What OSH training must employers provide to workers in Kyrgyzstan?

Employers in Kyrgyzstan must give every worker labour protection instruction (инструктаж), training in safe working methods and first aid, and a knowledge test, and must not admit anyone to work who has not passed them (Law "On Labour Protection" No. 82 of 2026, Article 10; Labour Code, Article 206). The government training regulation of 2004 sets the main intervals: repeat instruction at least every six months for workers and a knowledge test at least every three years for managers and specialists. Hazardous production facilities add industrial safety certification under Law No. 160 of 2016.

Short answer

• Who: all workers of the organisation, including the employer itself (Law No. 82, Article 10(1)), plus seconded and contractor workers and students on placement for induction.
• Instruction: induction before starting, initial instruction at the workplace before independent work, repeat instruction at least every 6 months, and unscheduled and targeted instruction when needed.
• Training: safe working methods within one month of hiring or transfer; first-aid training within one month of hiring and then at least once a year for workers in manual occupations.
• Managers and specialists: labour protection training and a knowledge test at least every 3 years before a commission of at least three trained people.
• No admission without it: the employer, the labour protection service and state inspectors must keep untrained or untested people off the job (Articles 10(4), 16 and 22).
• Hazardous facilities: only qualified, medically fit people trained and certified (аттестованы) in industrial safety may work there (Law No. 160, Article 10).

What the law and the regulation require

Law No. 82, Article 10 makes training and knowledge testing compulsory in the procedure set by the Cabinet of Ministers, requires instruction for new and transferred workers with training in safe methods and first aid, and requires preliminary training with examinations and periodic re-testing for jobs with increased danger. Training, instruction and tests may be done electronically where the employer has the means (Article 10(5)). The employer must also provide on-the-job training (стажировка) (Article 19).

The procedure is still the Regulation on labour protection training and knowledge testing approved by Government Resolution No. 225 of 5 April 2004 (as amended 10 September 2013), listed as in force in the official database in November 2026:

A worker who fails the test must retake it within one month. Workers who are not involved with equipment, tools or materials may be exempted from workplace instruction on a list the employer agrees with the supervisory bodies. Members of labour protection commissions and trade union authorised persons must also be trained.

At a hazardous production facility, people admitted to work (for example crane, boiler, pressure vessel and gas equipment personnel) also need industrial safety training and certification; Law No. 82 also gives the state OSH supervisory body the task of checking the knowledge of managers and staff of hazardous facilities in industrial and energy safety (Article 5(4)).

Common mistakes

• Giving instruction only in Russian or Kyrgyz to workers who do not understand it, or only in English to local crews.
• Letting the six-monthly repeat instruction lapse on long projects.
• Treating a foreign course certificate as a substitute for Kyrgyz instruction, testing and industrial safety certification.

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Standards and further reading

• Regulation on labour protection training and testing of knowledge of labour protection requirements, Government Resolution No. 225 of 5 April 2004, as amended 10 September 2013: official text.
• Law of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 82 "On Labour Protection", 5 June 2026 (Articles 5, 10, 16, 19, 20): official text.
• Labour Code of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 23, 23 January 2025 (Article 206).
• Law No. 160 "On industrial safety of hazardous production facilities", 2 August 2016, as amended 10 January 2023, Articles 7 and 10: official text.

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.