What Are the Duties of an OHS Specialist?

OHS specialist duties: the regulation's five headings

The official answer to the question "What does an OHS specialist do?" is in Art. 9 of the Regulation on the Duties, Authority, Responsibilities and Training of OHS Specialists. The duties of an OHS specialist are listed there under five headings. The table below shows what each heading means on site and the record that should result:

The minimum time the specialist must devote to these duties is 10, 20 or 40 minutes per employee per month, depending on the hazard class. You can find the time for your own workplace with our OHS obligations calculator; we explained the calculation in our article on service times for workplace physicians and specialists.

Guidance: written advice to the employer

The guidance heading shows that the specialist is the employer's adviser. Under the regulation, the specialist:

• Makes recommendations to the employer on matters such as planning, organisation and practices in the workplace, the condition of machinery and other equipment, the substances used and the choice of PPE.
• Notifies the employer in writing of the measures that need to be taken.
• Investigates the causes of occupational accidents and occupational diseases and proposes measures to prevent their recurrence.
• Also examines incidents that did not cause death or injury but had the potential to harm employees, equipment or the workplace.

On site, the most valuable form of this is obtaining an opinion before a decision. Adding guards after a new press line has been installed is both more expensive and harder than choosing the right machine at the purchasing stage. We explained the method of accident investigation in our article on root cause analysis.

Risk assessment and supervision of the working environment

Under the risk assessment heading, the specialist takes part in risk assessment work, proposes the measures to be taken and follows up their implementation. There is an important detail here: the risk assessment is not a document the specialist writes alone. It is team work carried out with the employer or their representative, the workplace physician, the employee representative and employees who know the departments.

Supervision of the working environment is the specialist's presence on site:

• They plan and check the periodic maintenance, inspections and measurements required by the legislation.
• They take part in work to prevent accidents, fires and explosions that may occur in the workplace and in emergency plans; they follow up drills and training.

In site supervision, the specialist should walk round the departments on every visit, check whether previous findings have been closed and record new findings. A specialist service that prepares documents at a desk and does not go on site does not meet the supervision duty in the regulation.

Training, information and records

This heading is the area in which the specialist produces the most documents. Under the regulation, the specialist:

1. Plans the OHS training to be given to employees, submits it for the employer's approval and delivers it or checks its delivery.
2. Prepares the annual evaluation report together with the workplace physician.
3. Plans and monitors work aimed at informing employees.
4. Prepares OHS instructions and work permit procedures, submits them for the employer's approval and monitors their implementation.
5. Reports the OHS information specified by the Ministry to ISG-KATİP (the Ministry's online OHS registration system).

In addition, under Art. 11/4, the specialist records their findings and recommendations, their activities under Art. 9 and their joint work with the physician in the approved logbook. Findings written in the logbook are deemed to have been notified to the employer; we explained how to keep the logbook with examples in our article on the approved logbook.

Cooperation with the relevant units

Together with the workplace physician, the specialist assesses occupational accidents and occupational diseases, prepares preventive action plans to prevent their recurrence and follows up implementation. They also prepare the annual work plan together with the physician. If they are a member of the OHS committee, they cooperate with the committee; they work together with the employee representative and support personnel.

The duties of the specialist and the physician complement each other. You can find the physician's duties in our article on workplace physician duties, and the jointly prepared plan in our article on the annual work plan.

What does a visit day on site look like?

So that the list of duties does not remain abstract, let us illustrate a typical visit day for a specialist at a metalworking company with 80 employees in the hazardous class:

1. Opening: A short meeting with the production manager; they are asked whether there has been an accident, near miss, new machine, new chemical or shift change since the last visit.
2. Checking previous findings: Open items in the approved logbook are checked one by one on site; those closed are entered in the logbook.
3. Site walk: The press, welding, machining and warehouse departments are visited; machine guards, PPE use, forklift traffic, electrical panels and escape routes are observed. Short conversations are held with employees.
4. Plan follow-up: Upcoming periodic inspection, workplace measurement, drill and training dates are checked against the calendar; the employer is reminded of what is needed.
5. Training or information: If it is in the plan, training on job-specific risks is given to a department or a new instruction is introduced.
6. Closing: New findings are written in the approved logbook, priorities are discussed with the employer or their representative and a signature is obtained.

Each step of this flow corresponds to a duty heading in the regulation. The length and frequency of visits are planned according to the minimum time written in the contract.

OHS specialist authority and its limits

Art. 10 of the regulation gives the specialist the following powers:

• Applying for work to be stopped: In situations posing a danger to life and requiring an urgent stop, applying to the employer to have the work stopped.
• Examination and obtaining information: Carrying out examinations in every part of the workplace, accessing the necessary information and documents, and talking to employees.
• Cooperation with institutions: Cooperating with the relevant institutions with the employer's knowledge and in accordance with the workplace's internal rules.

The specialist also has obligations (Art. 11): not to disrupt normal activity in the workplace as far as possible while carrying out their duties, to keep the employer's trade secrets and professional information confidential, and to be liable to the employer if they neglect their duties.

What to expect from the specialist, and what not to expect

The specialist is not the person to whom the employer hands over their OHS responsibility. Under Art. 4 of Law 6331, obtaining services externally does not remove the employer's responsibility. The specialist's job is to enable the employer to make the right decision at the right time; taking the measures, allocating the budget and supervising implementation are the employer's duties.

You can assess whether the specialist is doing their job well with these questions:

1. Is their certificate class appropriate for your hazard class? Class A is required for very hazardous, at least class B for hazardous and at least class C for less hazardous workplaces.
2. Are they present at the workplace for the time in the contract, and is this visible in the approved logbook?
3. Are their findings concrete; do they include the location, the recommendation and a deadline?
4. Do they follow up whether previous findings have been closed?
5. Is training planned, and are the records complete?
6. Are periodic inspection, measurement and drill dates tracked in a calendar?
7. Do they investigate and report accidents and near misses?

We explained how these questions should be reflected in the contract when choosing an OSGB (joint health and safety unit) in our article on what to look for when choosing an OSGB. You can find the scope of the service we provide to businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces with certified specialists appropriate to the hazard class on our OHS specialist service page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an OHS specialist stop work?

Not directly. In situations posing a danger to life and requiring an urgent stop, they apply to the employer to have the work stopped. If recommendations involving a danger to life are not implemented within a reasonable time, they report this in writing to the provincial directorate.

Does the specialist prepare the risk assessment alone?

No. The risk assessment is carried out by a team consisting of the employer or their representative, the OHS specialist, the workplace physician, the employee representative and employees who know the departments. The specialist is part of this team, proposes controls and follows them up.

What does an OHS specialist do, in short?

They give the employer written guidance, take part in the risk assessment, inspect the site regularly, plan maintenance, inspections and measurements, plan and deliver training, record their findings in the approved logbook and prepare the annual plan and report together with the physician.

In what situation does the specialist report to the provincial directorate?

When the measures they have notified in writing on matters involving a danger to life, such as fire, explosion, collapse or chemical leaks, are not implemented by the employer within a reasonable time.