Every employer in the Republic of North Macedonia has a precisely defined list of occupational safety and health obligations. They arise from the Occupational Safety and Health Act (Official Gazette of RM no. 92/07, as subsequently amended, most recently in Official Gazette of RNM no. 74/25) and do not depend on the company's activity or size — the Act applies across every activity in the public and private sector. Below is the complete list: what each obligation requires, who must meet it, and by when.
Who the Act covers
Its provisions apply to all persons insured against workplace injury or occupational disease, and to every other person involved in the work process. The obligations are not confined to "manufacturing" companies — an office, a shop, a restaurant and a construction site fall equally within scope.
An employer may entrust the obligations to an authorised legal or natural person where it lacks suitable specialist staff and technical capability. Under Article 6(4), engaging an external firm does not release the employer from its own liability.
1. Safety statement with a risk assessment
This is the foundation document of the entire system. Under Article 11, every employer must prepare and implement a safety statement for every workplace, based on hazard identification and risk assessment.
Three things are often overlooked:
- an opinion on the statement must be obtained from the union, or where there is none, from the employee representative;
- if conditions change or a new hazard appears, a new statement is prepared — the old one is not amended;
- the statement must be presented to employees and their representatives (Article 27(2)).
Preparing a risk assessment is a specialist activity requiring a ministerial licence.
2. Occupational safety professional
The employer must appoint one or more safety professionals (Article 17, indent 1, and Article 18). How many, and with what level of education, depends on the organisation, the nature and scale of the work process, headcount, the number of shifts and the number of work units.
The safety professional prepares the technical basis for the safety statement, carries out internal supervision, analyses injuries and delivers training. They must have passed the professional examination and hold a certificate recorded in a register kept by the State Labour Inspectorate, and must accumulate 100 continuing-education points every five years (Article 18-в). If you have no such staff of your own, the duty is covered by engaging an outsourced OSH professional.
3. Employee training
Every employee must receive training for the safe performance of their work on four occasions (Article 31): on hiring, on transfer to a new workplace, on the introduction of new technology or new work equipment, and on any change to the work process that alters the level of safety.
Training follows a programme tailored to the specific workplace, takes place during working hours and at the employer's expense. For workplaces where the assessment has identified increased danger, a competence check every three years is mandatory. An inspector may order the programme to be adjusted and the training repeated. OSH training is documented and entered into the records.
4. Periodic inspections and testing
Two distinct obligations are often confused here.
Work equipment (Article 33) — machines, appliances and tools are kept in sound condition and inspected at intervals set by the employer's own act, the manufacturer's instructions or technical regulations. Where no such intervals exist, inspection is mandatory before first use, after reconstruction or breakdown, and after relocation. Untested equipment must not be put into service. This is covered by testing of work equipment and machinery.
Working environment (Articles 34 and 35) — chemical, biological and physical hazards, microclimate and illuminance are tested, with microclimate measurements taken in both the summer and the winter period. The deadline is within one year of commencing operations, and thereafter after every change to the technological process, reconstruction of the building or of the ventilation, heating and air-conditioning system, or modification of the process equipment. These are the workplace environment measurements.
The same group includes electrical installation testing — protective earthing and the lightning protection system — whose intervals derive from the technical regulations for the installation concerned.
5. Health examinations
The employer must provide health examinations at least every 24 months (Article 22(1)), through an authorised occupational medicine institution. The types, scope and price list are governed by the Decree on the type, manner, scope and price list of employee health examinations (Official Gazette of RM no. 60/2013): there are four types — pre-employment, periodic, targeted and systematic — and the employee is referred no later than 30 days before the period since the previous examination expires.
For work in conditions of increased danger (height, noise, chemical hazards, underground work and similar), an employee may work only on the basis of an assessment by an authorised health institution confirming their fitness for that work (Article 40).
6. Personal protective equipment
The employer must provide personal protective equipment and ensure its use where the measures taken in the working environment are not sufficient (Article 17, indent 6). The selection follows from the risk assessment — not from a catalogue.
Safety measures must never be a financial burden on the employee (Article 16). Conversely, an employee who does not use the prescribed equipment bears their own liability for the offence.
