Pristina, February 22nd, 2024 – Ombudsperson, with ex officio report no. 252/2021 has completed the investigations for safety and health at work, to assess how public authorities, responsible for the implementation of the law, are fulfilling their obligations in taking measures for the prevention of accidents at work, safety and health protection in workplaces for employees, both in private and public sectors. The investigation has started based on media reports about the frequent cases of accidents at work with consequences up to fatalities.

The report deals with and presents the current situation in the country regarding safety and health at work, the functioning of the mechanisms related to this field, and it should not be seen as a document that exhausts the issues that attract safety and health at work, but as a step towards a better supervision by the Ombudsperson towards the responsible authorities, who regulate and inspect this field, as well as the situation on the ground, related to the rights from the labor relationship, with special emphasis on safety and health at work.

Statistical data on accidents at workplaces, which end in fatality, are disturbing. From 2004 to 2021, according to the Labor Inspectorate, 232 people lost their lives in the workplace or related to work. While only during the year 2022, according to official data in Kosovo, 15 people lost their lives in the workplace, while 394 accidents that ended with injuries were recorded. These data should be a call for institutions to take measures to ensure the life and health of workers and fulfil their obligations for the protection of health and life.

The Ombudsperson states that health at work is still not well legally regulated in many segments and not well handled in the institutional chain, which would fulfil the obligations of public authorities in the protection of health at work. In addition, the situation is aggravated as a result of the lack of employment contracts, the lack of health insurance, the right to leave is not respected, there is lack of training of workers for safety and health at work, etc. The measures taken so far by the competent bodies, related to the avoidance of violations, are insufficient.

The Ombudsperson estimates that the state’s obligations consist of the commitment to determine the main factors that affect exposure to risks, accidents and diseases at work, including specifics according to gender differences, in order to take the necessary measures for their elimination, including preventive measures.

The report also finds that there is lack of safe conditions for work, especially in those sectors that have been identified as more prone to risk due to the nature of the work/profession, and that in this respect the lack of intensive inspection and supervision remains worrying.

The Ombudsperson based on the findings of the report, has addressed recommendations to the competent authorities, the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers, the Labor Inspectorate and the Ministry of Health.