The article analyses the development of national legislation in the field of occupational safety during the period of Ukraine’s independence. It examines the conventions of the International Labour Organization that establish fundamental standards concerning the working environment, occupational safety, and health protection. It also considers the directives of the Council of Europe and the European Union regulating workplace safety issues affecting pregnant women and young persons.

The Law of Ukraine «On Labour Protection» is reviewed, as it defines the principal provisions for implementing the constitutional right of employees to protection of their life and health in the course of their employment. The main provisions of this Law have received high appraisal from experts of the International Labour Organization. The Law regulates relations between employers and employees regarding occupational safety, occupational hygiene, and the working environment. Although adopted during Ukraine’s independence, the Law no longer fully meets contemporary requirements.

Scholarly works by M.P. Handziuk, P.O. Izuita, and O.M. Obushenko devoted to legislative regulation of employees’ rights and guarantees in the sphere of occupational safety and workplace protection are examined.

It has been established that a key shortcoming of the national legislative system governing workplace safety is the lack of consistency among normative acts and the problem of regulatory duplication. A legacy of the Soviet Union remains in the form of the Labour Code of Ukraine, which contains a chapter titled «Labour Protection», while at the same time the separate Law of Ukraine, «On Labour Protection» exists.

Attention is drawn to the ongoing reform of the occupational safety management system in Ukraine. Particular attention is given to the draft Law of Ukraine «On the Safety and Health of Workers at Work». The draft is aimed at establishing a new national system in Ukraine for the prevention of occupational risks. It defines the legal, organizational, economic, and social foundations of occupational safety and health and regulates workplace relations with the objective of preserving employees’ life and health.

An analysis of the draft Labour Code of Ukraine is also conducted. The draft establishes legal mechanisms for the realization and protection of the right to work and seeks to ensure a balance of interests between employees and employers. It enshrines the fundamental principles of labour law regulation in accordance with international standards. Special attention is devoted to national, sectorial, regional, and enterprise-level programmes aimed at improving working conditions and occupational safety in Ukraine. Rules, norms, regulations, and other documents play an important role in regulating more specific issues related to particular types of production. It is concluded that all the aforementioned regulatory legal acts collectively create a unified legal framework for regulating relations in the field of occupational safety and health in the workplace in Ukraine.

Key words: labour legislation, reform, occupational safety, labour protection, employment activity, employee, proper, safe and healthy working conditions, occupational risk, ILO conventions, EU directives, laws of Ukraine.

References

1. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. (1992). On labor protection: Law of Ukraine No. 2694-XII. Vidomosti Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy, (49), Art. 668.
2. Handziuk, M. P., Zhelibo, Ye. P., & Khalimovskyi, M. O. (2004). Fundamentals of labor protection (2nd ed.).
3. Izuita, P. O. (2011). Main directions of improving legal regulation of labor protection in a market economy. Legal Bulletin of the Black Sea Region, (1), 255–267.
4. European Economic Community. (1989). Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/994_b23#Text
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