Occupational safety International framework and country guides
Is a safety committee or a worker safety representative required in Uzbekistan?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in Uzbekistan: law, authorities and employer duties
Short answer
A representative, yes: workers elect an OSH representative at the union meeting, with at least two paid hours a week. There is no committee on the Turkish model, but the third stage of the joint OSH control is run by a standing commission with the union chair.
A worker OSH representative, yes. Workers elect an OSH representative (mehnatni muhofaza qilish bo'yicha vakil) at the primary trade union meeting, under Law ZRU-410 Art. 31 and the regulation approved with Cabinet of Ministers (CM) Resolution No. 819 of 2025. There is no OSH committee on the Turkish or EU model with a headcount threshold, but the 2025 rules make the employer and the union run a three-stage OSH control whose top stage is a standing commission that includes the union chair.
Short answer
- OSH representative: elected by open vote at the primary trade union meeting (or by another workers' body); several representatives and a "chief representative" in large or spread-out organisations.
- Who cannot be elected: managers responsible for working conditions and safety, and OSH service staff.
- Time off: at least two hours a week of paid time for the role (Law ZRU-410, Art. 31).
- Powers: inspect, suspend work when life or health is in danger, take part in accident investigations and acceptance commissions, propose action, and go to the authorities or court.
- Protection: no disciplinary penalty or dismissal by the employer without prior consent of the union body.
- Joint body: a standing commission, set up by order of the head of the organisation, runs the third stage of the administrative and public control; it includes the chief engineer, the OSH service head and the union chair. No headcount threshold like Türkiye's (50 or more workers and continuous work lasting over six months) applies.
How the representative works
The regulation on the OSH representative (Annex 4 to Resolution No. 819) sets out the steps:
- Candidates are put forward at least seven days before the election; the union, with the OSH service, interviews them and can send back unsuitable candidates. The term is that of the union body or the period set by the workers' meeting, but at least one year.
- The representative is elected and receives an identity card within three working days, giving access to all workplaces of the area covered.
- Within one month the employer trains the representative on a programme agreed with the union; the representative also takes OSH upskilling of at least 36 academic hours every three years under the 2025 training regulation.
- The representative reports to the workforce at least once a year and to the union every quarter.
The employer must give the representative information on working conditions and all accidents and occupational diseases, inform the representative and obtain his or her consent when OSH rules and instructions are drafted, and reply in writing, with reasons, within ten days to any proposal. The representative's tasks also include public control over harassment and violence at work.
Example: At a 300-worker textile mill with two production sites, the union elects one representative per site and names one as chief representative. A representative finds a guard missing on a carding machine, stops the machine because of immediate danger, writes an inspection note and proposes a fix. The employer has ten days to answer in writing, and the OSH service follows up the repair.
Joint control instead of a committee
The 2025 regulation on organising OSH work describes a three-stage administrative and public control run jointly by the employer and the trade union:
| Stage | Level | Who leads |
|---|---|---|
| First | Section, shift or team, daily at the start of each shift (and during it for high-risk work) | Foreman, section or shift head |
| Second | Unit, department or production area, every 15 days | Unit head with the union's senior representative |
| Third | Whole organisation; where one round is impossible, an annual schedule covers each unit at least four times a year (twelve times on hazardous production facilities and in adverse conditions) | Standing commission: chief engineer, OSH service head, union chair, chief mechanic, chief power engineer, chief technologist, HR head, fire or civil defence engineer, and the industrial safety service head on hazardous production facilities |
The second stage runs every 15 days under the unit head and the union's senior representative. Defects not fixed within ten working days at the first stage go up to the second, and those not fixed within a month go up to the third. Third-stage results are discussed within a week at a meeting chaired by the head of the organisation with the union chair. Organisations in the lowest hazard class decide with the union whether to run this control. In addition, the Labour Code (Art. 49) provides for a bipartite commission on social and labour issues with equal numbers of employer and worker representatives, and collective agreements often contain an OSH section. Both the OSH management system regulation (CM Resolution No. 454) and the hazard matrix must be agreed with the trade union or other worker representatives.
Common mistakes
- Appointing the safety officer as representative. OSH service staff and managers responsible for safety cannot be elected.
- Treating the role as unpaid extra work. At least two hours a week must be released with average pay.
- Copying a foreign committee model. The Uzbek duties attach to the elected representative and the three-stage control with its standing commission, not to a generic safety committee.
Related on excodex
- Occupational safety and health in Uzbekistan: law, authorities and employer duties
- What OSH training must employers provide in Uzbekistan?
- Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Uzbekistan?
- OSH committees and worker representatives in Türkiye
Standards and further reading
- CM Resolution No. 819 of 24 December 2025, Annex 1 (organisation of OSH work and three-stage control) and Annex 4 (Regulation on the OSH representative): https://lex.uz/docs/7942768
- Law No. ZRU-410 of 22 September 2016 "On Labour Protection", Art. 31: https://lex.uz/docs/3031427
- Labour Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2022), Arts. 49, 539 and 540: https://lex.uz/docs/6257288
- CM Resolution No. 454 of 21 July 2025, Model Regulation on the OSH management system: https://lex.uz/docs/7640822
- Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety (İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği Kanunu), Türkiye, Art. 22 (OSH committee): https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuat?MevzuatNo=6331&MevzuatTur=1&MevzuatTertip=5
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 Uzbekistan: law, authorities and employer duties