Operational Dangers and Employer’s Liability in Environmental Damages
İşletme Zararları ve İşverenin Çevresel Zararlardan Sorumluluğu
Ayşe KÖME AKPULAT
In Turkish Law, under 2012 dated Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Turkish legislator adopted a special regulation in terms of enterprises that conduct activities carrying significant danger. Accordingly, the operator and the owner of a potentially hazardous business are held accountable for any damages caused by this activity. With this regulation, through a general rule, people who perform a particularly dangerous activity held the “danger liability”, and undoubtedly, environmental damages are also included in these damages. Accordingly, environmental damages arising from operational activity can be either be a direct damage to the environment or damage to a person’s rights and benefits.
Operational Dangers, Strict Liability, Liability for Danger, Employer’s Liability.
Türk hukukunda, 2012 yılında yürürlüğe giren 6098 sayılı Türk Borçlar Kanunu ile önemli ölçüde tehlike taşıyan işletmeler bakımından özel bir düzenleme kabul edilmiştir. Buna göre, önemli ölçüde tehlikeli bir işletmeyi işleten ve sahibi, bu faaliyetin yol açtığı zararlardan kusuru olmasa da sorumlu tutulur. Bu kural ile birlikte, önemli ölçüde tehlikeli bir faaliyet yürüten kişiler genel bir kural aracılığıyla tehlike sorumluluğuna tabi tutulmaktadır. Kuşkusuz bu zararların içinde çevresel zararlar da yer almaktadır. Buna göre, işletmesel faaliyetten doğan çevre zararları, doğrudan çevrenin zarar görmesi şeklinde olabileceği gibi çevrenin zarar görmesi nedeniyle insanların hak ve yararlarının zarar görmesi şeklinde de olabilir.
İşletmesel Zarar, Kusursuz Sorumluluk, Tehlike Sorumluluğu, İşverenin Sorumluluğu.
I. Introduction
Understanding of the liability of danger occurred with the developments in the industry and technology. Mere existence and operation of the business, due to the activities such as petroleum and mining explorations, nuclear plants, natural gas production and working with explosive and flammable materials, poses a danger to environment and human beings.1 Companies posing danger are generally industrial firms causing pollution in air, water and soil. Losses arising from these activities should also be examined from the perspective of the environmental law. Toxic gasses the factory chimneys emit and production wastes mixing with the soil and sea cause environmental damages and pose a serious threat to the human health.
The activity of the business is directly the reason for the damages to arise in the liability of danger rather than a specific behaviour. Accordingly, persons gaining economic benefits from the business bearing a risk for serious danger to be created must carry the burden of harmful consequences of the activities performed by that business.2 The person carrying out the dangerous activity is usually the employer though not always. In that sense, the damages that the employer or its proxy inflicted upon its worker or another person with a specific behavior is excluded from the scope of liability of danger. The important thing in the liability of danger is business’ direct posing of a danger. Moreover, this situation is also of particular concern to the Environmental Law.3 Thus, in this study, scope of the liability of danger will be first examined and then the specific regulation on the protection of the environment will be compared with the rule of the liability of danger. Finally, relationship between the occupational health and safety measures to be taken by the employers and principles adopted to prevent major industrial hazards and the rules on the protection of the environment will be discussed.
II. Liability of Danger
Definition of the concept of the danger and the implementation of regulating the liability of danger of the countries differ. In some countries, liability of danger is regulated with specific laws, while in some countries, resolve of this matter is left to the court decisions. And as a third alternative, it is possible to regulate this matter with a general rule on the liability of instead of a law aimed at each type of dangerous activity.
