Occupational health and safety is not a folder of instructions you pull out when an inspector arrives, but a continuously operating system of employer obligations. Labour law makes the company responsible for safe working conditions for every employee, and the labour inspectorate checks not whether the paperwork exists but whether the procedures are real. We break down, point by point, exactly what an employer must do and what a purely formal approach can cost.
Modern occupational health and safety regulation - reflected in the international standard ISO 45001 - has shifted the emphasis from reacting to incidents to preventing them: the system now centres on identifying hazards and managing occupational risks. Below are seven blocks of obligations that together make up a working health and safety function at an enterprise.
The basic obligation: ensure safe working conditions
Labour law establishes that the duty to ensure safe working conditions and occupational health and safety rests with the employer. This is not a single obligation but a list: the safety of buildings, equipment and processes; providing employees with personal protective equipment (PPE); training and briefings; carrying out workplace environment assessments and occupational risk assessments; medical examinations; investigating accidents; and informing employees about the conditions at their workplaces.
In parallel, the employee also has duties - to comply with health and safety requirements, undergo training and medical examinations, use PPE correctly, and immediately notify their manager of any situation that threatens life and health. But it is the employer who is responsible for ensuring the employee has the conditions and means to meet these requirements.
Modern health and safety is built around risk management: first identify the hazards at each workplace, assess them, and then reduce them. Documents are secondary - they merely record what the company actually does.
Occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS)
Labour law and ISO 45001 require every employer to establish and maintain an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS). This is not a standalone document but a management loop: health and safety objectives, the allocation of duties and responsibility, procedures for identifying hazards, planning of measures, monitoring and correction. The OHSMS policy should be developed in line with recognised model frameworks and the ISO 45001 standard.
Launching an OHSMS in practice breaks down into sequential steps. You can do them in-house or with a specialist, but none can be skipped - a labour inspection follows exactly this logic.
A document setting out health and safety objectives and the allocation of duties between managers and employees, approved by an internal order.
Compile a hazard register for each workplace and assess the level of risk.
Mandatory for all workplaces, carried out at least once every 5 years.
Appoint a responsible person, train employees, and provide them with PPE according to issue standards.
Regularly review how the system works, record violations, and revise measures based on the results.
Occupational risk assessment and workplace environment assessment
These are two distinct but connected tools, and both are mandatory.
Occupational risk assessment is the systematic identification of hazards at workplaces and the assessment of the likelihood and severity of harm. The employer chooses the assessment methods in line with recognised guidance and the ISO 45001 framework. The result is a hazard register and a plan of measures to reduce risks. This procedure has no expiry date and is carried out before work begins and whenever anything changes.
The workplace environment assessment evaluates the actual conditions at each workplace. It is carried out by an accredited organisation for all workplaces (except home-based and remote workers); the results are documented and filed with the regulator. A scheduled assessment is carried out at least once every 5 years; an unscheduled one - when new workplaces are introduced, technology changes, or following an inspection order or an accident. Guarantees, compensation and insurance tariffs depend on the conditions class established by the assessment.
Companies carry out the workplace environment assessment and consider the matter closed, forgetting about occupational risk assessment. These are two separate requirements: a missing environment assessment is one penalty; the absence of risk management is a separate breach of labour law. An inspection asks for both.
Safety briefings and training
The training procedure is set out in occupational health and safety training and knowledge-assessment rules. They distinguish several mandatory areas: training in health and safety requirements, first-aid training, training in the use of PPE, and on-the-job instruction for certain categories of employee.
Separate from training there is the system of briefings. There are five types, each with its own trigger and frequency.
| Type of briefing | When it is held | Who delivers it |
|---|---|---|
| Induction | On hiring, before work begins | Health and safety specialist or designated employee |
| Initial at the workplace | Before independent work at a specific place begins | Direct manager |
| Repeat | Periodically (as a rule, at least once every 6 months) | Direct manager |
| Unscheduled | When processes change, after an accident, or at the inspector's request | Direct manager |
| Targeted | Before one-off work or clean-up after incidents | Direct manager |
Allowing an employee to work without health and safety training and knowledge assessment, or without a mandatory medical examination, is a separate offence carrying an increased penalty. Briefing logs and knowledge-assessment records are the first thing an inspector requests.
Mandatory documents and orders
The list depends on the type of activity and headcount, but the baseline minimum an inspection checks looks like this:
- Order appointing the person responsible for health and safety (or establishing a health and safety service).
- OHS management system (OHSMS) policy.
- Health and safety instructions by role and type of work, and the order approving them.
- Programmes for induction and initial briefings.
- Safety briefing logs (induction and at the workplace).
- Occupational risk assessment documents: hazard register and action plan.
- Workplace environment assessment report and the data filed with the regulator.
- PPE issue lists and personal cards, and issue standards.
- Order on the training and knowledge-assessment procedure, assessment records and certificates.
