Occupational health and safety committees in European Union countries and in Turkey: a field study on effectiveness of the committees in Turkey

Abstract

The Occupational Health and Safety Committees are modernized in order to improve the democracy and cooperation in the enterprises by incorporating the employees into the management of occupational health and safety, strengthening occupational health and safety supervision and reducing the number of work-related accidents. Most studies state that the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety committees must be best shown by the reduction in work-related accidents. But at the same time, they emphasize the importance of the support of top management, regular meetings, the participation levels of participants as well as member training as being important with regard to the effectiveness. A field study was carried out with 367 Occupational Health and Safety Specialists as part of this paper. In the study, the effectiveness of the Occupational Health and Safety Committees in Turkey was analyzed to see whether the obligations in the Labour Act and Occupational Health and Safety Committees Regulations are being realised; what’s more, the personal observations of the occupational health and safety specialists working in the organisations were considered. Nearly all occupational health and safety specialists stated that the Occupational Health and Safety Committees, in conjunction with other precautions, has had a positive effect in decreasing the number of occupational accidents. As a result it has been determined that the interlocution and cooperation function of the committees is as crucial