What OSH training must employers provide to workers in Israel?

Every employer in Israel, whatever its size, must give each worker a written summary of the job's risks by the first working day and must train workers on preventing those risks at least once a year, through a suitably qualified person, in a language the worker understands. Training is recorded in a training register, counts as working time and may not be charged to the worker.

Short answer

• Legal basis: Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Provision of Information and Training of Workers) 5759-1999, as amended with effect from 16 October 2026.
• Written risk summary: by the first day of work at the latest, in Hebrew and another language the worker understands; renewed when the job or workstation changes.
• Training frequency: according to need and at least once a year.
• Format: face to face; online or e-learning only where a safety officer has been appointed and approves it on the prescribed form, and never for construction work that must be notified.
• Trainer: a "suitably qualified person" with experience and training in the subject who signs a declaration kept in the training register.
• No work without training: a worker may not be employed until trained and given the required protective equipment.
• Extra rules: agent-specific regulations add training (noise yearly, benzene on hiring and every six months); under a temporary provision (16 October 2026 to 15 October 2028) a foreign worker on notifiable construction work needs at least eight extra hours of training by an approved institution before working more than one month after first entering Israel.

What the Training Regulations require

The occupier of the workplace must give each worker up-to-date information on the risks at the workplace and at the worker's own workstation, with instructions for safe use, operation and maintenance of equipment, substances and processes. Training must make sure each worker understands the risks relevant to the job, and the occupier must check that the training was understood and is followed.

The training register (פנקס הדרכה) must record the names and identity or passport numbers of participants, dates, type and subject of training, and the trainer's name, qualifications and role. It is kept at the workplace, or for construction work at the site where the worker is employed. Hazardous substances, equipment and processes must be labelled, PPE signs posted, and the content explained in a language the worker understands. When new hazardous substances, equipment or processes are introduced, the occupier must immediately inform the safety officer, safety trustee and committee and post a notice.

Workers in turn must report newly discovered hazards and attend the training they are called to. The occupier must post these worker duties, the names of the safety officer and trustee and the e-mail address of the Ministry of Labour's OSH Administration on the notice board, in Hebrew and a language most workers understand.

Special groups and topics

Worked example

Example: A logistics company with 40 workers in Israel hires five new forklift drivers, two of whom read only Russian. On day one each receives a written risk summary in Hebrew and Russian. A trainer with documented experience in forklift and warehouse safety gives face-to-face training with a Russian interpreter; the register shows names, ID numbers, date, subject and the trainer's signed declaration. Because the company has no appointed safety officer, it cannot switch to e-learning for the yearly refresher. Any licence or authorisation that specific equipment rules require is a separate matter that this general training does not replace.

Common mistakes

• Using generic videos as the yearly training. Online training is lawful only with an appointed safety officer's written approval, and not for notifiable construction work.
• No language support. The risk summary must be in Hebrew and another language the worker understands, and training must be understood.
• Charging workers or using unpaid time. Training time is working time and is free for the worker.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Israel: law, authorities and employer duties
• Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Israel, and how often must it be reviewed?
• Is a safety committee or a worker safety representative required in Israel?
• OSH training regulation in Türkiye: durations and renewal

Standards and further reading

• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Provision of Information and Training of Workers) 5759-1999 (תקנות ארגון הפיקוח על העבודה (מסירת מידע והדרכת עובדים), התשנ"ט-1999), as amended in 2026.
• Work Safety Regulations (Occupational Hygiene and Health of Workers Exposed to Noise) 5744-1984, regulation 5; (Benzene) 5744-1983.
• Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, laws and regulations updates.

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.