OSH system at national level - Bulgaria

Occupational Health and Safety legislative framework

Bulgarian occupational health and safety (OSH) legislation has twice undergone transformations meant to harmonize it with the EU approach, during the nineties and then upon becoming a Member State in 2007. The Framework Directive 89/391/EEC ^[1] was transposed in the Health and Safety at Work Law^[2] while other individual Directives are transposed in governmental ordinances, like those for chemical, biological or physical agents^[1][4][2][6], or for manual handling^[7]

The Bulgarian Health and Safety at Work Law (HSWL) was adopted in 1997, and since then it has been subject to several amendments. HSWL applies to all enterprises, regardless of their organisation, as well as to self-employed persons. The law also applies to peacetime activities of the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior and Bulgarian enterprises abroad, unless otherwise provided by the national laws or by an international treaty to which Bulgaria is a party.

HSWL has general provisions regarding the organisation of internal and external OSH services, activities of Working Conditions Committees and/or Groups, occupational medical care, emergency situations, training and cooperation in case of work being shared between several companies.

The law includes provisions regarding the ‘Working Conditions’ Fund (Фонд"Условия на труд"). Funds in the "Working Conditions"Fund are collected and expended through the budget of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

Sources of funds are:

• target annual subsidy from the state budget in an amount determined annually by the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria;
• funds from the "Accidents at work and occupational diseases" fund of the state social insurance;
• voluntary contributions, revenues from events with charitable purposes, advertising, other sources.

The ‘Working Conditions" Fund supports actions for work improvement, occupational disease diagnosis, training on OSH, etc.

The employer has the obligation to assess risks to health and safety and to take measures to improve working conditions. The employer must ensure proper training and involvement of workers and to organize adequate monitoring of the implementation of planned measures. The procedure, method and frequency of risk assessment are determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health (Министерство на здравеопазването)^[8] and published in an ordinance^[3].

Other legislative acts are:

• Ordinance No 7 of 23 September 1999 on the minimum health and safety of the workplace and the use of work equipment^[10]
• Ordinance No 5 Of 11 May 1999 on the Procedure, Manner and Frequency of Carrying Out Risk Assessment^[9];
• Regulation No 15 of 31 May 1999 for the conditions, manner and requirements for developing and implementing of physiological schedules of work and rests during work^[11];
• Ordinance adopted by Decree No 263 of 30 December 1999 for finding, investigating, registering and reporting work accidents^[12];
• Ordinance on the procedure for notification, registration, verification, review and reporting of occupational diseases approved by Decree № 168 of 11 July 2008, publ., SG. 65 of 22 July 2008, effective from 22 July 2008, amend. No. 5 of 14 January 2011, in force from 14 January 2011^[13]
• Ordinance No 10 of 26 October 2003 concerning the protection of workers from exposure to carcinogenic and mutagenic substances during work^[14];
• Ordinance No 3 of 25 January 2008 on the terms and conditions for activity of Occupational Health Offices^[15]
• Ordinance No 3 of 19 April 2001 on the minimum safety and health of workers in the use of personal protective equipment at the workplace (Issued by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health promulgated., SG. 46 of 15 May 2001, effective from 16 August 2001, amend. and supplemented. No. 40 of 18 April 2008).^[16]

National strategy and programs

The Bulgarian National Strategy for Health and Safety at work 2008-2012 is inspired by the EU strategy for health and safety 2007-2012 ^[17]. The main goal of the strategy is the reduction of occupational accidents by 25%. To achieve this goal, four priority fields of action were defined:

1. Guaranteeing correct application of legislation in the field of safety and health at work;
2. Promoting development and application of sectoral strategies;
3. Managing occupational risks;
4. Promoting preventive culture and changes in workers’ and employers’ behavior aiming the health protection.

The results expected are:

• Improved and simplified legislation without reducing the existing levels of protection;
• Continuous, sustainable reduction of the occupational accidents and diseases, hence less absenteeism and reduced production loss;
• Improved methods for occupational risk management, enhancing well-being and work satisfaction.

