The State Audit Office of Georgia has released a new report evaluating the effectiveness of efforts to promote safe working conditions in the country. The audit covers the period 2021–2023 and highlights both progress and ongoing challenges in occupational safety management.
According to the report, between 2018 and 2023, a total of 1,546 employees were injured, and 249 people lost their lives due to violations of workplace safety norms.
The Audit Office notes a positive trend in recent years, the number of workplace fatalities almost halved between 2018 and 2023, reaching 34 deaths in 2023. This decline indicates gradual improvement in the enforcement of labor safety standards.
At the same time, the report points out structural and operational challenges within the Labor Inspection Office. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of inspectors increased 1.3 times, while the number of inspections grew 3.5 times. Consequently, the workload per inspector rose sharply - from 51 inspections in 2021 to 138 in 2023.
“The growth rate of the number of employed inspectors lags behind the increased volume of activities, including unscheduled inspections,” the report states.
As of 2023, there were 105,726 potentially inspectable business entities registered in Eastern Georgia and 65,407 in Western Georgia.
In 2022, the central office in Tbilisi employed 54 inspectors, while regional offices had only 12 in total. This imbalance has led to a situation where the Tbilisi-based team conducts the majority of inspections outside the capital, for example, up to 90% of inspections in the Samegrelo region.
The Audit Office recommends a more proportional distribution of inspectors across regions, ensuring that local offices are adequately staffed to manage inspections efficiently and maintain consistent labor safety supervision nationwide.
