on the registered main activity; these examples do not automatically establish a risk category.
• The legal basis:
  • Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331.
  • The previously deferred service provisions took effect for these workplaces at the end of 31 December 2024, making 1 January 2025 the practical starting date highlighted in official guidance.

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What must an employer arrange?​

• Occupational physician services (İşyeri Hekimi):
  • Services can be arranged through a qualified individual or an authorised joint health and safety unit (OSGB). Eligible low-risk employers with fewer than 50 staff may instead use the trained-employer or representative route; this excludes entry or periodic medical examinations and tests. Eligible health reports can be obtained from the public healthcare or family-physician providers specified in the rules.
  • The occupational physician’s responsibilities include:
    • Periodic employee health examinations.
    • Work-related health reports.
    • Measures concerning occupational diseases.
• Occupational safety specialist services (İş Güvenliği Uzmanı), or the permitted alternative:
  • Preparing and updating the workplace risk assessment.
  • Drawing up safety instructions and displaying them clearly.
  • Organising employee training, including fire safety, first aid and electrical hazards.
• Keeping records and supporting documents:
  • A signed risk assessment.
  • Employee training records.
  • Required health reports and periodic examination records.

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What happens if an employer fails to comply?​

• Fines and other penalties:
  • Administrative fines can apply to separate breaches, such as failing to arrange required physician or specialist services where applicable, or failing to conduct a risk assessment.
  • The amount and continuation of a penalty depend on the statutory breach and workplace conditions; an accident does not automatically double every fine.
• If a workplace accident occurs:
  • The absence of documented safety arrangements may increase the employer’s exposure to liability.
  • Depending on the circumstances, an employer may face compensation claims, criminal or administrative proceedings and insurance or social-security consequences. These require case-specific assessment rather than an assumed automatic multiplication of fines or damages.

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Why does this matter to employees?​

• The right to a safe workplace:
  • Employees have legal rights concerning:
    • Information about workplace risks.
    • Occupational health and safety training.
    • Reporting hazards through the appropriate procedures and benefiting from the legal protections that apply when they do so.
• Making a complaint:
  • Where adequate safety measures are missing, employees can use the lawful complaint channels of the competent labour and inspection authorities.

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Practical advice for small-business owners​

• Do not wait for an inspection: establish which duties apply and arrange compliance.
• Contact an authorised OSGB in your area to compare the following, while also checking whether you qualify for the trained-employer alternative:
  • Monthly or annual service costs.
  • The services included, such as physician and specialist support, training and risk assessment.
• Treat compliance as part of the cost of operating lawfully, alongside electricity and rent, rather than an optional luxury.

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Related topics ​

• MESEM and Child Workplace Safety
• Protecting Young Workplace Interns
• Wages and Living Costs
• The 2025 Minimum Wage
• Business Licensing and Municipal Duties
• Reconstruction and Accountability
• Consumer Complaint Procedures
• Requesting Public Information
• Public-Sector Data Protection