Practical measures are planned by the strategy, like improvement of the legislation, developing easy applicable risk assessment tools, ensuring access to high quality external services for prevention, developing the inspectorates’ database, integrating the National Register of Occupational Accidents as part of the information system of the National Social Security Institute (Национален Осигурителен Институт)^[18]. The strategy underlines the importance of improved social dialogue at all levels and addresses the specific needs of SMEs.

New National Programmes on OSH - 2013 and 2014 consulted by the National Council on Working Conditions and National Council for Tripartite Cooperation has been adopted by the Council of Ministers. The Programme is a further development of the main priorities of the former strategical period (National Strategy on OHS 2008-2012) and provides for measures and activities as well as the respective resposible institutions and organisations for a yearly period in three main areas:

• ensuring proper implementation of the legislation on safety and health at work;
• effective management of occupational risks, including new and emerging risks at the workplace;
• promoting changes in the behavior of workers and employers to an approach aimed at improving the health, performance and wellbeing at work.^[19]

Social dialogue

Social dialogue at national level

Social dialogue is the basis for consultations on OSH policy development and implementation in Bulgaria. (See also: Social dialogue in occupational safety and health)

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (Национален съвет за тристранно трудничество)^[20], set up in 1993, brings together the government with the two main trade union confederations and a number of employer organisations that varied along time, according to their representativeness. Social dialogue on occupational safety and health is coordinated by the National Council on Working Conditions- NCWC (Националният съвет по условия на труд), organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.The social partners involved in this Council are:

Confederation of Labour Podkrepa (Конфедерация на труда “Подкрепа")^[21] was established in 1988, during the communist regime, as an independent union. Podkrepa is the first trade union in Bulgaria adhering to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. It covers about 24% of the employees and has 143 municipal structures, constituting 54% of the municipalities^[22].

Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria - CITUB (Конфедерацията на независимите синдикати в България-КНСБ)^[23] brings together 35 federations, trade unions and associations and has several associate members also. It is the biggest confederation in Bulgaria covering about 60% of employees and has 243 municipal structures, representing 92% of all the municipalities^[23].

Bulgarian Industrial Association- Union of the Bulgarian Business- BIA (Българска стопанска камара – съюз на българския бизнес -БСК)^[24] is an umbrella organization with a structure representing the branch organizations covering the whole spectrum of economy and the regional structures that correspond to the administrative division of the country.

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry- BCCI (Българската търговско промишлена палата)^[25] – is a successor of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce established in 1895. BCCI is made up of member companies, sectoral organisations and municipal structures.It has been recognised as representative since 1993.

Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria – The Voice of the Bulgarian Business -CEIBG (Конфедерация на работодателите и индустриалците в България- Гласът на българския бизнес)^[26] represents large and medium-sized Bulgarian private companies and multinationals.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association -BICA (Асоциация на индустриалния капитал в България)^[27] membership includes more than 50 holding and investment companies, over 38 branch chambers, 2000 industrial enterprises. It employs over 200,000 people and has a network of regional chambers covering 75 municipalities.

Union for Private Economic Enterprise (UPEE) (Съюз за стопанска инициатива)https://www.ssibg.org/?page_id=335&lang=en(as from 2016)

Social dialogue at sectoral level

There are 25 branch councils covering industry, energy, construction, transport, leather industry, railroad transport. Some trade unions are not affiliated to any branch or national trade union organisation. These include, for example, the Bank Trade Union or the Academic Union the Free Aviation Trade Union, which mainly organises land aviation workers. Some unions are not allowed to affiliate, such as the National Police Trade Union and the Union of Firefighters. There is little information on their activity^[22].

Social dialogue at enterprise level

According to Bulgarian law on health and safety at work (HSWL)^[2] the employer must consult with employees or their representatives and organizations, enabling them to participate in matters that may affect their health and safety. HSWL provides the frame for social dialogue at enterprise level as well as for the case of cooperation between enterprises for work purposes.

