ENSURING SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKING CONDITIONS AS A GUARANTEE OF IMPLEMENTING THE DECENT WORK CONCEPT IN THE MODERN REALITIES OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive theoretical and legal analysis of the role and functional purpose of the institute of occupational safety and health within the structure of the international concept of decent work, an assessment of the specifics of the functioning of the system of legal protection of workers under the legal regime of martial law, the outlining of modern orientations for expanding the concept of «occupational safety» through the normative incorporation of psychosocial, digital, and environmental factors, as well as the development of scientifically grounded recommendations for the new Labor Code of Ukraine to ensure the preservation, reproduction, and rehabilitation of the state’s human potential. Methods. The methodological framework of the scientific research comprises a complex of philosophical, general scientific, and special legal approaches. Using the dialectical method of cognition, the genesis and dynamics of the transformation of requirements for the working environment under the influence of security and military challenges were revealed. The dimensions of security method enabled the analysis of the norms of current labor legislation (in particular, the Labor Code of Ukraine and the special Law of Ukraine №. 2136‑IX), the identification of legal conflicts and gaps, and the formulation of the authors’ proposals for amendments to legislative acts. The comparative legal method was applied when contrasting the provisions of domestic legislation with the standards of the International Labour Organization (Conventions No. 155 and №. 190) and the legal acts of the European Union (Framework Directive 89/391/EEC, Directive (EU) 2024/2831). The method of system-structural analysis allowed for the differentiation of occupational safety guarantees by indicators of security spheres at the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels, integrating psychosocial and digital protection into the overall system of workers’ health protection. Results. It has been proven that occupational safety is not a secondary technical condition, but a core element of the decent work concept integrated into labor rights and social protection of workers. The normative dualism of the Law of Ukraine No. 2136-IX was investigated: on the one hand, granting the employee the right to immediate termination of the contract in case of a threat to life; on the other hand, allowing the establishment of a 60-hour work week and restrictions on leave for critical infrastructure personnel, which, in the absence of proper safeguards, triggers psychophysiological exhaustion. The necessity of legislative recognition of new dimensions of working environment safety has been substantiated: psychosocial safety (in accordance with ILO Convention №. 190 and ISO 45003:2021 standard), digital and remote safety (consolidation of the right to disconnect and algorithmic transparency), and the principles of a just transition in the process of labor market greening. Conclusions. It was stated that the regulatory capacity of the 1971 Labor Code of Ukraine to respond to martial law risks, algorithmic management, and psychosocial deprivation has been exhausted, which justifies the urgency of completing the codification of labor law. Proposals for the draft of the new Labor Code of Ukraine have been formulated: the inclusion of a separate chapter «Safety and Health Protection of Workers», fixing an expanded concept of occupational safety, establishing the employer’s obligation to manage psychosocial factors of production, legalizing the «right to disconnect», as well as establishing a system of compensatory guarantees (regular medical screening, rehabilitation leave, mandatory equipping certified civil defense shelters) for employees of strategic sectors.