Comparison of occupational health and safety legislations in the construction sector of Türkiye and Kosovo

The construction industry is known as a sector where high levels of accidents occur and many dangerous activities are carried out in workplaces. Therefore, there is great emphasis on the importance of health and safety in the construction industry. Many laws and relevant regulations have been put in place to ensure that construction work can be completed as safely as possible. Occupational health and safety legislation in Turkey was established in the main framework by the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 and the accompanying regulations. It is seen that this legislation in Turkey has been prepared in accordance with the European Union occupational health and safety directives, but some regulations and implementation principles are country-specific. Kosovo is a young country in Europe that is trying to solve its economic problems because it has recently emerged from a major war. Therefore, as the state administration, it works to comply with European Union standards, especially in creating occupational health and safety legislation. For this purpose, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 04/L-161, adopted in Kosovo in May 2013, was put into practice. At this stage, it is seen that there are still deficiencies in the preparation of other parts of the legislation and implementation regulations. In this study, the occupational health and safety legislation in Turkey and Kosovo was examined comparatively and the deficiencies of the legislation in Kosovo were identified. It has been concluded that new regulations should be created in accordance with the law, especially in order to eliminate the deficiencies in occupational health and safety training. Although the law in Kosovo defines measures to improve the safety levels and health of employees in workplaces, it seems that deficiencies need to be eliminated in the preparation and enforcement of regulations containing the principles of implementation.