September 12, 2024

Industrial safety in Uzbekistan

1. Legislation

The Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
The Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility;
The Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Criminal Liability;
The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Industrial safety of hazardous production facilities” dated 28.09.2006;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On additional measures to implement the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Industrial Safety of hazardous production facilities”, dated December 10, 2008 No. 271;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On further measures to implement the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Industrial Safety of Hazardous Production facilities”, dated 05/19/2020 No. 291.

2. The concept of industrial safety. Hazardous production facilities

The main regulatory legal act in the field of industrial safety is the Law of 28.09.2006 “On industrial safety of hazardous production entities”. Industrial safety is conditions, prohibitions, restrictions, and other mandatory requirements contained in legislative acts, as well as regulatory technical documents, compliance with which ensures industrial safety.” The provisions of this law apply to all organizations, regardless of their organizational and legal forms and forms of ownership, if they operate a hazardous production facility. State regulation in this area aims to ensure industrial safety and prevent and minimize accidents and incidents at hazardous production facilities to protect the vital interests of the individual and society.

Hazardous production facilities (hereinafter referred to as HPF) include enterprises or their workshops and sites, as well as other production facilities where [1]:

1) the following hazardous substances are used, produced, processed, formed, stored, transported, and destroyed:

substances capable of forming an explosive and flammable environment;
harmful substances related to the degree of exposure to a living organism to hazard classes I, II, and III (extremely dangerous, highly dangerous, and moderately dangerous), in accordance with approved standards [2];
explosives, which, under certain types of external influence, are capable of very rapid self-propagating chemical transformation with the release of heat and the formation of gases;
industrial waste containing substances in concentrations dangerous to human health and the environment;

2) equipment operating at a pressure of more than 0.07 megapascals or a temperature exceeding the boiling point of the working fluid at normal atmospheric pressure is used;

3) permanently installed lifting mechanisms, escalators, cable cars, and funiculars are used;

4) melts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys based on these melts are obtained;

5) mining, mining, and processing of minerals, as well as work in underground conditions.

A specially authorized state body, namely the State Committee for Industrial Safety of the Republic of Uzbekistan, keeps records of such facilities in a special state register of industrial safety after their identification in accordance with the regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers. To be registered, the organization operating the HPF must provide an approved list of documents (a copy of the conclusion on the results of the industrial safety examination and a document confirming payment of the cost of conducting an HPF examination in the amount of 1 amount of basic calculated value – as of the date of writing of this memorandum 1 amount of BCV is 340,000 soums) within 10 days from the date of receipt of the conclusion of the expert organization on the results of the industrial safety examination and identification of the HPF.

3. Forms of state regulation in the field of industrial safety

State regulation in the field of industrial safety includes:

establishment of industrial safety requirements;

The legislation has separate requirements for the design, construction, acceptance, and operation of HPF. So, for the implementation of construction or reconstruction, a prerequisite is the presence of a positive conclusion of the industrial safety expertise. The employees of such organization must meet the qualification requirements and have no medical contraindications to this work, as well as undergo mandatory training and certification in accordance with the established procedure.

state supervision of compliance with industrial safety requirements;
certification of technical devices used at hazardous production facilities;
licensing of certain types of activities in accordance with the Law “On Licensing, Permissive and Notification Procedures;
industrial safety expertise and other measures established by law;

The following are subject to industrial safety expertise in accordance with the established procedure:

project documentation for construction, expansion, reconstruction, technical re-equipment, conservation, and liquidation of a hazardous production facility;
technical devices used at a hazardous production facility;
buildings and structures at a hazardous production facility;
declaration of industrial safety and other documents related to the operation of a hazardous production facility.

4. Responsibilities of the organization operating the HPF

An organization operating a hazardous production facility is obliged to:

