National OSH Strategy - Bulgaria

Introduction

National strategies are vital policy instruments to enhance the effectiveness of an OSH system by defining the key priorities and actions for improving workers’ health and safety.

The Commission called on the Member States to update and draw up their national OSH strategies in line with the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 - in cooperation with social partners - to ensure that the new measures are applied on the ground.

In Bulgaria, the national policy on safety and health at work is developed and implemented on the basis of trilateral cooperation at national, sectoral and regional level. The National Council on Working Conditions (NCWC) is the standing body responsible for coordination, consultation and cooperation for the development and implementation of occupational safety and health policy at national level.

More information on the OSH system can be found in the relevant OSHwiki articles on national OSH systems.

Basic information on the national OSH strategy

The current Bulgarian OSH strategy is Националнапрограма за безопасност и здраве приработа 2025-2027 (National Programme for Occupational Safety and Health 2025-2027 (NOSH))^[1].

Former strategies are:

• Национална програма за безопасност и здраве при работа 2022-2024^[2]
• Национална програма за безопасност и здраве при работа 2018-2020 (National Programme for Occupational Safety and Health 2018-2020)^[3] 
• Национална програма по безопасност и здраве при работа (НПБЗР) 2016-2018 (National Programme for Occupational Safety and Health 2016-2018)

Background and the perceived problem

In line with the priorities set out in the EU Strategic Framework and following a thorough analysis of the state of the working environment in Bulgaria by the end of 2024 , the program takes into account the dynamically changing working conditions, the challenges related to digitalisation, demographic changes, the transition to a green and sustainable economy, as well as the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.  With the National Programme for Safety and Health (NOSH) 2025-2027,  the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria sets the priorities for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions in the period until 2027. Its development takes into account national labour market problems and challenges and has been carried out in dialogue and with the input of employee and employers’ representative organisations as well as all relevant institutions.

The NOSH 2025-2027 reflects the main objectives, priorities and specific measures that have been defined for ensuring safe and health working conditions, taking into account changes in the workplace and the emergence of new occupational risks. The NOSH 2025-2027 is in accordance with the main regulatory framework in the field of labour relations and defines strategic and operational goals and activities that contribute to the implementation of the main goals of the National Development Program: Bulgaria 2030 for accelerated economic development, demographic growth and reduction of inequalities.

Main characteristics and objectives of the OSH-strategy (action plan)

In accordance with a decision of the National Council for Working Conditions, an interinstitutional working group has been set up to develop the current National Programme for Safety and Health at Work 2022-2024. The vision of the NOSH is “Improving health and safety at work for every worker and at every workplace”.

The NOSH Programme implements activities in line with two strategic objectives and four operational objectives:

• Strategic objective 1.  Managing the changes in the new world of work brought about by the green digital and demographic transitions.
  • Operational objective 1.1. Improving OSH legislation.
  • Operational objective 1.2. Ensuring effective and efficient enforcement of OSH legislation.
• Strategic objective 2. Improving prevention of work-related diseases and accidents.
  • Operational objective 2.1. Raising awareness and promoting the prevention of occupational risks.
  • Operational objective 2.2. Extending the role of social dialogue to better protect against workplace risks.

The action plan includes information about the responsible body, the time frame as well as the budget for the activity.

Abbreviations used in the action plan:

Details of the action plan

Strategic objective 1. Managing the changes in the new world of work brought about by the green digital and demographic transitions.

Operational objective 1.1. Improving OSH legislation

Actions

1. Harmonising occupational exposure limit values for chemical agents and carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic substances at the workplace, in accordance with the amendments to the Directives on the protection of the health and safety of workers from risks related to exposure to chemical agents and exposure to carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic substances.

Responsibility: MLSP/ MH, social partners. Implementation: 2026

2. Harmonising national OSH legislation according to the amendments to the Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work.

Responsibility: MLSP/MH, social partners. Implementation: 2025 

3. Improving the system of compulsory preliminary and periodic medical examinations of employees.

Responsibility: MLSP/MH, social partners. Implementation: 2026

4. Improving the regulatory framework for protection from adverse climatic conditions when working outdoors

Responsibility: MLSP/MH, social partners. Implementation: 2027

5. Prevention of the health and safety of workers and employees employed in new forms of work and when using artificial intelligence in the production process.

Responsibility: MLSP, GLI EA, social partners. Implementation: 2027

6. Development of a National Report on the measures taken to implement the provisions of Convention No. 155 concerning Occupational Safety and Health of 1981. 

Responsibility: MLSP, GLI EA, social partners. Implementation: 2026

7. Preparation of a National Report on the measures taken to implement the provisions of Convention No. 187 concerning a Framework for the Promotion of Occupational Safety and Health, 2006.

