Work environments are full of various risks that have significant effects on the health of employees. It is both a legal obligation and an ethical obligation for employers to take the necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of their employees. In this context, health surveillance plays an important role in the workplace.
This article examines the importance of health surveillance in workplaces and the legal obligations of employers in this regard, as required by the Turkish Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331. Health examinations, report-taking processes and privacy rights that must be carried out in order to protect employees against health and safety risks are also emphasized.
Obligations of the Employer regarding Occupational Health
1. Ensuring Health Surveillance: According to the OHS Act No. 6331, the employer is obliged to ensure that health surveillance is carried out by taking into account the health and safety risks that employees may be exposed to at the workplace. This is the first step towards protecting the health of employees and a primary step of the occupational health system.
2. Health Examinations: The employer is obliged to ensure that health examinations are carried out for employees in the following cases:
- Start of Work: Health examinations must be carried out upon employees’ start of work.
- Job Change: Employees must also be examined in the event of a job change.
- Work Accidents and Occupational Diseases: Employees who are away from work due to a work accident or occupational disease must be able to request a health examination upon their return to work.
- Regular Examinations: Health examinations must be performed at certain intervals during the continuation of the job, depending on the nature of the employee and the job, and the hazard class of the workplace.
3. Health Reports: Those who will work in hazardous and very hazardous jobs must obtain an appropriate health report before starting work. This is a strict prerequisite for starting to work.
Health reports can be obtained from the workplace physician, but for low-risk workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, they can also be obtained from public service providers or family physicians.
Objections to the reports are made to the arbitrator hospitals determined by the Ministry of Health of Republic of Türkiye, and these decisions are final.
4. Coverage of Costs: The costs arising from health surveillance must be covered by the employer and these costs cannot be reflected on the employee. This ensures that employees are protected by the workplace’s occupational health system in terms of without financial liabilities.
5. Privacy Rights: The health information of employees who have health examinations must be kept confidential in terms of their private life and reputation. This is of critical importance in terms of protecting the privacy of employees both in terms of the Act No. 6331 and the Act on Protection of Personal Data No. 6698.
Conclusion
In sum, health surveillance is an important mechanism for protecting the health of employees and providing a safe working environment in the workplace. It is both a legal obligation and an ethical requirement for employers to take the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of their employees by fulfilling their legal obligations As summarized above, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 of Turkey has brought comprehensive obligations to employers regarding health surveillance. Protecting the rights of employees will create a healthier and safer working environment in the workplace.
