Criminal law analysis of occupational safety violations in Ukraine

Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to establish typical criminal law characteristics of violations of occupational safety legislation based on the analysis of court verdicts. Methodology. The empirical basis of the study was 48 convictions under Article 271 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, delivered in 2019–2026. The formal-legal method, method of content analysis of court decisions, and the statistical method have been applied. Findings. The studied acts have a pronounced industry concentration in the fields of agriculture, construction and industry. Typical places of their commission were identified as production premises, workshops, construction sites and agricultural facilities. Damage is most often caused during installation and repair work, operation of mechanisms and loading and unloading processes. Organizational and managerial violations dominate: lack of control, improper documentation and conduct of safety briefings, failure to provide protective equipment and admission to work of untrained persons. The subject of the offense is usually an official responsible for the direct organization and control of work. The list of victims is dominated by auxiliary, technical and production workers, and judicial practice is mainly characterized by lethal or serious consequences. Originality. A systematic analysis of court verdicts passed under Article 271 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been conducted for the first time, which made it possible to create a modern typical criminal-law model of violations of occupational safety legislation. It covers the industry-based structure of such violations, types of work, profile of the subject of the offense, categories of victims, and the nature of the consequences. Practical value. The results obtained can be used for risk-oriented improvement of prevention of violations of occupational safety legislation, increasing the targeting of state supervision, improving internal occupational safety management systems, as well as for the formation of sustainable law enforcement approaches in these proceedings.