Occupational Safety & Health · Framework

OSH law and institutions in Georgia

The legal framework for safety and health at work, the Labour Inspection Service, accredited safety specialists, sanctions and the transposition of EU directives.

Last updated: 3 October 2026

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Timeline

How the framework was built
Year	Step
2006	Labour inspectorate abolished with the new Labour Code
2015	Labour conditions inspection department created, limited to safety
March 2018	Law on Occupational Safety adopted, covering hazardous, heavy and harmful work
2019	Organic Law on Occupational Safety extends coverage to all sectors; inspectors may enter workplaces without notice or court order; fines GEL 100–50,000; power to suspend work
2020	Law on the Labour Inspection Service
2021	Labour Inspection Service receives full mandate over labour rights and safety
2022–2023	Five EU occupational safety directives transposed

Sources: HRW (2019); OC Media (2019); ETF–Eurofound (2024); Twinning fiche GE 21 NDICI SO 02 23.

Institutions

Labour Inspection Service — legal entity under the Ministry responsible for labour; inspects, investigates accidents, imposes sanctions, reports annually to Parliament. 7,111 inspections in 2025; 3,765 safety inspections and 361 operations suspended in 2023 (Parliament of Georgia, 2026; Formula, 2024).
Occupational safety specialists — employers must designate a safety specialist who has completed an accredited training programme, as required by the Organic Law on Occupational Safety.
Parliament — the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee and the Economic Policy Committee hear the Service's annual reports.
Public Defender — reports on labour rights, including safety.
Social partners — the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation and the Georgian Employers' Association, in the Tripartite Social Partnership Commission.

EU directives transposed

EU occupational safety directives transposed by Georgia, 2022–2023
Directive	Subject
89/654/EEC	Minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace
89/656/EEC	Personal protective equipment
90/269/EEC	Manual handling of loads
90/270/EEC	Work with display screen equipment
92/58/EEC	Safety and health signs at work

Source: ETF–Eurofound (2024). The EU–Georgia Association Agreement (Annex XXX) lists further directives for approximation, including the Framework Directive 89/391/EEC; the European Commission's 2024 report found "some level of preparation" in social policy and employment.

Enforcement in practice

Warnings were the main sanction regardless of the severity of violations (Social Justice Center et al., 2023).
Mining inspections numbered 9 in 2020, 22 in 2021 and 80 in 2022 (Social Justice Center et al., 2023).
Workers filed only 42 safety complaints with the Service in 2022 (Social Justice Center et al., 2023).
The law does not adequately cover informal and non-standard work (US Department of State, 2025).

These are findings reported by the organisations named; the Labour Inspection Service reports falling violations and fatalities (Parliament of Georgia, 2026).

Public health perspective (WHO)

WHO's first objective for workers' health is a national policy instrument, developed between the ministries of labour and health, with a national profile, programme and indicators (WHA60.26). Georgia's framework was built on the labour side — an occupational safety law and an inspectorate — and the health ministry's role in workers' health is not visible in published strategies. The WHO plan's model places occupational health services within the health system and links them to primary health care, which Georgia's universal health care programme could carry. Workers' health: the public health perspective.

Legal sources (Matsne, with article numbers)

Statutory references on this page are to the following acts in the Legislative Herald of Georgia (Matsne), with the articles relied on. English translations on Matsne are official for the Labour Code and the Labour Inspection law; the Occupational Safety law's English text is an unofficial translation.


Act	Official text	Articles relied on
Organic Law — Labour Code of Georgia (No. 4113-რს, 17 December 2010, as amended; major amendment No. 7177, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 1155567	Art. 2 and 4 — discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work; Art. 10 — minimum age 16 (14 with consent for light work), hazardous work barred for minors and pregnant women; Art. 17 — probation up to 6 months; Art. 24 — 40-hour week, 48 hours in listed sectors, 12-hour daily and 24-hour weekly rest, working-time records; Art. 27 — overtime; Art. 28 — night work 22:00–06:00, barred for minors and pregnant women, 8-hour cap in hazardous work; Art. 31 — 24 working days' paid leave, 10 extra days for hazardous work; Art. 37 and 39 — maternity leave 126 days, state benefit; Art. 45 — safe and healthy working environment, right to refuse dangerous work, employer's duty to compensate harm; Art. 47–49 — termination grounds, notice and compensation, collective redundancies; Art. 52–57 — freedom of association, collective agreements; Art. 61–67 — disputes, mediation, strike and lockout, essential services; Art. 70 — information and consultation through elected employee representatives in enterprises of 50 or more
Organic Law of Georgia on Occupational Safety (19 February 2019; replaced the Law of March 2018)	Matsne 4486188	Employer duties, risk assessment, designation of an occupational safety specialist, workers' rights, inspection powers and sanctions; applies to all sectors
Law of Georgia on the Labour Inspection Service (No. 7178-Iს, 29 September 2020)	Matsne 5003057	Art. 2 — legal status; Art. 4 — governing acts; Art. 5 — aim and functions; Art. 13–16 — inspection powers; Art. 20 — reporting
Government Decree No. 381 — list of heavy, harmful and hazardous works	Matsne (Georgian)	Defines hazardous work for the purposes of the Labour Code and the Occupational Safety law
Government Decree No. 597 — sectors with specific working regimes (48-hour week)	Matsne (Georgian)	Implements Labour Code Art. 24(3)

Consolidated versions change; the links open the current consolidated text. GILS cites the version in force at the date of the page's "Last updated".

Sources

ETF–Eurofound (2024). Working life in Georgia. www.etf.europa.eu
OC Media (2019). Georgia beefs up labour inspection department. oc-media.org
Parliament of Georgia (2026). Economic Policy Committee heard the Labour Inspection Service. parliament.ge
Social Justice Center et al. (2023). Submission to the UN CESCR (archived copy). web.archive.org
European Commission (2024). Georgia 2024 Report. eur-lex.europa.eu
US Department of State (2025). 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Georgia. www.state.gov

Figures are from the GILS Evidence Register and the official sources shown. GILS is independent of government, trade unions, employers' organisations and the ILO.