How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in Kazakhstan?

Immediately, and at the latest within 24 hours, the employer must report a work accident on the form set by the Ministry of Labour to the territorial labour inspection and to the worker representatives, and also to the industrial safety authority, the sanitary authority or the police where the case requires it (Labour Code Article 187). The insurer is notified at once and within 3 working days at the latest, and after the investigation the accident act is filed electronically with the ministry within 3 working days.

Short answer

• Within 24 hours (немедленно в течение суток): territorial unit of the labour inspection; worker representatives; the industrial safety authority's territorial unit if the employer operates hazardous production facilities; the sanitary authority for occupational disease or poisoning; the police and supervisory bodies in cases needing special investigation.
• At once, and no later than 3 working days after learning of it: the insurer that covers the worker under compulsory accident insurance.
• Immediately: first aid, the victim's family, preservation and photographs of the scene.
• Investigation: commission within 24 hours of the medical conclusion on severity; 10 working days, extendable twice by 10.
• After the investigation: accident act within 3 working days, filed online, copies to the victim, insurer and inspection; file kept 45 years.
• Late report: fine of 100, 150 or 200 monthly calculation indices (MCI) for small, medium or large businesses (Code of Administrative Offences, Article 96).

What counts as a reportable work accident

Article 186 covers work-linked damage to health that causes incapacity or death: during working time at the workplace, while preparing or tidying the workplace, travelling on the employer's task or business trip, in transport provided by the employer, in a private vehicle used for work with the employer's written consent, and for shift (rotation) workers travelling between the camp and the site in employer transport. The commission, not the employer alone, decides whether a case is work-related; cases caused mainly by intoxication, deliberate self-harm or a sudden illness unrelated to work factors may be excluded after investigation.

Step by step after an accident

1. Care and scene. Organise first aid and transport to hospital, keep the scene unchanged unless this endangers others or would cause an industrial accident, and photograph it.
2. Notify within 24 hours the bodies listed above, using the official notification form, and inform the family immediately.
3. Notify the insurer at once, and no later than 3 working days after learning of the accident.
4. Set up the commission within 24 hours of receiving the medical conclusion on the severity of the injury. For an ordinary accident the employer appoints it: chair, the head of the organisation or deputy; members, the head of the OSH service and a worker representative. The supervisor directly responsible for safety on that section may not be a member. At hazardous production facilities and in the power sector, an industrial safety inspector and an energy supervision official also join; in acute poisoning, the sanitary authority; on another organisation's site, that organisation's representative.
5. Special investigation for serious and fatal accidents, accidents to two or more workers and group acute poisoning: the labour inspection sets up the commission within 24 hours and a state labour inspector chairs it. With two deaths the chief state labour inspector of the region or city chairs it; with three to five deaths the ministry forms it, with more than five the Government. If the injury results from an industrial accident (авария) at a hazardous production facility, the industrial safety authority chairs it.
6. Investigate within 10 working days of the commission's creation, extendable by a minuted decision twice by 10 working days.
7. Close out. Within 3 working days after the investigation the employer completes the act, sends it electronically to the ministry, and gives a copy to the victim; copies also go to the insurer, the territorial inspection and, for poisoning, the sanitary authority. The case is entered in the accident register and the file is kept for 45 years.

If an accident later becomes serious or fatal, the employer informs the territorial inspection again, and the insurer for insured events (Article 190). An accident not reported in time can still be investigated on the victim's application within 10 working days.

Who else receives notices

Medical organisations must report each first visit for a work injury to the employer and the territorial inspection within two working days, and acute occupational disease or poisoning to the sanitary authority. At hazardous production facilities, an incident must also be reported at once to the industrial safety authority's territorial unit and the local executive bodies, and an industrial accident (авария) to the professional rescue service as well, under the Law on Civil Protection.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the hospital's severity conclusion before notifying. The 24-hour notice runs from the accident; only the commission's 24 hours run from the medical conclusion.
• Letting the line supervisor investigate. The person directly responsible for safety on that section is excluded from the commission.
• Forgetting the insurer. The separate 3-working-day notice to the insurer is often missed.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Kazakhstan: law, authorities and employer duties
• What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Kazakhstan?
• Incident investigation: team, evidence, interviews and report
• OSH law comparison: appointments and reporting deadlines

Standards and further reading

• Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 414-V of 23 November 2015, Articles 186 to 190: adilet.zan.kz
• Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 188-V of 11 April 2014 "On Civil Protection", Article 82 (incidents and industrial accidents at hazardous production facilities).
• Code of Administrative Offences No. 235-V of 5 July 2014, Articles 95 and 96.

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.