Turkey’s new OHS Training Regulation: remote training is allowed, with conditions

What has changed?

The Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of Occupational Health and Safety Training for Employees, published on 2 April 2026, repealed the 2013 regulation and entered into force on the day of publication. Its most notable feature is that it clearly defines the scope of remote training within basic training. It is not, however, a licence to put everything online; it is a permission tied to explicit conditions.

In short:

• The first three topic headings in Annex 1 may be delivered remotely, face to face or in a blended format in every workplace.
• The fourth heading (health and safety risks specific to the job and the workplace) may be remote, face to face or blended in low-hazard workplaces, but must be face to face in hazardous and very hazardous workplaces.
• Induction training (at least 2 hours) is practical and face to face, and does not count towards the basic training hours.
• Basic training lasts at least 8 / 12 / 16 class hours depending on the hazard class; refresher training is due every year for very hazardous, every two years for hazardous and every three years for low-hazard workplaces, and lasts at least 8 class hours.

Conditions for remote training

The regulation expects the remote training system to do the following:

• Record, monitor and report employees’ log-ins and log-outs, completion rates and assessment results.
• Prevent behaviour that undermines the training, such as skipping ahead, switching tabs or closing the window.
• Support active participation with short questions or key-information pop-ups at set intervals.
• Provide a manageable, trackable structure that users can reach without difficulty.
• End with an assessment: a score of at least 60 out of 100 is a pass; those who fail may retake the test at most twice more, after which they must take the training again from the start.
• Offer alternative formats that meet accessibility standards for employees with disabilities.

In short, the regulation effectively ends the “start the video and leave it running” model.

AI-generated “watch-only” training: tempting but risky

Digitalisation and easy access to AI are pushing many companies to move OHS training to AI-generated content that is watched passively. It looks fast, cheap and scalable. But however polished the content, if it does not meet the conditions above it does not count as valid training.

The problem is not only legal. Training that is deemed invalid, far from replacing earlier training, leaves the employer with untrained employees, missing records and greater liability. In other words, it takes them back to a worse position than before. Passive viewing also does not reduce risk on site, because it does not change behaviour. The regulation itself defines it as the employer’s duty to make training capable of changing “knowledge, attitude and behaviour”.

The real problem: the silent agreement in OHS training

OHS training has long been a dilemma in Turkey. Training is often not delivered in full and stays on paper. We see the cost every year in workplace accidents and deaths.

The service time of the occupational safety professional (İGU) and the workplace physician (İYH) is limited. Whether to spend that time on training, documentation, site observation or risk research becomes a squeeze. The result is a silent agreement that looks rational to every party but is harmful overall:

• The employer wants to spend its time on production.
• The İGU and İYH keep training to a minimum because they have no time.
• The employee resists training they find boring, signs the sheet and goes back to work.

How common this picture is, and how little awareness has grown, is one of the main reasons accident figures show no fundamental improvement.

The answer: 360° imagery + gamification + LMS

The new regulation provides a technical basis for breaking this cycle. A well-designed set-up both meets the conditions and makes training genuinely effective:

1. A real workplace experience with 360° imagery. Employees move through 360° images of their own facility and work, and spot hazards as if they were on site. This directly meets the regulation’s call for “job- and workplace-specific” content (Article 9) and for using elements of the working environment. In face-to-face training, 360° content is a strong support that safely extends the practical part.
2. Active participation through interactive gamification. Decision points, tasks, points and instant feedback are the natural answer to the requirement to “support the employee’s active participation at set intervals”. Instead of a video to skip through, progress requires the right decision. This is also where resistance born of boredom breaks down.
3. Traceability and records through LMS integration. Log-ins and log-outs, completion rates, test results and participation data are recorded and reported automatically; certificates can be archived electronically (Article 26). The İGU and İYH can spend their time on the site, on observation and on tackling risk instead of chasing paperwork.

This set-up does not solve everything on its own: in hazardous and very hazardous workplaces, the fourth heading and induction training remain face to face. The right model puts technology not in place of face-to-face training, but alongside it, to strengthen it.

Conclusion

The new regulation marks the end of the “collecting signatures” era in OHS training. Passive, quickly AI-generated content that ignores the conditions is now a risk for employers. Solutions that are measurable, trackable, workplace-specific and genuinely bring the employee into the game support both compliance and the real goal: employees who get home safe and sound.

Now is the time to review your training against this regulation.