Occupational safety International framework and country guides
Which rules apply to major-hazard chemical sites in Kazakhstan?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in Kazakhstan: law, authorities and employer duties
Short answer
Sites handling flammable, explosive, oxidising or toxic substances are hazardous production facilities under the Law on Civil Protection: registration, production control, emergency plan, drills and training; at set threshold quantities, also a registered safety declaration.
Major-hazard chemical sites in Kazakhstan are regulated as hazardous production facilities (опасные производственные объекты) under the Law "On Civil Protection" No. 188-V of 11 April 2014. A site that produces, uses, stores or pipes flammable, explosive, oxidising, toxic or environmentally hazardous substances must be registered with the industrial safety authority, run production control, keep an emergency response plan with drills, train and examine staff in industrial safety and, if it meets the authority's quantity criteria, operate only with a registered industrial safety declaration.
Short answer
- Legal basis: Law on Civil Protection No. 188-V of 11.04.2014, Chapter on industrial safety (Articles 69 to 88-1), plus the authority's rules for each sector and the Labour Code for OSH.
- Authority: the authorised body for industrial safety and its territorial units; on the government portal this is the Committee for Industrial Safety of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
- Trigger: the signs in Article 70 (hazardous substances, metal melting, mining and drilling), applied through the authority's identification rules, make a site a hazardous production facility whatever the quantity. A declaration is needed at single-tier threshold quantities set by the authority, for example 5 tonnes of chlorine or ammonia; there are no Seveso-style tiers.
- Declaration: declarable facilities prepare an industrial safety declaration, approved by the head of the organisation and registered by the authority; operation without it is prohibited, and changes require re-registration within 3 months.
- Emergency preparedness: emergency response plan agreed with a professional rescue service, training alarms and drills, immediate notification of incidents and accidents.
- People: industrial safety training and exams (workers every year, managers every 3 years), on top of the Labour Code's OSH training, risk assessment and medical examinations.
When is a chemical site a hazardous production facility?
Article 70 lists the signs. For chemicals, a facility qualifies if it handles at least one of: a source of ionising radiation; a flammable gas; an explosive; a combustible liquid or gas; an oxidiser; a toxic or highly toxic substance; or a substance hazardous to the environment. The toxicity bands are set in the law:
| Category in Article 70 | Oral LD50 (mg/kg) | Dermal LD50 (mg/kg) | Inhalation LC50 (mg/l) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toxic | 15 to 200 | 50 to 400 | 0.5 to 2 |
| Highly toxic | 15 or less | 50 or less | 0.5 or less |
A flammable gas is one that forms a flammable mixture with air at normal pressure and boils at 20 °C or below; environmental hazard is defined by acute aquatic toxicity values of 10 mg/l or less for fish, daphnia or algae.
Which sites need an industrial safety declaration
The declaration duty (Article 76) depends on criteria approved by Order of the Minister for Emergency Situations No. 240 of 26 May 2021 (amended in 2023). They list named substances and categories, each with one threshold quantity in tonnes, and three activities: metal melting, operation of ionising radiation sources and grain elevators, and mining, drilling, blasting and underground work.
| Substance or category (examples) | Threshold quantity |
|---|---|
| Chlorine, ammonia | 5 t |
| Hydrogen sulphide | 1 t |
| Phosgene | 0.75 t |
| Explosives | 25 t |
| Highly toxic substances | 20 t |
| Flammable, combustible, oxidising, toxic or environmentally hazardous substances | 200 t |
Check the full list in the current text of the order. A site below every threshold is still a hazardous production facility with all the other duties.
Core duties of the operator
- Registration of the facility, identified under the authority's rules, and of hazardous technical devices with the territorial industrial safety unit (Articles 71 and 77).
- Production control of industrial safety by a dedicated service, under an internal regulation approved by the head of the organisation (Article 40).
- Industrial safety declaration for facilities meeting the declarable criteria, developed by the operator itself, approved by its head and registered by the authority; registered declarations are listed on the authority's website (Article 76).