Responsibility: MLSP, GLI EA, social partners. Implementation: 2026

8. Development of a national OSH profile

Responsibility: MLSP, FWC, social partners. Implementation: 2026-2027

Operational objective 1.2. Ensuring effective and efficient enforcement of OSH legislations

Actions

9. Strengthening the administrative capacity of the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency GLI EA.

Responsibility: GLI EA, FWC. Implementation: 2025-2027

10. Carrying out effective workplace inspections. (including several sub-activities)

Responsibility: GLI EA. Implementation: 2025-2027

11. Analysis and investigation of major accidents or accidents/near misses.

Responsibility: GLI EA, MEW, REWI, MES, municipalities.  Implementation: 2025-2027

12. Joint participation of inspectors in national control campaigns and (pilot) coordinated projects, including the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

Responsibility: REWI, GLI EA, RHI. Implementation: 2025-2026

13. Control of compliance with OSH legislation in air and rail transport.

Responsibility: State aviation operator, Holding BDZ EAD, BDZ Passenger Services EOOD). Implementation: 2025-2027

14. Control of compliance with OSH legislation in the education system.

Responsibility: MES, RDE. Implementation: 2025-2027

Strategic objective 2. Improving the prevention of work-related diseases and accidents

Operational objective 2.1. Raising awareness and promoting prevention of occupational risks.

Actions

15. Providing public information about occupational accidents and diseases.

Responsibility: NSSI. Implementation: 2025-2027

16. Providing public information about temporary incapacity of work.

Responsibility: NSSI. Implementation: 2025-2027

17. Publication of up-to-date information on the control activities of the GLI EA.

Responsibility: GLI EA. Implementation: 2025-2027

18. Providing materials regarding OSH information, good practice guidelines, risk assessment tools, etc. in the education sector and in the air, water and rail transport sectors

Responsibility: BDZ Passenger Services EOOD, Port of Varna. Implementation: 2025-2027

19. Raising public awareness of the benefits of implementing OSH.

Responsibility: GLI EA. Implementation: 2025-2027

20. Promotion of the “Guidelines for managing asbestos related health and safety risks at work” published by the European Commission

Responsibility: MH, MLSP, NCPHA, social partners. Implementation: 2027

21. Promotion of the “Guidance for the safe management of hazardous medicinal products at work” published by the European Commission.

Responsibility: MH, NCPHA, social partners. Implementation: 2027

22. Increasing the competence of managers and workers to integrate occupational health and safety management systems and quality standards

Responsibility: BIA.  Implementation: 2025-2027

23. Increasing the competence of employer and employee representatives for the implementation of OSH legislation in railway transport, including those involved in risky work processes or operating dangerous machinery and equipment.

Responsibility: : BDZ Passenger Services EOOD, social partners. Implementation: 2025-2027

24. Improving awareness of OSH risks in the context of digitalisation.

Responsibility: : MLSP/MH, social partners . Implementation: 2025

25. Improving awareness of mental health at work, including psychosocial risks and prevention methods.

Responsibility: MLSP/MH, social partners. Implementation: 2026-2027

26. Encouraging employers to improve working conditions in enterprises, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Responsibility: FWC - Fund "Working Conditions" Employers. Implementation: 2025-2027

27. Maintaining and improving internal regulations on OSH in the Ministry of Education and Science.

Responsibility: MES, RDE. Implementation: 2025-2027

28. Raising awareness and promoting prevention of occupational risks.

Responsibility: State Aviation Operator, BDZ Passenger Services EOOD. Implementation: 2025-2027

29. Raising awareness about occupational risks and their prevention in relation to climate change.

Responsibility: NCPH, MH. Implementation: 2025-2027

30. Conducting training seminars in the field of Hazardous Chemicals (HCS); clarifying the obligations of operators regarding the requirements of chemicals legislation through the National Chemicals Information Bureau (NICB).

Responsibility: MEW/MH, REWI, GLI EA, RHD, social partners. Implementation: 2025-2027

31. Ensuring health surveillance in risky sectors of the economy

Responsibility: FWC - Working Conditions Fund/Hospitals. Implementation: 2025-2027

32. Rehabilitation and reintegration of workers, with the aim of reducing morbidity and disability due to general illness, work-related accident or occupational disease

Responsibility: NSSI. Implementation: 2025-2027

33. Building the capacity of health workers to deal with potential future health crises

Responsibility: NCPH, MH. Implementation: 2025-2027

34. Development/updating plans and programs to deal with possible future health crises in the Education sector

Responsibility: MES, RDE. Implementation: 2025-2027

35. Capacity building for occupational risk prevention in water transport

Responsibility: Port of Varna. Implementation: 2025-2027

Operational objective 2.2. Expanding the role of social dialogue to ensure better protection from risks in the workplace

Actions

36. Development of sectoral/branch social dialogue in the field of occupational health and safety.

Responsibility: social partners/industry/sectoral councils. Implementation: 2025-2027

37. Increasing the competence of officials and workers to conduct effective social dialogue at the enterprise level

Responsibility: FWC Working Condition Fund, social partners. Implementation: 2025-2027

38. Promoting collective bargaining across sectors/branches to improve OSH.

Responsibility: Social partners/industry/ FWC - Fund "Working Conditions. Implementation: 2025-2027

Actors and stakeholders

The Council of Ministers determines the government policy in the field of occupational safety and health in the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) is part of the Council of Ministers. MLSP designs, directs, coordinates and implements the government policy for ensuring occupational safety and health.

