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According to the provisions of the Management of Safety and Health at Work Regulations of 2002:
(a) every employer, who is unable to provide protection and prevention activities using his own employees, because they do not have the necessary personal and occupational qualifications, and
(b) every employer, who employs fewer than 5 persons or every self-employed person, who is unable to provide, depending on the case, protection and prevention activities, because he does not have the necessary personal and occupational qualifications,
may apply to Approved Persons to secure these services.
Also according to the above Regulations, the employer, or the self employed person, must notify the Chief Inspector or the Inspector, when the said services are assigned to Approved Persons, the name of the Approved Person who undertakes the protection and prevention of risks activities and the particulars of the services undertaken by fill in the Work Assignment Form.
The persons, who afford to perform such protection and prevention of risks activities and can offer their services to other employers or other self-employed persons, according to the provisions of the above Regulations, shall be approved by the Chief Inspector, who is the Director of the Department of Labour Inspection.
In order to get approved by the Chief Inspector, the interested persons must satisfy the Minimum Requirements on Qualifications.
Every interested person, who wishes to get approved by the Chief Inspector must submit to the Department of Labour Inspection the relevant Application along with all the necessary documents to substantiate his qualifications, namely:
- academic education,
- Very good knowledge of Cyprus and European legislation and policy regarding Safety and Health issues at Work. It is noted that as of 1st January 2013, the Department holds a relevant written examination twice a year which every applicant must sit for and obtain a pass. The application form for participation in the exam can be found here,
- training on issues of safety and health at work, and
- professional experience on issues of safety and health at work.
The Department of Labour Inspection in collaboration with the Approved Persons has prepared the relevant Code of Professional Ethics.
For information purposes, interested employers and self-employed persons who wish to secure the services of such an Approved Person, the Department of Labour Inspection maintains a Registry of Approved Persons.
24.9.2015 Announcement
The Registry of Approved Persons which is published on the website of the Department to inform interested employers shall be updated on 1.1.2016 to include reference to those Approved Persons who have demonstrated their knowledge of the Safety and Health at Work Legislation by successfully participating in the Department’s written examinations held twice each year.
As already announced on the Department’s website, since 1.1.2013 successful participation in the above written examination is a prerequisite for all applicants wishing to become Approved Persons. Persons who were approved prior to the above date can participate, if they so wish, in the examination.
The relevant application form for participation in the exam is here.
12.01.2016 Announcement
A. Minimum Requirements on Qualifications
In its efforts to continuously upgrade the External Services for Provision of Preventive and Protective Services for Occupational Safety and Health issues, (better known as Approved Persons, or “EXYPP”), the Department of Labour Inspection (DLI) has revised the Minimum Requirements on Qualifications.
Specifically, at the end of the period 2010-2015, the transition / temporary clauses (which were listed as Category 6 in Table 1) of the Minimum Requirements on Qualifications regarding those Approved Persons who had previously been approved by the Chief Inspector, are hereby withdrawn.
With regards to categories 3, 4 and 5, Table 1 of the Minimum Requirements on Qualifications, the following clarification is added, regarding acceptable certificates on specific training on Occupational Safety and Health issues (Note 2 of the Minimum Requirements on Qualifications)-
- Possession of certificates attesting to at least 150 training hours suitably accredited by written examination. The total training hours attained by a candidate must include balanced coverage of all the subject areas listed under Table 3. Indicative examples of such training programmes offered by Professional / Academic / Other Institutions are the following-
i. University Undergraduate or Postgraduate Degree on Occupational Safety and Health
ii. NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health, which is credited with a total 83 training hours.
iii. Training Programmes for Safety Representatives offered by the Cyprus Productivity Centre, which include, at least the 20 prescribed subject areas of required training on Safety and Health at Work issues. Successful completion of the said Programmes, which include a relevant written exam, is credited with a total of 130 training hours.
- Possession of attendance certificates of at least 100 training hours, not necessarily accredited by examination, by candidates who have attended suitable training programmes / seminars / presentations / workshops on Occupational Safety and Health issues
The remaining requirements of the published Minimum Requirements on Qualifications remain the same.
B. Approved Persons’ Register
Following the previous announcement of the Department of Labour Inspection on 22.9.2015, the planned revision of the Register of Approved Persons to include suitable reference to those Approved Persons who possess the Department’s certificate attesting to the knowledge of the Cyprus and European legislation and good practice on the Occupational Safety and Safety, which is granted after successful participation in the Department’s bi-annual written examinations, is hereby deferred until 2017.
This arrangement grants extra time for those Approved Persons who wish to undertake the said examination in May or December, with a view to obtain the above mentioned certificate, prior to the revision of the Registry.
It is noted that successful participation in the above mentioned examination is mandatory for all new applicants wishing to become Approved Persons, as of 1.1.2013.
To participate in the examinations, the timely submission of the application and the accompanying fee is necessary, as listed in the following this link (click here)
Finally, the Department wishes to remind interested parties, that beginning on 1.1.2016, certificates regarding the attestation of the knowledge of the Cyprus and European Occupational Safety and Health legislation and good practice, by external training and examination providers, are not accepted by the Department, regardless of when such certificates were awarded. External training providers have an important role in the provision of suitable preparatory training to persons interested in participating in the Department’s biannual written examinations.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
Within the scope of Directives 2005/36/EC and 2006/123/EC and the harmonising legislation (Law 31(I)/2008 and Law 76(I)/2010), respectively, the Department, in order to simplify the procedures and the administrative cooperation required to examine an application of a member for registration may, through the IMI System, request and receive information from the Competent Authority of another Member State concerning the applicant, in which the applicant has stated he is a registered member.
The Coordinators for the IMI System may also act as Competent Authorities and as such may send or receive requests for information.
For further information as to how the Internal Market Information System operates you may visit http://ec.europa.eu/imi-net or link through the website of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism on http://www.mcit.gov.cy
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