site.bta2025–2027 National Programme for Occupational Safety and Health Approved

The Council of Ministers approved the National Programme for Occupational Safety and Health (NPOSH) for the period 2025–2027, the Government’s press service reported on Wednesday. 

The programme is a strategic document developed based on an analysis of the state of the working environment in Bulgaria at the end of 2024 and is aligned with the priorities of the European Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021–2027.

The NPOSH 2025–2027 sets priorities for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions until 2027. It defines the main objectives, priorities, and specific measures aimed at providing secure and safe workplaces, taking into account changes at work and emerging occupational risks. The measures aim to reduce the level of occupational risks and enhance worker protection, which is expected to lead to fewer workplace accidents and reduced lost work time due to temporary disability.

In a separate decision today, the Council of Ministers adopted the Report on the Implementation of the NPOSH 2022–2024. The report indicates that 38 activities were completed, including improvements in occupational safety and health legislation, ensuring effective and efficient control, information support for policy, diagnosis of occupational diseases in high-risk economic sectors, rehabilitation and reintegration of workers, among others.

In an interview with BTA in April, Ekaterina Asenova, Executive Director of the General Labor Inspectorate said that employers are required to take all necessary measures to prevent and reduce workplace accidents, general illnesses, and occupational diseases, prioritizing the provision of collective protective equipment. Workers are obliged to use personal protective equipment and follow safety instructions, she added. According to her, from the beginning of 2025 occupational accidents on the territory of the country have been decreasing compared to the same period in 2024.