Occupational safety International framework and country guides
What OSH training must employers provide to workers in Iran?
Part of: Occupational safety and health in Iran: law, authorities and employer duties
Short answer
Under Article 91 of Iran's Labour Law, employers must teach workers to use the safety and health means provided and supervise compliance. No national table of training hours was verified. Training and written warnings form the employer's defence (Article 95, Note 2).
Employers in Iran must train every worker to use the safety and health means they provide and must supervise how the rules are followed. This is the general duty in Article 91 of the Labour Law. The law sets no fixed number of hours or renewal period, and no national table like Türkiye's hours per hazard class could be verified. In practice, training records and signed warnings are the employer's main defence if an accident happens.
Short answer
- Legal basis: Article 91 requires employers to provide the means for safety and health, teach workers how to use them and supervise compliance. Workers must use and look after the equipment and follow the instructions.
- Content: at least the hazards of the job, the safe method, the PPE and how to use and look after it, emergency arrangements and how to report hazards (Article 94) and accidents.
- Hours and renewal: no verified national figures. Sector protective regulations, Ministry of Health programmes and client contracts may set them, so ask the provincial labour office.
- Records: keep dated, signed attendance records and written warnings. Under Article 95, Note 2 the employer is not liable when the worker ignored the means provided despite training and earlier warnings.
- Who else trains: the labour inspectorate trains workers and employers (Article 96 (c)), and approved training centres provide vocational training (Chapter 5).
How the duty works in practice
Chapter 4 makes training part of the general duty rather than a separate regulation. The employer must put the safety means "at the disposal" of workers, teach them how to use them and supervise them (Article 91). Breaching Article 91 is one of the offences in Article 176, with fines per worker and imprisonment for repeat offences.
Article 95, Note 2 shows why records matter. If the employer provided the necessary means and the worker, "in spite of the necessary training and previous warnings", did not use them, the employer is not held responsible. Any disagreement is decided by the dispute resolution board. An employer who cannot show the training and the warnings loses this defence.
Some groups need extra care. Young workers aged 15 to 18 may not do hazardous work, night work or overtime (Article 83). Women may not do dangerous, difficult or hazardous work under Article 75. Apprenticeship centres must give apprentices a training environment that protects their health and safety (Article 118).
Note: A 2025 national OSH profile recommends implementing regulations for OSH education and setting up OSH training centres with priority for small workplaces, which suggests that experts still saw a gap in national training rules. Check whether new rules have been issued since.
A practical training plan for an Iranian site
| Training | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| Site induction: rules, hazards, emergency, reporting | All workers and contractors | Before starting work |
| Task and equipment training, including PPE use and care | Workers on each task | Before the task, and when methods or equipment change |
| Toolbox talks | Work teams | Regularly; weekly is common practice |
| Specialist training (work at height, confined space, hot work, electrical, forklift) | Workers doing that work | Before the work; refresh periodically |
| Committee members and safety officer | Appointed persons | On appointment |
| Refresher after an accident or near miss | Teams concerned | After the investigation |
Example: A foreign contractor brings 30 local workers onto a petrochemical site. It runs a half-day induction in Persian, issues PPE against signature and records a short practical demonstration for each worker. A supervisor gives a written warning, countersigned by the worker, when a harness is not clipped on. If an accident later happens despite these steps, the file supports the Article 95, Note 2 defence.
Comparison with Türkiye
In Türkiye the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of OSH Training of Workers (Çalışanların İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği Eğitimlerinin Usul ve Esasları Hakkında Yönetmelik) of 2 April 2026, which replaced the 2013 regulation, sets basic training of at least 8, 12 or 16 lesson hours for less dangerous, dangerous and very dangerous workplaces, repeated at least every 3 years, 2 years or every year. In Iran the Labour Law sets the duty and the defence but no hours. Employers working in both countries often apply the Turkish or client minimums in Iran as good practice.
Common mistakes
- Training in a language workers do not understand. Deliver it in Persian, or the worker's language, and check understanding.
- No signed records. Without records the Article 95, Note 2 defence fails.
- One induction only. Retrain when tasks, equipment or hazards change.
Related on excodex
- Occupational safety and health in Iran: law, authorities and employer duties
- OSH competence and training: needs, induction and effectiveness
- What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Iran?
Standards and further reading
- Labour Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1990, Articles 91, 94, 95 and 96: English translation, Iran Data Portal; Chapter 5, training: Iran Data Portal.
- National profile for OSH services in Iran (IRANOSH), BMC Public Health, 2025: PMC11995502.
- Türkiye, Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of OSH Training of Workers, Official Gazette 2 April 2026, Articles 13 and 14: mevzuat.gov.tr.
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
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Part of: Occupational safety and health in Iran: law, authorities and employer duties