- Lists of employees subject to mandatory medical examinations and the resulting conclusions.
Documents must not merely exist - they must be current and backed by real action: signatures in the logs, dates, PPE actually issued. An inspector treats any mismatch between paperwork and practice as a violation.
The person responsible for health and safety
Labour law allocates duties depending on headcount. If the number of employees exceeds 50, the employer sets up a health and safety service or introduces a dedicated specialist position. With a smaller headcount, the health and safety function may be carried out by the manager, the sole proprietor in person, an authorised employee, or an organisation or specialist engaged under a service contract.
Appointing a responsible person does not relieve the employer of overall responsibility, but without an appointment order the entire health and safety system formally has no owner - one of the typical findings in an inspection.
Investigating workplace accidents
The investigation procedure is governed by labour law, and the document forms by the corresponding regulations. In the event of an accident the employer must immediately arrange first aid and transport for the injured person, preserve the scene (if this does not endanger others), notify the prescribed authorities, and set up an investigation commission of at least three people.
First aid for the injured person, removing the threat to other employees, preserving the scene of the incident.
Informing the labour inspectorate, the social insurance authority and other bodies within the prescribed deadlines; for severe and group cases - immediately.
A commission of at least three people. A minor case is investigated within 3 days; a severe, group or fatal case - within 15 days.
A workplace accident is documented in a formal incident report, which is given to the injured person and kept by the employer.
Penalties and risks in a labour inspection
Liability for health and safety violations is set out in administrative law. The amounts vary by offence - from a general breach of requirements to a failure to provide employees with PPE.
| Violation | Officials / sole proprietors | Legal entities |
|---|---|---|
| General breach of health and safety requirements | $20 - $55 | $550 - $900 |
| Failure to carry out or breach of the assessment procedure | $55 - $110 | $670 - $900 |
| Allowing work without training and medical examination | $170 - $280 | $1,200 - $1,450 |
| Failure to provide employees with PPE | $220 - $330 | $1,450 - $1,650 |
| Repeat violation | $330 - $440 or disqualification for 1-3 years | $1,100 - $2,200 or suspension of operations for up to 90 days |
If a breach of health and safety requirements causes serious harm to health or death, criminal liability arises - up to imprisonment. A formal approach to health and safety is therefore not a matter of saving on paperwork but of the manager's personal liability.
A labour inspection assesses not the number of folders but how far the documents match real practice: whether PPE has been issued, whether briefings have been held, whether risks have been assessed at every workplace.- The principle of risk-based oversight
How G-Invest Consulting can help
Health and safety calls not for a one-off scramble before an inspection but for a built-out system that runs continuously and is updated as the business and the law change. G-Invest Consulting helps employers build health and safety from scratch or put an existing function in order: from drafting the OHSMS policy and assessing occupational risks to organising training, the full set of mandatory documents and support during interactions with the labour inspectorate. Working directly with owners and managers, the G-Invest team removes regulatory risk from the business and turns health and safety from a formality into a managed process.
Build a health and safety function that passes inspection
G-Invest will audit your health and safety function, draft the OHSMS policy, assess occupational risks and prepare the full set of documents and orders - before an inspector arrives.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a health and safety function if the company has only a few employees?
Yes. Health and safety duties apply to all employers regardless of headcount. With fewer than 50 employees there is no need for a separate service - the function can be carried out by the manager, the sole proprietor in person, an authorised employee or a specialist engaged under contract. But briefings, training, occupational risk assessment and the workplace environment assessment must be done in any case.
How does the workplace environment assessment differ from occupational risk assessment?
These are two distinct mandatory tools. The workplace environment assessment is carried out by an accredited organisation at least once every 5 years and determines the workplace conditions class. Occupational risk assessment is the identification of hazards and the assessment of their level at each workplace, organised by the employer using a chosen methodology. Having an environment assessment does not remove the duty to manage occupational risks.
Which health and safety documents does an inspector check first?
Usually they request the appointment order for the responsible person, the OHSMS policy, briefing logs and knowledge-assessment records, occupational risk assessment documents, the environment assessment report, PPE issue cards and lists of employees due for medical examinations. What matters is not only that the documents exist but that they match real practice - signatures, dates, PPE actually issued.
What penalty applies for health and safety violations?
Liability is set out in administrative law. For legal entities fines start at $550 - $900 for a general breach of requirements and reach $1,450 - $1,650 for failing to provide PPE. A repeat violation can bring a fine of up to $2,200 or suspension of operations for up to 90 days, and disqualification for officials. If a violation causes serious harm or death, criminal liability arises.
Within what timeframe must a workplace accident be investigated?
A minor accident is investigated by the commission within 3 days; a severe, group or fatal one - within 15 days. The commission consists of at least three people, and the result is documented in a formal incident report. For severe and group cases the employer must immediately notify the labour inspectorate and other authorities.