On Tuesday, March 4, in Astana, a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan (FPRK) was held under the leadership of its Chairman, Satylbaldy Dauletalin.
The meeting addressed issues concerning the state of occupational health and safety in the country, as well as the measures taken by social partners to implement sectoral and regional agreements.
Kasymzhan Madiev, Chairman of the Industry Trade Union of Workers of the Nuclear Industry, and Altynbek Amirgaliyev, Chairman of the Trade Union Center of the Aktobe Region, presented reports on the state of occupational safety.
The industry trade union leader emphasized the importance of adopting the Occupational Safety Concept of Kazakhstan for 2024–2030.
“Thanks to the active participation of FPRK in developing the Concept, it reflects key union demands for creating safe working conditions and reducing workplace injuries. We hope its implementation will significantly improve the situation,” said Madiev.
He then elaborated on current issues facing the industry union.
According to him, the union strictly monitors the implementation of occupational safety plans at all nuclear industry enterprises, ensuring their full compliance. The union also oversees the quality and timeliness of providing workers with personal protective equipment. All complaints and safety-related concerns raised by employees are promptly addressed.
Special attention is given to health programs and preventive inspections.
“Accident statistics analysis shows the main causes are falls (33%), moving machine parts (17%), chemical burns (16%), and traffic accidents (14%). In 2024, our technical inspectors conducted 1,384 inspections, identifying and rectifying 5,585 violations. Currently, 32 production councils operate in the industry, 13 of which were initiated by the unions,” Madiev stated, stressing the need for targeted risk elimination.
Altynbek Amirgaliyev reported on the safety situation in Aktobe Region.
“Aktobe Region is a major industrial area with 15,474 organizations, 177 of which belong to the real sector. Mining plays a key role, employing over 23,116 people. Despite a slight decrease in workplace accidents (from 70 to 69) and fatalities (from 13 to 11) compared to 2023, the injury rate remains high, mostly due to employers’ organizational shortcomings. Over 70% of accidents were employer-related,” Amirgaliyev noted.
He highlighted persistent issues in the mining and metallurgical complex, oil and gas, and construction sectors, including the use of outdated equipment.
Amirgaliyev proposed several measures to improve the situation, including stronger employer accountability, workforce upskilling, equipment modernization, creation of safety councils and health and safety services, and the development of incentive systems for safe behavior.
Summarizing the first agenda item, Chairman Dauletalin reiterated that occupational safety remains a top priority for trade unions.
“As a result of systematically implementing the Occupational Safety Concept 2024–2030, transferring state labor inspectors under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, restoring the National Center for Occupational Hygiene and Diseases, and joint efforts to reduce workplace incidents, we have maintained a downward trend in worker injuries and fatalities,” said Dauletalin.
According to FPRK monitoring, there were 1,162 workplace incidents in 2024 (down from 1,236 in 2023). However, the fatality rate remains high—one death every two days, exceeding rates in developed countries. Notably, 69% of incidents occurred at non-unionized workplaces, highlighting the need for stronger public oversight.
Dauletalin stated that FPRK has repeatedly made policy recommendations to the government on occupational safety.
“We propose restoring the right of labor inspectors to conduct unannounced inspections, legally expanding union technical inspectors’ powers for effective public oversight, and increasing administrative liability for safety violations, underreporting accidents, and subpar medical exams. We also urge reestablishing workplace health infrastructure—medical stations, physiotherapy rooms, health resorts, and industrial physicians—and updating the list of occupational diseases in line with international standards. Kazakhstan should ratify ILO Convention No. 176 on mine safety and legally mandate production councils at high-risk enterprises,” he outlined.
The Executive Committee also reviewed the effectiveness of sectoral and regional agreement implementation under social partnership.
Svetlana Imankulova, Chairwoman of the Kazakhstan Sectoral Trade Union of Workers in Culture, Tourism, Sports, and Information, reported on her union’s agreements with the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for 2024–2026.
“These agreements include key social guarantees, such as job retention measures, wage indexation, union participation in assessments, holiday pay, and health allowances. As of today, 1,153 collective agreements have been signed in the sector,” she said.
However, she expressed concern that ministries are not paying enough attention to social partnership development. Sectoral commission meetings are irregular, impeding timely issue resolution.
Dinara Aitzhanova, Chairwoman of the Pavlodar Regional Trade Union Center, spoke about the regional agreement for 2024–2026.
“We managed to include a section on ‘Working Conditions and Safety’ in the agreement, allowing for a systematic approach to safety issues. We also conduct field meetings of the coordination council at enterprises, helping resolve many workplace problems promptly,” she stated.
In Pavlodar Region in 2024, there were 103 workplace accidents, with 112 injuries and 9 fatalities.
Aitzhanova highlighted the success of production councils and technical inspectors, citing problem-solving at Ekibastuz GRES-1 and Bogatyr Komir. She also stressed the importance of union input when dismissing unionized workers, as per the regional agreement.
In conclusion, Chairman Dauletalin called for stricter oversight of the Occupational Safety Concept implementation until 2030, as well as the effective enforcement of sectoral and regional agreements.