Are pre-employment and periodic medical examinations required for workers in Iraq?

Yes. Article 114(2) of Iraq's Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 requires the employer to ensure that all workers undergo initial and periodic medical examinations, and Article 120(3) puts all costs, including laboratory tests and X-rays, on the employer. The law does not fix a general interval; the enterprise physician or competent medical authority sets the schedule, with stricter rules for minors and for quarry and mine workers.

Short answer

• All workers: initial (pre-employment) and periodic examinations related to OSH and the work environment (Article 114(2)).
• Cost: the worker pays nothing for medical care, medicines, periodic and laboratory tests, X-rays or other tests (Article 120(3)).
• Schedule: set by the enterprise physician or the competent medical authority; workers must attend (Article 119).
• Minors (15 to 17): comprehensive examination by a medical committee before employment, then at least yearly; repeated until age 21 for work the authority rates as high health hazard; free of charge to the minor and parents (Articles 96, 97).
• Quarries and mines: examination before employment, repeated before the contract ends to detect occupational disease, during working hours and free (Article 106).
• Pregnant and nursing women: may not be assigned work found harmful by the health authority or a medical examination (Article 85).

What the law requires

Article 114(2), item 5 of the Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 (قانون العمل رقم 37 لسنة 2015) requires that all workers undergo primary and periodic medical examinations concerning OSH and the work environment, covering accidents, injuries and occupational diseases at work or related to it. Article 120 confirms that the worker does not bear the cost of a healthy and safe working environment, including medical care and all tests.

Workers must keep the periodic examination dates set by the enterprise physician or the competent medical authority (Article 119). Where the workforce exceeds 50, the employer must have a contracted physician with a clinic at the workplace, and above 500 a resident physician (Article 121), who in practice runs this programme. The National Centre for Occupational Health and Safety monitors workers' health as part of its functions (Article 115) and examines workers before granting an enterprise its OSH licence (Article 114(2)).

The law does not list tests by exposure. Choose them with the physician according to the risks, for example:

Practice lags behind the law. A published study of 50 small plastics and aluminium workshops in Duhok, assessed against the 1987 OSH instructions, found that initial and periodic medical examinations were among the least applied requirements. An inspector or client auditor is likely to ask for the examination records.

Applying it on a site

Example: An oil services company hires 60 workers in Basra, including 10 welders and 15 drivers. Each worker has a pre-employment examination by the company's contracted physician before the first shift. Welders have lung function tests on the physician's schedule, drivers have vision checks, and everyone is re-examined at least yearly. The results go into a confidential medical file; the HR file only records "fit", "fit with restrictions" or "unfit". All costs are paid by the company.

Common mistakes

• Deducting medical costs from wages or asking workers to bring their own reports at their expense.
• Doing a single pre-employment check and no periodic follow-up.
• Forgetting the exit examination required in quarries and mines.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Iraq: law, authorities and employer duties
• Must an employer in Iraq appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?
• Occupational health services: workplace doctor and nurse

Standards and further reading

• Labour Law No. 37 of 2015 (قانون العمل رقم 37 لسنة 2015), Articles 85, 96, 97, 106, 114, 119 to 121; unofficial English translation: alnoor.edu.iq
• Kirkuk University Journal of Administrative and Economic Sciences (via Iraqi Academic Scientific Journals), evaluation of OSH procedures in industrial organisations in Duhok: iasj.rdd.edu.iq

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.