In enterprises with 50 or more employees Working Conditions Committees (WCC) should be established^[2], while smaller companies (5 to 50 employees) should set up Working Conditions Groups (WCG).

While the functions of WCC and WCG are similar, there are differences in their composition. WCCs include employer representatives and an equal number of workers representatives for health and safety at work. In the work of the Comittee representatives of the supervisory authorities (labour inspectorate) or the occupational health service and outside experts can be invited.The WCC Chairman is the employer or his representative and the deputy is a workers’ representative. WCGs consist of the employer or the manager of the respective unit and of one employees’ representative. WCC/WCG and trade union representatives are entitled to take part in the investigation of work accidents and occupational diseases.

OSH infrastructure

OSH infrastructure scheme

National competent bodies

OSH authorities and Inspection services

According to the Health and Safety at Work Law The Council of Ministers develop and carry out policies to ensure healthy and safe working conditions.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) https://www.mlsp.government.bg/index.php?lang=_eng^[28] is part of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers (the executive state body).MLSP is in charge with developing, coordinating and implementing the policy on labour, professional qualification, income and living standard, industrial relations, health and safety at work, social security and social assistance.

According to the Health and Safety at Work Law the tasks of MLSP in the field of health and safety at work are:

1. jointly with the Ministry of Health to analyze the status, trends and problems in providing healthy and safe working conditions and to propose measures for its improvement;
2. alone or with other ministries issues regulations on the provision of health and safety, organizes and coordinates the development of legislation in this area and establishes rules to ensure safe and healthy working conditions;
3. carries out an integrated control trough the Executive Agency "General Labour Inspectorate" of legislative compliance and fulfillment of obligations to ensure healthy and safe working conditions in all sectors and activities regardless of the form of ownership;
4. establishes the terms and requirements for training, measurements and consulting in the field of safety at work;

The Ministry of Health (Министерство на здравеопазването)^[31] leads specific activities related to health protection, cooperates with MLSP in elaborating laws and norms and coordinates occupational health services. Jointly with MLSP it conducts annual analyses of working conditions and proposes measures.

Policy for ensuring health and safety at work is defined and implemented after consultations within the permanent or temporary structures of the tripartite cooperation at national, sectoral and regional level.

The Councils on Working Conditions according the HSWL^[2]

The National Council on Working Conditions - NCWC is a permanent body for coordination, consultation and cooperation in the development and implementation of policies to ensure healthy and safe working conditions at the national level. Organization of its work, technical and administrative assistance is provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The members of NCWC are not paid and are nominated by the following structures:

1. Council of Ministers
2. National Social Security Institute
3. nationally recongnised employers’ associations
4. nationally recognised employees’ associations

Chairman of NCWC is the MLSP minister, while employers and employees organisations provide each a vice-chairman on a rotational basis.

The Regional Councils on Working Conditions (Регионалните съвети по условия на труд) consist of representatives of the employees and employers in the region and an equal number of local administration representatives.

The branch or sector Councils on Working Conditions (Отрасловите и браншовите съвети по условия на труд) consist of representatives of the employees and employers in the respective branch or sector and an equal number of representatives form the ministry or agency coordinating the branch or sector.

The National and the Regional councils participate in coordinating the activity of the control authorities at their respective level.They may assign (by tender) or approve projects to be financed by the ’Working Conditions’ Fund. The National and the branch/regional Councils may organise temporary structures to solve specific problems.

General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency – GLI EA (Изпълнителна агенция "Главна инспекция по труда" - ИА "ГИТ")^[32] is subordinated to MLSP. It is in charge with monitoring legal compliance and reporting legislative deficiencies to MLSP.It provides information and technical advice to both employers and employees. GLI EA has Labour Inspection offices in the administrative regions of Bulgaria.

The Ministry of Health (Министерство на здравеопазването)^[8] leads specific activities related to health protection, cooperates with MLSP in elaborating laws and norms and coordinates occupational health services. Jointly with MLSP it conducts annual analyses of working conditions and proposes measures.

