The registration and authorization of bipartite Health and Safety Committees is the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MINTRAB) procedure, handled through its Occupational Health and Safety (SSO) Platform, for keeping digital control of the committees that promote and monitor health and safety rules inside companies and institutions. Every workplace with ten or more workers must have one.

Quick summary: Free. Online on the SSO Platform (dgps-sso.mintrabajo.gob.gt) or in person at MINTRAB’s Occupational Health and Safety Department. Requirements: a registered Health and Safety Monitor, the company’s trade patent (or its registration in MINGOB’s Registry of Legal Persons) and the DPI copies of the committee members. Response time: 30 days. Result: a registration certificate (constancia).

As of 7 November 2026, based on the official procedure sheet (tramites.gob.gt, updated 29 September 2026) and Ministerial Agreement 486-2023.

What is the Health and Safety Committee

It is a bipartite body with equal numbers of employer and worker representatives (MA 486-2023, Art. 5). It must exist in every workplace with ten or more workers and cannot be replaced by any commission or brigade with similar functions. Its functions must be set out in the company’s internal work regulations (reglamento interior de trabajo), and the committee and its minutes book must be authorized by MINTRAB’s Occupational Health and Safety Department or IGSS’s Safety and Hygiene Section (Art. 8). The employer requests the authorization.

Who is Required (MA 486-2023, Art. 5)

Number of workersRequired structure
Fewer than 10A Health and Safety Monitor, who takes on the committee’s general functions
10-25Committee: 2 worker + 2 employer representatives
26-503 + 3
51-1004 + 4
101-5005 + 5
More than 5006 + 6

The employer appoints its representatives directly; the workers elect theirs by free and democratic vote, and the employer must set up mechanisms so all workers can take part. The Health and Safety Monitor must be part of the committee, and the committee may include alternates (Art. 7).

Registration Requirements (official procedure sheet)

Online (SSO Platform):

  1. An active monitor registration certificate (constancia de monitor activo).
  2. Trade patent of the company and/or business (patente de sociedad / de comercio de empresa), or the registration in the Registry of Legal Persons of the Ministry of the Interior (MINGOB).
  3. Copy of the DPI (legible and valid) of each committee member.

In person:

  1. Application for registration or update of the committee’s data.
  2. Copy of the monitor’s registration certificate.
  3. Trade patent, or registration in MINGOB’s Registry of Legal Persons.
  4. Copy of the DPI (legible and valid) of each committee member.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1 — Constitute the committee

The workers elect their representatives and the employer appoints its own (Art. 7). At the first meeting, all members sign the constitutive minutes, which must state at least the place and date, the background of the election, the name, role and side of every member, any alternates, and the signatures of all members and the secretary (Art. 9). The committee has a coordinator, a secretary and members (vocales) (Art. 10).

Step 2 — Register the monitor

The online procedure requires an active monitor certificate and is done after the monitor registration on the platform.

Step 3 — File on the SSO Platform

  1. Log in to the SSO Platform with your username and password at dgps-sso.mintrabajo.gob.gt.
  2. Go to the Comité Bipartito section and upload the documents.
  3. If something is not in order, MINTRAB issues a prior notice (previo) through the platform so you can correct it.
  4. If it is in order, the platform generates the registration certificate automatically and notifies you to download it.

Or file in person

MINTRAB’s Occupational Health and Safety Department: 7ª Avenida 3-33, zona 9, Edificio Torre Empresarial, 7th floor, office 707, Guatemala City. Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00.

Cost and Time

ItemDetail
MINTRAB feeFree (Q0)
Response time30 days (official procedure sheet)
ResultRegistration certificate (constancia)

Committee Operation (MA 486-2023)

  • Ordinary meetings at least once a month; extraordinary meetings whenever needed (Art. 11).
  • Meetings are called at least one week ahead with day, time, place and agenda; members confirm at least three days before; meetings are held within working hours (Art. 13).
  • Monthly activity reports are among the committee’s management-control documents (Art. 23).
  • Changes in members, roles or the workplace address are notified to MINTRAB’s OSH Department or IGSS’s Safety and Hygiene Section within ten business days (Art. 19).
  • Members serve two years from registration, except the monitor, and can be re-elected or replaced; for a specified work, contract or service, the term lasts for the work (Art. 20).

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Labour Code Article 272 literal d), as reformed by Decreto 7-2017, fines an employer 8 to 16 monthly minimum wages for non-agricultural activities for breaches of the rules on occupational health and safety. At the 2026 non-agricultural monthly minimum wage of Q4,002.28 published by MINTRAB, that is Q32,018 to Q64,036. For a worker, the fine is 4 to 8 daily minimum wages.

Recidivism adds a 50% increment to the fine (Art. 271 as reformed); there is no recidivism once a year has passed between payment of the earlier fine and the new offence. Paying the fine with proof that the breach was corrected exonerates 50% of it, after verification (Art. 272 as reformed). Fines are imposed by the General Labour Inspectorate.

Difference from Other Bodies

  • Health and Safety Monitor — for workplaces with fewer than ten workers; one person who takes on the committee’s general functions, and a member of the committee where there is one (Art. 5 and 7).
  • Commissions or brigades — cannot replace the committee (Art. 5).
  • MINTRAB or IGSS authorization — Article 8 of MA 486-2023 allows authorization of the committee and its minutes book by either institution.