Workplace safety in Republika Srpska: duties of a small employer

The Law on Workplace Safety of Republika Srpska (Zakon o zaštiti na radu) applies to every legal or natural person who employs one or more workers. This includes a guesthouse with one cleaner, a farm with seasonal pickers and a rural household that takes in guests and employs workers.

In short

• The duties start with the first employee. The law sets no minimum number of workers.
• A written risk assessment must cover every job and must be updated when a new hazard appears or the level of risk changes.
• Workers are trained for safe work when they are hired, during working hours and at no cost to them.
• A fatal, collective or serious injury is reported to the labour inspectorate and the police immediately, and within 24 hours at the latest.
• Fines for the employer range from 1,000 to 15,000 KM, and for the responsible person from 100 to 1,500 KM.

Who it applies to

The law applies to every employer: a company, a sole trader or a private person who employs workers (Article 3). It also covers self-employed people, who arrange their own protection (Article 4). The protection extends to volunteers, to pupils and students on work placements, and to business associates, customers and other people who happen to be on the employer's premises.

What to do

1. Decide who handles workplace safety. The employer appoints one of its own workers in writing, or hires an authorised organisation with a licence. A worker doing this job must have the required qualification and must have passed the professional exam (Article 37). If you hire a firm, you remain jointly responsible for the work you have given it.
2. Adopt a written risk assessment (akt o procjeni rizika) for every job (Article 13). The Rulebook on risk assessment sets out how it is prepared and what it contains. The assessment looks at how work is organised, the work processes, work equipment, raw materials and other materials, personal protective equipment and anything else that can cause an injury or illness, and on that basis the employer sets measures to prevent, remove or reduce the risks. The employer must engage an occupational health service (služba medicine rada) to take part in preparing it. On a farm with guest accommodation, the assessment usually covers machinery and tools, outdoor work, work with animals, manual lifting, slippery floors and electrical installations in the guest rooms.
3. Train the worker for safe and healthy work when hired, when moved to another job and when new equipment or technology is introduced (Article 27). Training has a theoretical and a practical part and is adapted to the job. The worker's knowledge is checked at the workplace (Article 28). Pregnant workers, workers under 18 and workers with reduced working capacity must receive written notice of the risk assessment results (Article 30).
4. Provide protective equipment and have equipment inspected. The worker gets personal protective equipment according to the risk assessment (Article 17). A licensed organisation inspects and tests work equipment and the working environment and issues an expert report (Article 15).
5. Medical examinations. A worker in a high-risk job has a medical examination before starting work and then periodic examinations (Article 43). The risk assessment lists which jobs are high-risk.
6. First aid. Arrange first aid and train enough workers in first aid, rescue and evacuation (Article 15).
7. Keep records (Article 52) of high-risk jobs, the workers in them and their examinations, injuries at work and occupational diseases, trained workers, hazardous substances, tests of the working environment and equipment inspections.
8. Notify the labour inspectorate of the start of work at least eight days before you start. The same applies to work in a separate unit and to any change in the technological process that alters working conditions (Article 18).
9. Report injuries. Report a fatal, collective or serious injury at work, or a dangerous occurrence, orally and in writing to the labour inspectorate and the police immediately, and within 24 hours at the latest. Report an occupational disease to the labour inspectorate within three consecutive working days of learning of it (Article 53). For every injury at work the employer fills in the official report form immediately, and within 48 hours of learning of it at the latest, and sends all copies to the health facility where the worker was examined. The completed report goes to the Ministry of Labour, the Health Insurance Fund, the Public Health Institute (Institut za javno zdravstvo), the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the worker's doctor and the injured worker. Check the number of copies and other details with the Ministry, which publishes the forms on its website.

What the inspectorate does

A labour inspector may come at any time while workers are at work. The employer must name at least one worker who gives the inspector information and shows documents, records and equipment (Article 59). The inspector asks for the risk assessment, proof of training, expert reports and records. The inspector orders measures and a deadline in a written decision (rješenje), and must ban work while the danger lasts, for example if a worker has not been trained or has not had a mandatory medical examination (Article 61).

An appeal against the inspector's decision goes to the Ministarstvo rada i boračko-invalidske zaštite (Ministry of Labour and Veterans' and Disability Protection). The Law on Workplace Safety gives 15 days (Article 62), while the newer Law on Inspections of Republika Srpska gives eight days (Article 61). Read the instructions on legal remedy at the end of the decision and, if in doubt, file the appeal within eight days. An appeal does not stop the decision from being carried out.

No later than three days after the deadline for fixing a defect, the employer must inform the inspectorate in writing that the ordered measures have been carried out (Article 63), with proof where possible. The inspectorate also has a duty to advise employers (Article 56).

Deadlines and amounts

• Notice of start of work: at least 8 days before. Fine for not giving notice: 1,500 to 9,000 KM.
• Report of a serious injury: within 24 hours. Fine: 2,500 to 15,000 KM.
• No risk assessment, or an untrained worker: 2,500 to 15,000 KM.
• Hiring a workplace safety firm without the required licence: 2,500 to 15,000 KM.
• Required records not kept: 1,000 to 6,000 KM.
• Inspectorate not told within 3 days that the ordered measures were carried out: 1,500 to 9,000 KM.
• In addition to the employer, the responsible person is fined 100 to 1,500 KM, depending on the offence.

Where to go

• Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove (Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs, Inspektorat Republike Srpske), Trebinje regional department: Republike Srpske 33, tel. 059/273-080. Bileća branch: Vladimira Gaćinovića 2, tel. 059/371-880.
• Ministarstvo rada i boračko-invalidske zaštite issues licences and runs the professional exam for workplace safety. Phone listed on the Ministry's page: 051/338-602.
• Before you sign a contract, ask the Ministry to confirm that the firm holds a valid licence for the work you are giving it.

Laws and sources

• Zakon o zaštiti na radu (Službeni glasnik RS 1/08 and 13/10), law and amendments on the Ministry of Labour website
• Zakon o inspekcijama Republike Srpske (Službeni glasnik RS 18/20) and the 2026 amendments (Službeni glasnik RS 1/26)
• Pravilnik o procjeni rizika na radnom mjestu i u radnoj sredini (Službeni glasnik RS 66/08)
• Pravilnik o sadržaju i načinu izdavanja obrasca izvještaja o povredi na radu, profesionalnom oboljenju i oboljenju u vezi sa radom (Službeni glasnik RS 66/08)
• Inspektorat Republike Srpske, regional office contacts
• Ministarstvo rada i boračko-invalidske zaštite