- Industrial safety expertise of hazardous technical devices and of technologies and devices used on the site, by attested independent organisations, and permits for the use of technologies and hazardous technical devices; certified hazardous technical devices need no permit (Articles 73 and 74).
- Emergency response plan (план ликвидации аварий) with an operational part, duties and the list of officials and bodies to alert, approved by the head and agreed with the professional rescue service (Article 80).
- Training alarms and drills to an approved plan; the authority is told in writing at least 10 working days before a training alarm, which is held with the authority's territorial unit and the rescue service (Article 81).
- Training and exams in industrial safety for managers, specialists, workers and contractors (Article 79).
- Incidents and accidents: inform at once the workers, the population in the calculated emergency zone, the industrial safety authority and the local executive bodies, and for an accident also the professional rescue service; investigate and keep a record (Articles 82 to 88).
When workers are injured in an industrial accident at such a facility, the Labour Code commission is chaired by a representative of the industrial safety authority, with a state labour inspector as a member (Labour Code Article 188).
How it compares with Seveso and Türkiye
| Feature | Kazakhstan | EU Seveso III (2012/18/EU) | Türkiye |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope trigger | Signs in Law 188-V Art. 70; declaration at single-tier threshold quantities (Order No. 240) | Named substances and categories with lower and upper tier quantities | Regulation on the prevention and mitigation of major industrial accidents (BEKRA), based on Seveso, with lower and upper tiers |
| Key document | Industrial safety declaration (declarable sites) | Major accident prevention policy; safety report (upper tier) | Major accident prevention policy document (lower tier); safety report (upper tier) |
| Emergency planning | Emergency response plan agreed with rescue service; drills | Internal and external emergency plans (upper tier) | Internal emergency plan (upper tier); beyond it, the provincial disaster response plan |
| Regulator | Industrial safety authority (Ministry of Emergency Situations) | National competent authorities | Labour and environment ministries |
Example: An investor plans a chlor-alkali plant near Pavlodar storing chlorine (toxic) and hydrogen (flammable gas). Its planned chlorine inventory is far above the 5-tonne criterion, so the facility is declarable: it prepares the industrial safety declaration with the project, and arranges the emergency response plan with a professional rescue service. Before start-up it registers the facility and its hazardous technical devices, sets up production control and trains staff and contractors in industrial safety, alongside the Labour Code duties (OSH service, risk assessment, briefings, medical examinations).
Common mistakes
- Assuming small quantities mean no duties. Every site with an Article 70 sign is a hazardous production facility; the quantity thresholds decide only whether a declaration is also needed.
- Treating the declaration as a one-time filing. It must be changed and re-registered within 3 months when conditions affecting safety change.
- Forgetting contractors. Contractor staff working on the site need industrial safety training and exams too.
Related on excodex
- Occupational safety and health in Kazakhstan: law, authorities and employer duties
- How are explosive atmospheres and Ex equipment regulated in Kazakhstan?
- Seveso III: major-accident prevention, tiers and duties
- BEKRA: the Turkish major industrial accidents regulation
- Gas cards: chlorine, hydrogen
Standards and further reading
- Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 188-V of 11 April 2014 "On Civil Protection", Articles 40 and 69 to 88-1 (as amended by Law No. 196-VIII of 24 June 2025): adilet.zan.kz
- Criteria for classifying hazardous production facilities as declarable, Order of the Minister for Emergency Situations No. 240 of 26 May 2021: adilet.zan.kz
- Committee for Industrial Safety of the Ministry of Emergency Situations: gov.kz
- Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 414-V of 23 November 2015, Article 188: adilet.zan.kz
- Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III) on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances.
- ILO Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174), international reference.
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.
More questions on this topic
- What is the main occupational safety and health law in Kazakhstan and who enforces it?
- Must an employer in Kazakhstan appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?
- Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Kazakhstan, and how often must it be reviewed?
- How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in Kazakhstan?
- What OSH training must employers provide to workers in Kazakhstan?
- Are pre-employment and periodic medical examinations required for workers in Kazakhstan?
- What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Kazakhstan?
- Is a safety committee or a worker safety representative required in Kazakhstan?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in Kazakhstan: law, authorities and employer duties