Regulation On The Procedures And Principles Of Occupational Health And Safety Trainings For Employees Has Been Published

On April 2, 2026, the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of Occupational Health and Safety Training for Employees (the “Regulation”) was published and entered into force. With the enactment of this Regulation, the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of Occupational Health and Safety Training for Employees, published in the Official Gazette No. 28648 dated May 15, 2013, has been repealed, and the procedures and principles regarding employee occupational health and safety training have been updated. The key changes considered significant under the Regulation are outlined below.

a) Onboarding Training

• The employer is obliged to provide each employee with a practical, face-to-face onboarding training covering the work to be performed and the risks present in the workplace before the employee starts work.

• This training must be planned to last at least 2 hours per employee, and it is stipulated that this duration shall not be counted towards the duration of the basic training.

b) Completion Deadline for Basic Training

• The employer is obliged to ensure that all basic trainings specified in the Regulation are completed no later than 3 months from the employee’s start date.

c) Customization of Training Content to the Workplace

• Training content must be tailored to the specific workplace by taking into account the Risk Assessment Document, Emergency Plan, and Explosion Protection Document (if applicable).

d) E-Learning Infrastructure and Rules

• In accordance with detailed provisions regarding distance learning methods, in occupational health and safety trainings delivered via e-learning, it is mandatory to record, monitor, and report employees’ system logins and logouts, training completion rates, and assessment results. The employer must also ensure that the system is accessible, monitorable, prevents misuse, and promotes active employee participation.

e) Classification of Training Periods as Working Time and Overtime

• The principle that training costs cannot be charged to the employee and that time spent in training shall be considered as working time has been preserved. In addition, it has been explicitly stipulated that, where training periods exceed the weekly working hours, such excess time shall be classified as “work exceeding normal hours” or “overtime”.

f) Electronic Signature and Archiving

• Under the regulation, it has been made possible for documents related to occupational health and safety trainings to be signed electronically in compliance with the Electronic Signature Law and to be archived in electronic environments.

g) Transitional Provisions and Short-Term “Documentation Completion” Risk

• Trainings and briefings provided prior to the publication of the Regulation but not documented must be documented within one month as of the publication date of the Regulation.

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