The Ministry of Health (MH) (Министерство на здравеопазването) manages and coordinates the policy and activities on protection and improvement of health at work. The Ministry of Health cooperates with MLSP in elaborating laws and norms and coordinates occupational health services. The Ministry of Health includes following institutions:

• Regional Health Inspectorates (RHI),
• National Centre of Public Health and Analyses (NCPHA),
• National Centre for Radiobiology and Radiation Protection (NCRRP).

The General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency GLI EA (Изпълнителна агенция "Главна инспекция по труда" - ИА "ГИТ") is subordinated to MLSP. GLI EA exercises overall control for compliance with the labour legislation on ensuring health and safety at work and on employment relations, as well as specialised control under the Employment Promotion Act and the other statutory instruments on employment and unemployment containing explicit provisions to that end.

The effective trilateral cooperation at national, sectoral and regional level is an important factor for the implementation of the national occupational safety and health policy. The National Council on Working Conditions is a permanent body at the national level for coordination, consultation and cooperation in designing and implementing the policy for ensuring safety and health at work.

Other bodies involved in the action plan are:

• Holding BDZ EAD, BDZ-PP Passenger Services EOOD
• GLI EA - Executive Agency "Main Labour Inspectorate"
• EEA - The Environmental Executive Agency
• MIA- Ministry of Internal Affairs
• MH - Ministry of Health
• MES - Ministry of Education and Science
• MEW - Ministry of Environment and Water - Ministry of Environment and Water
• MLSP - Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
• MTC - Ministry of Transport and Communications
• MoF - Ministry of Finance
• NSSI - National Insurance Institute
• NCPHA - National Center for Public Health and Analysis
• RHI - Regional Health Inspection
• REWI - Regional Environment and Water Inspection
• RDE - Regional Directorate of Education
• FWC - Fund "Working Conditions"
• NICB - National Chemicals Information Bureau
• CITUB – Confederation of Trade Unions in Bulgaria
• Confederation of Labour “Podkrepa”
• Port of Varna 
• BIA - Bulgarian Industrial Association- Union of the Bulgarian Business
• State Aviation Operator
• BDZ Passenger

Resources and time frame

Time frame: 2025 - 2027

Resources: The financing of the action plan will be charged to the budget of the involved bodies (see action plan) and the Working Conditions Fund.

No additional expenditure is foreseen from the state budget for the implementation of the programme.

Evaluation

The current National Programme for safety and health 2025-2027 includes an analysis of the situation and trends of the Bulgarian working condition as well as an analysis of the previous strategy.

NPBZR prepared a detailed report on the implementation of the National Programme for Safety and Health at Work 2018 – 2020^[4].

The report consists of two parts. In the first part, a brief description of the results in the indicated priority areas is given, and in the second part, the degree of implementation of the relevant activities/measures is presented in tabular form.

Indicators for the implementation of the National Programme for Safety and Health at Work 2022-2024 are listed in the action plan:

• Number of OELs/number of new OELs for chemicals
• Number of legal acts issued, amended or prepared
• Number of reports and national OSH profiles (according to Convention No.155 /No. 187, No. 197)
• Number of trained inspectors 
• Number of workplace inspections
• Number of information material available (OSH policy)
• Number of published OSH material (videos, brochures, webinars)
• Number of national events (conferences, seminars, campaigns)
• Number of OSH trainings
• Number of studies and analysis
• Number of workers undergoing rehabilitation
• Number of employees covered by medical surveillance
• Number of risk assessment
• Number of recommendations regarding mental health at work
• Percentage of workers provided with psychosocial support
• Percentage of the achieved average level of detection of violations in the field of health and safety at work by 50%

Relationship to EU Strategic Framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027

The Bulgarian National Programme for Safety and Health at Work 2025-2027 is in line with the priorities set out in the EU Strategic Framework.

Key objective 1 of the EU Strategic Framework (Anticipating and managing change) is covered by the operational objective 1.1 and following actions:

• Modernising and simplifying EU OSH rules in the context of the green and digital transitions is covered by action 4, 5
• Training is planned for inspectors of the EA GIT to be able to respond to the challenges of the digital, demographic and green transition
• Focus on psychosocial risks mental health problems is covered under the Operational Objective 2.1 by action 25 and 28
• Focus on ergonomic risks related to the digitalisation was covered in the previous action plan (2022-2024) , Focus on risks related to digitalisation is covered under the Operational Objective 2.1 by action 24
• Demographic change – labour market participation of older workers is covered in the Strategic Objective 2, Operational Objective 2.1. Raise awareness and promote prevention of occupational risks in action 32. 
• Key objective 2 of the EU Strategic Framework (Improving prevention of work-related diseases and accidents – hazardous substances/ fight work related cancer is covered by the Operational Objective 1.1 in Action 1, 2, 3 , operational objective 1.2 in Action 12, 20  Operational Objective 2.1 in action 30. 
• Key objective 3 of the EU Strategic Framework (Increasing preparedness – responding rapidly to threats) is covered by the Operational Objective 2.1  in action 33, 34, 35. 

No relation could be detected to the prevention of workplace violence and fighting discrimination.