ABSTRACT

As many other institutions put into market in Turkey, worker’s health and safety area was also made open to market services. The issue of occupational safety being under adverse conditions due to the marketization of this area has brought many other problems as a consequence of the employment of occupational safety specialists responsible for inspections through the Joint Health and Safety Units OSGB . This study employs the issue of the unsecured working conditions of occupational safety specialists the main duty of which is to inspect the authority held by the employer, but not currently under the security of the laws, and their services far away from the quality of being an auditor. The study is based on a field research through semi-structured face-to-face in-depth interviews with occupational safety specialists. Based upon the field findings, the expectation from the specialists to impose sanctions on the employer, who pays them, and prepare reports when risks are observed make it ineffective to ensure the occupational safety. Furthermore, the Law on Occupational Health and Safety numbered 6331 has not institutionalized the inspection, which is the most important problem in occupational safety, and the specialists assigned in inspections have been left unsecured. Employment of occupational safety specialists by means of OSGB added new ones to their existing problems such as heavy working hours and low payment.