A safety policy in an enterprise is not merely a management tool — it is the form in which concrete obligations established by the Georgian Labour Code are performed. Article 45 imposes on the employer an entire complex of duties to ensure a safe and healthy working environment, while Article 23 defines the written instrument — the internal rules of labour — in which those duties must be reflected. This page explains what content a safety policy should carry, which legal form sustains it, and how consultation with employee representatives under Article 71 fits into the process of developing and rolling it out.
The Content of the Policy — The Catalogue of Article 45
The core of a safety policy is Article 45. The employer is obliged to provide the employee with a working environment that is maximally safe and healthy for life and health (paragraph 1) and, within a reasonable period, to supply complete, objective and understandable information about every factor affecting the employee's life and health (paragraph 2). The content mandate of the policy document itself comes from paragraphs 4 and 5: the employer must introduce a preventive system ensuring labour safety, timely provide information about risks and prevention measures and about the rules for handling dangerous equipment, replace equipment with safer or less hazardous devices in line with technological progress, and, where necessary, provide the employee with personal protective equipment (paragraph 4); while in the event of an industrial accident the employer must take every reasonable measure for the localization of consequences, first aid and evacuation (paragraph 5). These two paragraphs effectively are the safety policy: everything else is their structured elaboration.
The policy must also reflect the remaining special duties: the employee's right to refuse work creating a clear and substantial threat, coupled with the duty of immediate notice (paragraph 3); the protection of a pregnant woman from work endangering her or the fetus's wellbeing (paragraph 7); and the fact that the list of heavy, harmful and dangerous works and the rules of mandatory periodic medical examinations at the employer's expense are determined by Georgian legislation (paragraph 8) — the policy does not create these lists but builds upon them. A policy drafted without this statutory anchor is worth little in a dispute.
Internal Rules — The Legal Form of the Policy
Article 23 defines the instrument: the employer has the right to establish internal rules of labour and is obliged to communicate them to the employees (paragraph 1). Internal rules are a written document that may determine the duration of the working week, the start and end of working time, the duration of rest, the time, place and procedure of payment of remuneration, the procedure for leave, the rules on protecting working conditions, the types of incentives and liability and the procedure for handling applications and complaints (paragraph 2). Taking into account the specifics of the work, special rules may also be established (paragraph 3) — the technical detail of a safety policy belongs exactly here. Paragraph 4 is essential: the employer must ensure the principle of equal treatment of employees and reflect anti-discrimination provisions in the internal rules and other documents; paragraph 5 supports the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities, in accordance with the mandatory standards provided by the Georgian Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally, a provision of the internal rules that contravenes the law, the individual or the collective agreement is void (paragraph 6) — this invalidity rule must be taken into account at the drafting stage itself, not discovered after a dispute arises.
Consultation with Representatives — Article 71
Where a safety policy touches organizational change or enterprise-level decisions, Article 71 comes into operation: the employer must provide employee representatives with information and hold consultation on the economic situation of the enterprise, the structure of employment and planned measures, and decisions that may bring substantial changes in the organization of labour (paragraph 1). The information must be supplied in writing, no later than 30 days before a decision affecting employees' interests, and must enable the representatives to prepare for consultation (paragraph 2). Consultation is the good-faith exchange of positions with the aim of reaching agreement (paragraph 3); it is held through meetings between the director or a management representative and the employee representatives (paragraph 4), and practical mechanisms may be agreed in writing; a collective agreement may provide for a workplace committee (paragraph 5). One caution: the United States practice of a mandatory written safety programme in the OSHA style does not exist in Georgian law — the lawful shape of the policy in Georgia is the internal rules of Article 23 implementing Article 45.
Is a written safety policy document mandatory?
Introducing a preventive system is a direct duty under Article 45, paragraph 4, and the natural form for communicating and enforcing it is the internal rules of Article 23, which the employer is obliged to communicate to employees.
What must the policy reflect at minimum?
Information on risks and prevention, personal protective equipment, replacement of equipment in line with technological progress, and measures for localization, first aid and evacuation — Article 45, paragraphs 4 and 5.
Can a provision of the internal rules be invalidated?
Yes. Under Article 23, paragraph 6, a provision of the internal rules that contravenes the law, the individual or the collective agreement is void.
When is consultation with representatives required?
Under Article 71 — on the economic situation, employment and substantial changes in the organization of labour, with written information supplied no later than 30 days before the relevant decision.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team places safety policy on a lawful footing: we map the duties of Article 45 into the internal rules, design the information and consultation procedures, and verify the document against the invalidity rules. Contact Legal.ge — we will make safety management legally dependable.