OSH services

Internal OSH services According to HSWL the employer must designate one or more of its own employees or establish a specialised service to organize and carry out activities for the protection and prevention of occupational risks in the enterprise^[2].

The functions and tasks of these officers or specialised services are defined by the employer, according to the framework set by legislation^[33]. The safety and health service participates in the risk assessment along with occupational medicine staff and other experts from the enterprise. If necessary the employer can also invite external organizations and specialists in performing the risk assessment.

The employer has also the legal obligation to designate the employees that will act in case of emergency situations. The number and training of these employers have to be appropriate for the specific hazards and the size of the enterprise.

Regardless of the size of the company the employer has the right to choose whether to designate its own (internal) person/service or contract an external service. The Ordinance № 3 from 27.07.1998 [28] regarding OSH services specifies only that in case this service is externalised, the scope of the functions and the tasks’ should be subject to a contract. In practice many of the external companies that offer such services generally integrate them with the so called Occupational health services – see below. The structure of the OSH services for different company sizes is not prescribed by legislation but is the responsibility of the employer to establish the right structure according to the company’s size and profile. The OSH service or the designated person(s) collaborates with the internal or external Occupational Health service (registered with the Ministry of Health) in carrying out the prevention and protection activities.

Occupational health services Regardless of the size of the company the employer has the obligation to ensure occupational health service to all employers. The employer is allowed by HSWL alone or in cooperation with other employers to register its own (internal) OH service or contract registered external occupational health services. According to the HSWL and Ordinance No 3 of 25 January 2008 on the terms and conditions for the operation of occupational health services^[15] (Наредба No 3 от 25 January 2008 г. за условията и реда за осъществяване дейността на службите по трудова медицина) the main activities of the Occupational health services include ^[2]:

• assisting employers to organize health and safety at work;
• evaluating occupational hazards;
• proposing measures to eliminate or reduce risks;
• training employees and officials on OSH matters;
• monitoring health.

The minimum composition of the occupational health services includes a specialist in occupational medicine, an engineer with three year experience in occupational health and safety and a technician^[15].

Occupational health services may also include experts in toxicology, ergonomics, psychology, social medicine, engineering, law, economics and others.

The terms and conditions for the activities of occupational health services are determined by the Minister of Health and MLSP^[15]. Occupational health services have to be registered with the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health, MLSP and national representatives of employers’ and employees’ organizations appoint two members each, in the Commission that analyses applications for registration.

The importance of further developing and improving external OSH and OH services has been highlighted by internal and external sources. In 2004 PREVEMED (the external OSH service of the Construction Confederation of Belgium) and the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) collaborated in a pilot project for OSH services for the Bulgarian employers' organization Industrial Association of Stara Zagora^[29].

External service for technical control The employer is required to use recognized institutions for certain technical operations^[2] . These are operations relating to electrical equipment, lifting and goods handling equipment, steam engines, gas containers, personal safety equipment, etc.

These activities are coordinated by the State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance –SAMTS (Държавната агенция за метрология и технически надзор)^[30] that is in charge with:

• Technical inspection of high-risk equipment;
• Quality control of liquid fuels;
• Metrological supervision;
• Designation of conformity assessment bodies.

The measurements for exposure monitoring and risk assessment may be carried out by internal services. If the employer does not have the means to carry out measurements it is possible to collaborate with external laboratories accredited by the Executive Agency ‘Bulgarian Accreditation Service’ (Изпълнителна агенция 'Българска служба за акредитация‘ https://www.nab-bas.bg/en)^[34].

Compensation and insurance bodies

According to HSWL employees must have compulsory social security contribution for work accidents and occupational diseases paid by the employer, which is part of the social security system.(See also:International comparison of occupational accident insurance system) (see also: Reporting and monitoring occupational accidents and diseases in Europe)

In addition, employees engaged in work where there is danger to life and health, must be insured for the risk "accident" by the employer under the terms and procedures established by the Council of Ministers. In determining the terms and conditions of this insurance the economic activity of the enterprise and the national average level of the coefficients for frequency and severity of accidents is considered. The sectors are defined yearly (MLSP) and usually include branches like construction, wood processing, mining and machine building that have accidents’ rates higher than the national average.

