New occupational safety regulations a ‘step in the right direction’

AMMAN — The new regulations on occupational health and safety, which were published in the Official Gazette in June, will come into effect in the middle of this month, according to the Ministry of Labour.

New regulations include the preventative and remedial medical care regulation and the occupational health, safety and risk prevention regulation, issued under Article 85 of the labour law. 

In a statement issued last week, the ministry’s spokesperson Mohammed Zyoud explained some of the most prominent features of the new regulations. 

He noted that the regulation concerned with medical care requires any employer who has 50 or more workers to provide a medical unit at the primary institution and its branches. 

Employers with less than 50 workers are to provide medical care by enrolling one employee in a first aid training course conducted by an accredited party, he added.  

This regulation also requires employers to take the necessary actions and measures in order to make specific health accommodations for workers such as pregnant women and persons with disabilities, according to Zyoud. 

He also noted that the occupational health, safety and risk prevention regulation requires employers with less than 20 workers to establish a policy for occupational health and safety in accordance with the Labour Ministry’s approved model. 

Employers with 20 or more workers are required to conduct an evaluation for occupational hazards in the workplace, said Zyoud. 

Employers are also required to provide all necessary arrangements to ensure that the workplace is safe and accessible for persons with disabilities, he added. 

Director of the Phenix Centre for Economics and Informatics Studies Ahmad Awad noted that issuing these regulations is a “step forward”. 

Enforcing them requires increasing the effectiveness of the Ministry of Labour’s departments concerned with occupational health and safety, he told The Jordan Times. 

This requires increasing the number of its personnel, building their technical capacities and ensuring that their work is done in a systematic and methodical manner, he added. 

The Ministry of Labour also has a responsibility to increase employers’ awareness and understanding of these regulations, what they entail and the risks of failing to abide by them, Awad continued. 

Firas Shatnawi, chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Council, said: “Regulations concerned with occupational health and safety haven’t been updated in 25 years, so although this is long overdue, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Moreover, he agreed that awareness-raising efforts should accompany the enforcement of these regulations. 

It’s also important to closely follow up on the implementation of these updates and their impact, in addition to seriously considering feedback from employers, workers and experts, said Shatnawi.

This will help determine any legal gaps or ambiguities that should be addressed in order to improve and update these regulations in the best interest of workers in Jordan, he added.