What is the main occupational safety and health law in Iran and who enforces it?

Iran has no stand-alone occupational safety and health (OSH) act. The main rules are in Chapter 4, "Technical protection and occupational health" (حفاظت فنی و بهداشت کار), Articles 85 to 106 of the Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran (قانون کار جمهوری اسلامی ایران) of 1990. Two ministries enforce them: the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare for technical safety and labour inspection, and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education for occupational health.

Short answer

• Law: Labour Law, finally approved by the Expediency Council in November 1990. Chapter 4 sets the OSH duties and the inspection system, and Chapter 11 (Articles 171 to 186) sets the penalties.
• Detail: technical rules are protective regulations prepared by the High Council for Technical Protection (شورای عالی حفاظت فنی) and approved by the Minister of Labour. Health rules, including occupational exposure limits, come from the Ministry of Health.
• Scope: all employers, workers and productive, industrial, service and agricultural establishments (Article 1), including home workplaces (Article 85, Note). Staff under the civil service law or other special employment rules, and family workplaces run only by the owner and close relatives, are outside the law (Article 188), and the Cabinet may exempt workshops with fewer than 10 workers from some provisions by bylaw (Article 191).
• Enforcement: labour inspectors (Ministry of Labour) and occupational health experts (Ministry of Health) can enter without notice, take samples and report dangers. The courts can close a dangerous workplace and impose fines or imprisonment.
• International: Iran ratified ILO Convention No. 155 and its 2002 Protocol on 7 February 2023, in force for Iran since 7 February 2024.

How the legal framework is built

Article 85 requires every workplace to follow two sets of instructions: those of the High Council for Technical Protection, for safety, and those of the Ministry of Health, for preventing occupational disease and keeping the work environment healthy. Article 86 sets out the High Council. It is chaired by the Minister of Labour or a deputy and includes representatives of several ministries, two university professors, two industrial managers and two worker representatives. The Director-General of Labour Inspection acts as secretary.

The rest of Chapter 4 sets the core duties:

Other laws fill in the picture. These include the Social Security Law of 1975 (قانون تأمین اجتماعی), the current law for work injury insurance, and the general criminal law, including the Islamic Penal Code, for death or injury.

Who does what in enforcement

The General Directorate of Labour Inspection (بازرسی کار) of the Ministry of Labour supervises working conditions and the technical protection rules. It also trains workers and employers, studies problems with the rules and investigates occupational accidents (Article 96). The Ministry of Health is responsible for controlling, evaluating and inspecting occupational health and workers' medicine (Article 96, Note 1). Its occupational health inspectors work through the provincial health networks. In a national study published in 2025, 2,317 of them recorded data on about 821,000 workplaces between March 2019 and March 2020.

Both kinds of inspector carry an official card. They may enter covered workplaces without notice and inspect records (Article 98), and a home workplace needs a court permit. They may also take samples for testing (Article 99). Their reports carry the weight of reports by judicial officers (Article 101). If an inspector finds a likely accident or dangerous condition, they must warn the employer in writing. On the ministry's report the court can order all or part of the workplace closed and sealed, with wages paid during the closure (Article 105).

Penalties are imposed by the criminal courts, which must handle these cases as a priority (Article 185). The Social Security Organization (سازمان تأمین اجتماعی) pays work injury benefits and takes part in investigating accidents involving insured workers.

What this means for a newcomer

An employer or foreign contractor starting work in Iran should:

1. Identify the provincial labour office (اداره کار) and the local health network that cover the site.
2. Get the protective regulations for the sector.
3. Set up the accident register and medical files.
4. Form the committee if the workforce makes one necessary.
5. Make sure imported PPE and safety devices have Article 90 approval.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Iran: law, authorities and employer duties
• What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Iran?
• How and within what time must a workplace accident be reported in Iran?
• ILO OSH conventions, ratification and fundamental status

Standards and further reading

• Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1990, Chapter 4 (Articles 85 to 106): English translation, Iran Data Portal, Syracuse University; Persian original (PDF).
• FAOLEX record of the Law on Labour, 1990.
• Labour Law, Articles 188 and 191 (exclusions and small-workshop exemptions): Iran Data Portal.
• US Social Security Administration, Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Asia and the Pacific, 2018, Iran (work injury: current law 1975, run by the Social Security Organization): ssa.gov.
• ILO: Iran ratifies C155 and its Protocol (2023).
• National profile for OSH services in Iran (IRANOSH), BMC Public Health, 2025: PMC11995502.

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.