The Occupational Health and Safety Code No. 6331, which entered into force in 2012, is the fundamental law that determines the minimum health and safety conditions in Türkiye that must be present in workplaces which are within the scope of the law.
One of the regulations introduced by the Code No. 6331 is the obligation to establish an “Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Board” in workplaces.
Accordingly, employers are obliged to establish a board to work on occupational health and safety in workplaces where there are fifty or more employees and where continuous work lasts more than six months.
Moreover, the employer is legally obliged to implement the board decisions in accordance with the occupational health and safety legislation.
In cases where there is a main employer-subcontractor relationship lasting more than six months, if the main employer and the subcontractor have established separate OHS boards, cooperation and coordination in carrying out the activities and implementing the decisions are provided by the main employer.
If a board is established by the main employer, the subcontractor who is not required to establish a board must appoint an authorized representative to provide coordination.
The main employer, who is not required to establish a board at the workplace due to number of employees in that workplace, must appoint an authorized representative to ensure cooperation and coordination with the board established by the subcontractor.
If the total number of employees of the main employer and the subcontractor, who are not required to establish an occupational health and safety board, is more than fifty, the main employer and the subcontractor must establish a board together, provided that the coordination is carried out by the main employer.
If there is more than one employer in the same work area and more than one board is established by these employers, the employers shall inform the other employers about the board decisions that may affect each other’s work.
