Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Azerbaijan, and how often must it be reviewed?

Not in the EU sense. We found no general duty in Azerbaijani law to keep a written risk assessment for every job, as Directive 89/391/EEC (Art. 9) or Türkiye's Law No. 6331 (Art. 10) require. The legal equivalent is the attestation of workplaces (iş yerlərinin attestasiyası): all workplaces must be assessed for hazardous and harmful factors at least once every 5 years and again after significant changes, and hazard-potential facilities holding hazardous substances at or above the Annex 2 thresholds of the Law on Technical Safety must also prepare a technical safety declaration with an assessment of accident risks.

Short answer

• Workplace attestation: compulsory for all workplaces under Labour Code Art. 222.5 and Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 38 of 6 March 2000; at least once every 5 years, with the exact interval set by the employer according to working conditions.
• Repeat after changes: new equipment, changed processes, rebuilt collective protection, or to correct breaches found by the labour inspectorate.
• Reporting: copies of the result documents, including the order approving the results, go to the State Labour Inspection Service within 10 working days (rule 1.7, added by Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 440 of 7 December 2023).
• Records: attestation documents are kept for 45 years.
• Hazard-potential facilities: a technical safety declaration covering accident risks where Annex 2 quantities are reached, updated when data or requirements change (Law on Technical Safety Art. 15).
• Türkiye for comparison: a written risk assessment renewed at least every 2, 4 or 6 years for very hazardous, hazardous and less hazardous workplaces (Risk Assessment Regulation Art. 12).
• Good practice: an ISO 45001 style task risk assessment is not a statutory form but is often required by clients.

What workplace attestation involves

Attestation is a structured assessment of working conditions, carried out with the participation of the trade union (Art. 222.5). The 2000 rules describe the steps: list all workplaces, identify the hazardous and harmful production factors, measure them (for example noise, dust, chemicals, microclimate and lighting, plus the heaviness and intensity of work) against hygiene norms, assess injury safety, and record the result. Measurements are made by the enterprise laboratory or, if it lacks the means, by laboratories of the sanitary authorities, the labour inspectorate or other authorised laboratories. The enterprise assesses injury safety (traumatic hazards) itself.

The results are used to plan OSH measures, justify benefits and compensation for harmful work, settle occupational disease questions, include working conditions in employment contracts, inform workers, and identify workplaces where pregnant women may not work. The employer must inform the workforce of the results and bring non-conforming workplaces into line with OSH norms. The enterprise attestation commission includes trade union representatives and OSH service specialists, the improvement plan is agreed with the union and included in the collective agreement, and the documents are kept for 45 years.

Hazard-potential facilities: the technical safety declaration

Oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, mining, metallurgy, lifting and pressure equipment sites are hazard-potential facilities under the Law on Technical Safety of 1999. Where hazardous substances reach the quantities in Annex 2 of the law, developing a technical safety declaration is compulsory (Art. 15.2). It must include a comprehensive assessment of the accident and its hazards, an analysis of whether the prevention measures are sufficient, preparedness for accident response and measures to reduce consequences. The declaration passes technical safety expertise, is approved by the operator and submitted to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and is updated when its data or the safety requirements change.

Practical approach for an OSH professional

Example: A food factory with 120 workers last attested its workplaces in 2022. In 2026 it installs a new ammonia refrigeration plant and a palletising robot. The affected workplaces must be re-attested now rather than in 2027; the copies go to the inspectorate within 10 working days of the approval order. The OSH engineer also prepares task risk assessments for maintenance of the refrigeration plant and for working near the robot, because attestation measures exposure but does not analyse every task. The ammonia inventory is checked against the 500 t declaration threshold of the Law on Technical Safety.

Common mistakes

• Treating the 5-year attestation as a risk assessment for non-routine work: it measures conditions, it does not replace task analysis or permits to work.
• Forgetting the 10-working-day submission to the inspectorate.
• Reusing an EU template without adding the Azerbaijani hygiene norms and attestation records an inspector will ask for.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Azerbaijan: law, authorities and employer duties
• Major-hazard chemical sites in Azerbaijan
• Workplace risk assessment: process, team, records and review

Standards and further reading

• Labour Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Art. 222: https://e-qanun.az/framework/46943
• Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 38 of 6 March 2000, Rules on attestation of workplaces: https://e-qanun.az/framework/873
• Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 440 of 7 December 2023 (submission within 10 working days): https://e-qanun.az/framework/55727
• Law on Technical Safety No. 733-IQ of 2 November 1999, Art. 15 and Annex 2: https://e-qanun.az/framework/21
• Türkiye: Law No. 6331 on OSH, Art. 10, and the Regulation on OSH Risk Assessment (İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği Risk Değerlendirmesi Yönetmeliği, 29 December 2012), Art. 12: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuat?MevzuatNo=16925&MevzuatTur=7&MevzuatTertip=5
• ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety management systems: requirements with guidance for use

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.