Occupational Safety and Health Summary

Occupational Safety and Health Summary

Obligations of EmployersObligations of Workers

Obligations of Employers

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Obligations of companies

With regard to issues of health and safety at work and irrespective of the activities of their companies, employers have the obligations laid down in Articles 5 to 12 of Framework Directive 89/391/EEC transposed into Greek law by virtue of Presidential Decree 17/1996 and codified by virtue of Law 3850/2010. More specifically, Law 3850/2010 stipulates that employers must use the services of a safety technician and occupational physician : these persons, who must have the skills and qualifications specified in Articles 13 and 16 (as amended and in force), may be associated with the enterprise either under an employment relationship or under a service provision contract. In addition to their other competences, the Safety Technician and Occupational Physician must cooperate in the performance of their duties, jointly authoring and revising the written occupational risk assessment required under the aforementioned law.

The assignment of Safety Technicians (ST) and Occupational Physicians (OP) by employers shall take place exclusively online via the website of the Management Information System (MIS) of Labour Inspectorate , and ST and OP duties may be assigned only to persons entered and registered in the Databases of the MIS in question. Information on the process for registered ST  and OP in the MIS Database can be found under the section ‘Online Services Guide’ on the home page of the website.

The same section contains ‘Instructions on ST Announcement’ and  contains ‘Instructions on OP Announcement’, outlining all the steps of the procedure for the announcement of a safety technician occupational physician via the MIS. .

The general risk prevention principles for the health and safety of workers are laid down in Article 42 of Law 3850/2010 as amended by article 7 of Law 4808/2021, while the special measures for the protection of the health and safety of workers that employers must take in relation to the hazards arising at their companies must be documented in the written occupational risk assessment and must satisfy the provisions of the special Instructions of Framework Directive 89/391/EEC ratified by national statutes, as indicated below:

(the list of statutes is not exhaustive)

1. Hazards associated with the building infrastructure of the enterprise or facility (excluding worksites)

2. Engineering and electrical hazards

3. Hazards due to exposure to physical agents

4. Hazards due to exposure to chemical, carcinogenic or biological agents

5. Hazards due to musculoskeletal strain at work

6. Hazards of any kind not fully addressed through collective means of protection

In addition to the foregoing covering all activities, employers’ obligations on taking special security measures on a case-by-case basis are also laid down in other provisions of national legislation concerning specific activities, such as:

For further information, contact the Audit Planning and Coordination Department of the Inspectorate of Health and Safety at Work or the Health and Safety at Work Inspection Departments of the Regional Directorates of Labour Inspectorate.

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