There are also differences for the pension contribution of employees that worked in hazardous conditions. Those employed under the conditions of first and second labour category have mandatory contributions in a supplementary professional pensions fund. Activities under the first and second labor categories are presented in the Ordinance for Labor Categorization upon Retirement^[35]. The categories are assigned according to the nature and specific conditions of work.

The contribution is 12%, for first category and 7% for the second category. These contributions are made exclusively at the employer’s expense^[36] and cover early retirement of workers.

Bulgarian social security contributions are managed by the National Social Security Institute^[18], the health insurance contributions – by the National Health Insurance Fund. There are companies for additional and/or volundary social security and health insurance. Since 2006 the collection of the contributions of the social security system is transferred from NSSI to the National Revenue Agency (Национална агенция за приходите)^[37]. Private companies may also provide insurance services for the supplementary accident insurance. Insurance companies do not offer advice on OSH measures.

Other OSH bodies

The National Social Security Institute (NSSI)^[18] manages state social security, investigates work-related accidents, maintains a database on work-related accidents and occupational diseases and administrates the compulsory social security funds.

Education and training and awareness raising

Legally required training for OSH specialists

Training for the members of the OSH services

The legal requirements regarding the training of the designated persons and members of OSH services are quite general and are included in the Ordinance № RD-07-2 of 16.12.2009^[38] regarding the OSH training of employees. The training programme has to be approved by the employer and has to be carried out at least once a year and not less than six hours per year. The employer has the responsibility to ensure that the designated persons or the members of OHS service have the right education and to pay for their training.

The training may be carried out by

• employers subject to the requirements of the Ordinance;
• entities or individuals registered under the Commerce Act^[39], the Cooperatives Act^[40] or Law for Non-profit^[41] and having ‘training/education’ set as main activity:
• high schools, vocational schools, colleges and vocational training centers;
• specialized agencies of the Ministry of Interior.

Training for Safety and Health at Work is carried out by people with degree not lower than "Bachelor" under the Higher Education Act, possessing professional knowledge and experience in the field of health and safety at work. In a collective agreement there can be determined further specific requirements for training providers.

Training for the members of the occupational health services

National Bulgarian legislation^[15] specifies that occupational health services (internal or external) have to comply with the minimum personnel competences requirements, as follows:

• one person with a Master in medicine and speciality „occupational medicine";
• one person with higher technical education and three years experience in OSH;
• one technician with education level no lower than secondary education. .

Training of other OSH experts Persons with medical or technical education may act as OSH experts. When part of OSH servises/designated persons under the law requirement they receive as mentioned above additional training: not less than once per year, at least 6 hours, provided by the employer’s expence. Persons designated by the employer to conduct instruction on safety and health at work also need to be trained at least once a year, at least six hours^[36]. Coordinators on health and safety at work in construction need to have proven qualification, experience and technical expertise in the design and/or construction work. Training courses are organised for the OSH coordinators in constructions, presenting the specific legal provisions for this sector^[42]

Training for the representatives in Working conditions Councils or Groups

The training of the representatives in the WCC/WCG is regulated by the Ordinance No. 4 of 03 November 1998 concerning the training of representatives in the working conditions committees and groups in the enterprises^[37].

The initial training should be no less than 30 hours and should be done within a month of the member’s election in WCC/WCG. In this stage the members learn about legislation, risk identification and assessment, risk prevention and measures for health promotion, state and company policy on OSH, training of employees, monitoring and control. A certificate is awarded upon successful completion of the course and the training organization prepares a report for the General Labour Inspectorate^[32], which is responsible for the overall control of the training of the representatives^[43].

After the initial training, members must complete minimum six hours of training annually. This training is meant to update the information and to further develop specific skills and managerial abilities of the OSH representatives. Training providers have to be registered with the General Labour Inspectorate^[32] who is responsible for the overall control of the training for representatives^[43]. Training of WCC/WCG members is compulsory and is entirely paid by the employer.