comply with the requirements contained in legislative acts, as well as regulatory technical documents in the field of industrial safety;
to ensure the staffing of employees of a hazardous production facility in accordance with the established requirements;
to allow persons who meet the qualification requirements and do not have medical contraindications to this work to work at a dangerous production facility;
to ensure the training and certification of employees of hazardous production facilities;
to ensure the availability and functioning of the necessary devices and control systems for the production process in accordance with the established requirements;
to ensure the conduct of an industrial safety examination, as well as diagnostics, tests, and inspections of structures and technical devices used at a hazardous production facility, within the prescribed time and according to the prescribed order of a specially authorized state body or other state bodies that, in accordance with the legislation, have separate powers in the field of industrial safety;
to prevent unauthorized entry of unauthorized persons into a dangerous production facility;
ensure compliance with industrial safety requirements for the storage of hazardous substances;
develop and approve an industrial safety declaration in accordance with the established procedure;
to carry out orders, resolutions, and regulations of a specially authorized state body and other state bodies that, in accordance with the legislation, have separate powers in the field of industrial safety;
suspend the operation of a hazardous production facility in the event of an accident or incident, as well as in the event of other circumstances adversely affecting industrial safety;
to participate in the technical investigation of the causes of an accident at a dangerous production facility, to take measures to eliminate the causes that led to the accident and their prevention;
analyze the causes of an incident at a dangerous production facility, take measures to eliminate and prevent them;
promptly inform, in accordance with the established procedure, a specially authorized state body, other state bodies that, in accordance with the legislation, have separate powers in the field of industrial safety, local government authorities, as well as self-government bodies of citizens and the population about an accident at a dangerous production facility;
take measures to protect the life and health of workers at hazardous production facilities in the event of an accident;
keep records of accidents and incidents at a hazardous production facility.

5. Production control and declaration of industrial safety

Another important responsibility of such organizations is the organization and implementation of production control. Production control refers to a set of organizational and technical measures aimed at ensuring the safe operation of the HPF, preventing incidents and accidents on it, as well as ensuring readiness to localize possible accidents and incidents and eliminate their consequences. The procedure for organizing production control will be described below.

In order to carry out production control, the head of the organization must first approve a local act on production control in coordination with the bodies of the State Committee for Industrial Safety. If there are fewer than 20 people in the organization, then it is possible to conclude a separate agreement on the organization of production control by organizations that operate similar HPFs. After the approval of the local act, the head assigns the responsibility for the implementation of production control to one of the employees. It is worth emphasizing that there are certain requirements for employees of the organization’s production control service: the presence of higher technical education corresponding to the profile of the production facility; the presence of at least 3 years of work experience in the relevant industry; the presence of a certificate or certificate confirming training and certification in industrial safety. These employees ensure compliance with industrial safety requirements at the HPF. The results of the inspection of compliance with industrial safety requirements, the conclusion, and recommendations of the production control service are submitted for consideration to the management of the organization operating the HPF in the form of an act based on the results of the inspection.

According to the results of the year, and upon request, the organizations operating the HPF provide information on the organization of production control to the structural divisions of the State Committee for Industrial Safety and other authorized bodies in accordance with the legislation. Another mandatory requirement is the development of an industrial safety declaration, which should include an assessment of the risk of accidents at the HPF and an analysis of the sufficiency of measures taken to prevent its negative consequences, etc.

6. Compulsory insurance

In order to ensure public safety, mandatory liability insurance for damage in the event of an accident at a dangerous production facility has also been introduced. The amount of insurance compensation (insurance amount) is determined by the insurer on the basis of an act of technical investigation of the causes of the accident, court decisions, and other materials containing data on the causes and circumstances of the insured event, including the amount of damage caused to other persons.

Minimum amounts of insurance amounts for civil liability insurance for harm to life, health, and (or) property of other persons and the environment in the event of an accident at a hazardous production facility [3].

Type of hazardous production facility	The minimum amount of the insured amount (in minimum wages)
First	250 000 UZS
Second	50 000 UZS
Third	10 000 UZS

7. Liability

Responsibility for violations of legislation in the field of industrial safety is provided for in the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In accordance with the Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, legal entities and citizens whose activities are associated with increased danger to others are obliged to compensate for the harm caused by a source of increased danger, unless they prove that the harm arose as a result of force majeure or intent of the victim. In addition, violation of industrial safety requirements at facilities controlled by the bodies of the State Committee for Industrial Safety of the Republic of Uzbekistan entails administrative liability in the form of imposing a fine on citizens from 1 to 3, and on officials from 3 to 5BCV. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan specifies the following types of crimes that can be attributed to violations of industrial safety legislation: violation of safety rules for mining, construction, or explosive work, resulting in moderate severity or serious bodily injury; violation of the rules for handling harmful chemicals; violation of labor protection rules (violation of safety regulations, industrial sanitation or other labor protection rules), etc.

[1] Art. 4 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On industrial safety of hazardous production facilities”;

[2] For more information, see the “Hygienic classifier of toxic industrial waste in the conditions of the Republic of Uzbekistan”;

[3] https://lex.uz/ru/docs/1413933#1415595.

Industrial safety in Uzbekistan

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