7. First aid, fire protection and evacuation
Four connected obligations under Article 24:
- fire prevention measures in every building;
- an evacuation and rescue plan, communicated to all employees, on the basis of which practical drills are carried out at least once every two years;
- organised provision of first aid in the event of injury or sudden illness;
- for every 20 employees, at least one trained and designated person for first aid, firefighting, evacuation and rescue.
The evacuation plan with floor plans is part of the basic documentation an inspector will ask for.
8. Employee representative for OSH
The representative is elected by the employees themselves, at a union meeting or a meeting of employees (Article 28). The number depends on the size of the workforce: over ten employees — at least one representative; from 101 to 500 employees — two; over 501 employees — three. In any workspace where a danger exists, a representative is elected regardless of headcount.
The representative has the right to tour the workplaces at least twice a year, to inspect the safety statement, and to be notified in writing within 48 hours of every fatality, collective accident or injury causing incapacity lasting more than three working days.
9. Notifying the State Labour Inspectorate
Before operations begin — the Inspectorate is notified of the commencement of the activity eight days in advance, and a contractor on construction projects additionally notifies it in writing of the location where the works will be carried out (Article 23). The forms are prescribed by the Rulebook published in Official Gazette of RNM no. 184/2025, which replaced the earlier 2007 form. This is the first step in organising safety on a construction site.
After an incident — immediately, and at the latest within 48 hours, the Inspectorate and the employee representative are notified in writing of every fatality, collective accident, injury causing temporary incapacity lasting more than three working days, and of any occurrence constituting an immediate danger (Article 36).
10. Records
Under Article 37, the employer keeps records of specialist training and competence, of inspections carried out on work equipment, of testing performed on hazards and microclimate, of pre-employment and periodic health examinations, and of occupational diseases, workplace injuries and fatalities. The records also encompass all technical documents, instruments, reports, findings and opinions. Failure to keep records is a standalone offence.
Table: deadlines and frequencies
| Obligation | Deadline / frequency | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Notification of commencement of activity | 8 days before starting | Article 23(1) |
| Safety statement | before work begins; a new one when conditions change or a new hazard appears | Article 11 |
| Health examinations | at least every 24 months | Article 22(1) |
| Referral for examination | no later than 30 days before the previous period expires | Decree, Official Gazette of RM no. 60/2013 |
| Testing of hazards, microclimate and illuminance | within 1 year of commencing operations, then after every change | Articles 34 and 35 |
| Microclimate measurements | in both the summer and the winter period | Article 34(2) |
| Work equipment inspections | per the employer's act or the manufacturer's instructions; mandatory before first use, after reconstruction or breakdown, and after relocation | Article 33 |
| Evacuation and rescue drill | at least once every two years | Article 24(4) |
| Competence check (workplaces with increased danger) | every three years | Article 31(5) |
| Notification of a fatality or serious injury | immediately, at the latest within 48 hours | Article 36(1) |
| Workplace tour by the representative | at least twice a year | Article 30(1) |
Special cases
Where two or more employers work simultaneously at the same location, they must agree in writing on joint safety measures and appoint a safety professional to implement them (Article 15). Workplaces at which pensionable service counts at an increased rate are subject to a separate determination procedure — increased pensionable service. And a large share of the obligations require the employer to adopt its own act — inspection intervals, the training programme, the way representatives operate. Those are OSH rulebooks tailored to the specific activity.
What you risk if the obligations are not met
Offences fall into three categories. The most serious — a missing safety statement, untrained employees, health examinations not carried out, untested equipment and an unreported injury — carry a fine of EUR 500 to 4,000 in denar equivalent for the legal entity, depending on its size, plus a separate fine for the responsible person.
How we can help
RI-Opusproekt is an authorised company for specialist occupational safety and health activities. We cover every obligation on this list — from risk assessment and rulebooks, through training and measurements, to testing of equipment and electrical installations. Request a quote and you will receive an overview of where you stand against the statutory requirements.
This article is informational and does not replace professional advice. Regulations change — last updated: August 2026.
This article is informational and does not replace professional advice.