University and post-graduate training courses

Some universities include occupational safety in their graduation programmes. The Technical University of Gabrovo^[44], for example, includes safety courses in the curricula for most of its faculties. The university also organised Master courses in safety of the ‘work environment’. There are Medical faculties with courses and specialisations in occupational medicine, or occupational therapy, for example at the Universities of Sofia, Pleven or Varna.

Other vocational training

E-TPOSH (e-Training Platform for Occupational Health and Safety) is an integrated online training programme funded by the EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme for Life-long Learning. It will provide vocational training on occupational health and safety for stakeholders in the construction, metal work and equipment manufacturing^[45].

All nationally representative organizations of the social partners provide training of their members in OHS training programmes with the support of the Working Conditions Fund. Some of the social partners organize additional trainings on OSH topics for broader auditory.

In the field of training and qualification CITUB^[23] organizes courses for employees to improve their professional qualifications and adaptability to both the Bulgarian and the European labour market.

Awareness raising networks

Raising awareness is not only an attribute of networks established (mainly) for this purpose.Other organisations, like sectoral chambers also active in this field.

The National Network of Health and Safety Promoting Companies-NNHSPC(Националната мрежа на дружествата за промоция на здраве и безопасност ^[46] was established in 1999 following the example of the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion. NNHSPC was initiated by MLSP, Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) and the former National Centre of Hygiene Medical Ecology and Nutrition - NCHMEN (now part of the National Public Health Institute).

The Bulgarian Construction Chamber - BCC (Камара на строителите в България)^[47] is active in the field of health and safety in construction. Recent initiatives include producing a documentary on working conditions, broadcasted by the national television or disseminating knowledge by brochures, like the safe Working Conditions Guide and the First Aid at Work Guide^[48].

The Bulgarian Chamber of Chemical Industry (Българска камара на химическата промишленост)^[49] and member companies have joined in 2002 the Responsible Care initiative coordinated by the European Chemical Industry Council –CEFIC^[50]. The network of members provides mutual assistance in health and safety, training and implementing the principles of Responsible Care. Help is provided to less advanced companies and the whole national network benefits from the cooperation with major multi-national chemical producers.

Specialized technical, medical and scientific institutions

Resesarch institutes

The National Centre of Public Health Protection-NCPHP((Националният център по опазване на общественото здраве и анализи)^[51] was created in 2005, uniting two leading institutions in the field of public health: the National Centre of Public Health and the National Centre of Hygiene, Medical Ecology and Nutrition. The activity of NCPHP covers a great range of domains. The Centre is responsible for research, methodological and training activities in the field of public health, risks assessment, living environment, behavior and lifestyle, health promotion and integrated disease prevention, foods and nutrition. The NCPHP structure includes the Health at Work Sector, departments for toxicology, national health data, health management, as well as analytical laboratories for chemicals, microbiology and physical agents.

The Institute for Population and Human Studies (Институтът за изследване на населението и човека)^[52] is part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is a principal national research centre for theoretical and applied research in different fields of demography and psychology. In 2010 IPHS was established by joining the former Centre for Population Studies and Institute of Psychology. Its research fields have applications in labor, organizational and applied psychology and assessment methods.

The Institute for Social and Trade Union Studies-ISTUS (Институтът за синдикални и социални изследвания- ИССИ)^[53] is part of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, which it supports with research work matching the needs of the social partners.

Standardization agencies

Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS)^[54] is the national body in charge of standardization activities in Bulgaria. Since 2006 BDS is a non- profit, non-governmental association, operating in public interest. In its activity BDS tries to maintain a fair representation of all stakeholders, private or public. BDS promotes voluntary standardization, ensuring that products meet the essential health and safety requirements, supporting consumer protection activities and facilitating domestic and international trade^[55].

Institutions and organisations

Table. 1: Main OSH institutions and organisations in Bulgaria

Source: Summary by the authors