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What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Turkmenistan?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in Turkmenistan: law, authorities and employer duties
Short answer
Breaches bring disciplinary, material, administrative and criminal liability (Labour Code Art. 203). Türkmenstandartlary can fine, suspend work and refer cases to the prosecutor; administrative fines (Code of Administrative Offences Art. 180, 305) are multiples of the base value.
Breaking labour protection rules in Turkmenistan can lead to disciplinary, material (financial), administrative and criminal liability for officials and workers (Labour Code Article 203). The OSH authority Türkmenstandartlary can impose fines, issue binding orders, suspend or prohibit operations and send cases to the prosecutor; administrative fines are set in the Code of Administrative Offences as multiples of the state base value.
Short answer
- Types of liability: disciplinary, material, administrative and criminal (Article 203).
- Inspectors' powers: binding orders, suspension or prohibition of enterprises, workshops, workplaces and equipment, fines on managers, officials and workers, proposals to remove officials, referral to the prosecutor (Article 182(3)).
- Administrative fines: Code of Administrative Offences approved by Law No. 422-IV of 29 August 2013 (in force 1 January 2014): Article 305 (breach of labour protection legislation), Article 180 (breach of safe work rules) and Article 304 (labour law breaches, including attestation of workplaces); fines are multiples of the base value set by the Cabinet of Ministers.
- Compensation: the employer compensates damage to the health of an injured worker; the accident act and the authority's findings are evidence of the employer's fault (Articles 155, 211 and 212).
- Product and design liability: designers repay the cost of correcting non-compliant projects (Article 204); profit from selling non-compliant industrial products is confiscated (Article 205).
- Hazardous facilities: liability under the Industrial Safety Law (Articles 19 and 20); its inspectors issue orders, draw up administrative offence reports, can order workers out of danger and pass files for criminal proceedings (Article 17(14)).
- Not verified: amendments to the fine ranges since 2013, the current base value and the Criminal Code articles; confirm locally.
The enforcement ladder
| Step | Who | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Order (предписание) to remove violations | Türkmenstandartlary, labour inspection body | Binding; must be carried out (Article 178(18)) |
| Union order or demand | Trade union technical labour inspector | Employer must consider it and report back within one week (Article 406(2)) |
| Suspension or prohibition of work | Türkmenstandartlary | Workplace, equipment, workshop or whole enterprise stopped; workers keep average pay if not at fault (Article 174(4)) |
| Administrative fine | Türkmenstandartlary (Articles 180, 304, 305) and labour authorities (Articles 304 to 307) under the Code of Administrative Offences, Articles 479 and 481 | Fine on the worker, official or legal entity |
| Proposal to remove an official | Türkmenstandartlary | Request to the employer or superior body |
| Referral to the prosecutor | Türkmenstandartlary (Article 182(3)); unions can demand that guilty officials are held liable (Article 406(5)) | Possible criminal proceedings under the Criminal Code |
| Civil compensation | Courts, employer | Lost earnings and rehabilitation or death-related costs for the victim or family |
How fines are set
The Code of Administrative Offences sets fines as a number of base values (базовая величина), a reference amount fixed by the Cabinet of Ministers; no fine may be below 0.02 of the base value (Article 44). The money amount therefore changes when the base value changes, even if the article does not. The ranges below are from the Code as adopted in 2013 (WIPO Lex copy):
| Article (2013 text) | Offence | Fine, in base values |
|---|---|---|
| 305(1) | Employer's breach of labour protection duties, including medical examinations, PPE and compensation for injury | Individuals up to 5, officials up to 10, legal entities up to 15 |
| 305(2) | Giving labour protection staff duties unrelated to their service | Officials up to 5 |
| 180 | Breach of rules and instructions on safe conduct of work in industry, construction, agriculture and other sectors | 1 to 5 |
| 304(1) | Breach of labour law, including the rules on attestation of workplaces | Individuals 2 to 5, officials 5 to 10, legal entities 10 to 20, or suspension of a legal entity's activity for up to three months |
Cases under Articles 180, 305 and the attestation part of 304 are decided by the chairman of Türkmenstandartlary, its state inspectors and the heads of its velayat services (Article 481). Ask the authority or local counsel for the current article text and the base value in force on the date of the offence.
Employees can also face discipline under the Labour Code for breaching the internal labour regulations and safety instructions, and workers' duties are listed in Article 192. On the other hand, a worker who refuses dangerous work because of a breach of labour protection requirements cannot be disciplined for it (Article 174(8)).
Liability for accidents
When a worker is injured, the employer pays compensation for lost earnings and additional medical, social and vocational rehabilitation costs, or death-related costs (Article 155). An injury is treated as caused by the employer's fault if the employer did not ensure healthy and safe conditions, for example by failing to observe labour protection rules (Article 212). Evidence includes the accident act, court decisions, conclusions of the state supervisory bodies and decisions to impose administrative or disciplinary penalties on officials. Concealing accidents is specifically mentioned: trade unions may demand that officials guilty of hiding accidents are held liable (Article 406(5)).
Example: An inspector finds an unguarded press and untrained operators. The likely outcome is an order with deadlines, immediate prohibition of the press until it is guarded, and a fine on the responsible manager. If an operator had already been injured, the inspector's conclusion and the accident act would also support the worker's compensation claim against the employer.
Related on excodex
- Occupational safety and health in Turkmenistan: law, authorities and employer duties
- What is the main OSH law in Turkmenistan and who enforces it?
- How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in Turkmenistan?
Standards and further reading
- Labour Code of Turkmenistan, Law No. 29-IV of 18 April 2009, Articles 155, 174, 182, 203 to 205, 211, 212, 406, 409 (FAOLEX consolidated Russian translation): https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/tuk243144.pdf
- Law No. 495-V on Industrial Safety of Hazardous Production Facilities, 4 February 2017, Articles 17, 19 and 20: https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/tuk184581.pdf
- Code of Administrative Offences of Turkmenistan, approved by Law No. 422-IV of 29 August 2013, Articles 44, 180, 304, 305, 479, 481 (WIPO Lex record with the 2013 Russian text; obtain the current consolidated version locally): https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/13824
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.
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Part of: Occupational safety and health in Turkmenistan: law, authorities and employer duties