Abstract
Initial Term of the Legal Regulations for the Work Accidents and Occupational Diseases in Turkey
In addition to the positive results, there were some negative social consequences of industrialization. Unhealthy working conditions as well as many dangereous working environments are the most important problems for the workers. The utmost use of production elements was a heavy burden on workers’ backs. For a long time in the historical process, workers became ill, disabled or lost their lives due to working conditions. In order to stop this brutal structure, the studies began in the second half of the 19th century. In addition to the early studies for the protection of child workers, there were later some expanded ones to cover the general workforce. As the researches on general human health evolved, the studies on workers’ health and safety including working environments also developed. Minimizing the health problems and occupational diseases that workers may face due to working conditions is the basis of social policies for working life. For this, the studies in Turkey corresponds to the second half of the 19th century. Legal arrangements for the protection of workers’ health and safety in the mines constitute the beginnings of occupational health and safety studies in Turkey. Even though the starting date of the legal arrangements was old in Turkey, the politicians ruling the country in the following years were insufficient to make a general law protecting the health and safety of the workers. For a long time, employers arranged the working conditions according to their own interests. The occupational health and safety in Turkey became a legal structure in the middle of the 20th century. Later, the articles about workers’ health were included in the Labor Act and then in the Preservation of Public Health Act. Despite the fact that these two acts had a positive approach, many workers still remained out of the scope of these laws. The protective measures taken for the safety of workers in Turkey, remained limited level as it was at the beginning period.
Keywords
Labor Law, Working Life, Work Accident, Occupational Disease
