Safety in the Workplace
By Legislative Decree No 626/94, subsequently updated by Legislative Decree
No 242 of 19 March 1996, Italy complied with the regulations laid down by the
European Union on safety in the workplace.
The main innovations brought in are:
- the creation of organisational positions directly involved in maintaining
a satisfactory degree of safety in companies, such as the prevention and
protection department official, the competent doctor and the workers' safety
representative
- the obligation, for employers, to plan and put in place the allocation of
the financial, human and organisational resources needed to apply the safety
measures laid down by the law, to check on their implementation and to
supervise compliance with the obligations prescribed by law, to draw up a
document containing an assessment of the risks in the working environment,
as well as to identify the preventive measures needed and to draw up a
programme to implement these measures
To comply with these obligations, employers must ensure the collaboration of
managers and employees entrusted with specific tasks, who will be responsible
for implementing prevention and safety measures according to their professional
roles and within the areas of their specific competence.
Failure to observe the obligations indicated for employers, managers and
persons in charge of implementing safety measures will result in fines, which
will vary in relation to the degree of violation of the specific law.
Provisions have also been made for the active participation of all those
involved, including employees and/or their representatives, ranging from the
definition of risk situations to the choice of solutions for their prevention
and/or limitation. To ensure that workers are more aware of the need to comply
with measures to prevent risk in the workplace, employers must organise training
and awareness-raising programmes.
A further innovation is the implementation of general protection measures,
essentially focusing on an evaluation of risks and their elimination or
reduction to minimum levels in accordance with the most recent technical
knowledge by means of intervention preferably carried out at source.
The above regulations also introduce:
- compliance with ergonomic principles
- priority for the adoption of collective measures as opposed to individual
ones
- the proper planning of working procedures in order to reduce workers'
exposure to risk to a minimum
- regular maintenance and cleaning of surroundings, equipment, machinery and
plant
- the consultation and participation through safety representatives of the
workers in issues relating to safety at work
At least once a year, employers must organise a meeting with the aim of
verifying the state of implementation of the programmes introduced and the
effectiveness of the safety and protection measures implemented for the benefit
of employees.
Workers' Obligations and Rights
There is an express obligation for workers to ensure their own safety and
health and, in accordance with specific instructions and the training they have
received, to make correct use of safety devices and observe all safety
regulations, both collective and individual, and any other means of protection,
warning or control. This obligation also extends to the use of machinery,
equipment, tools, substances and dangerous products to ensure that inappropriate
use does not jeopardise the health and safety of other employees and persons who
may be present in the workplace.
Workers have the right to refuse, except in exceptional cases and upon a
reasoned request,
- to resume work in situations where there is a serious and immediate danger
- to leave the workplace or a dangerous area, in the case of a serious and
immediate danger which cannot be avoided, without being subject to any
detrimental consequences for their conduct
- to take appropriate steps to avert the consequences of a serious and
immediate danger, where it is impossible to contact a line manager or an
appropriate person in the firm, without being suffering detrimental
consequences for so doing, unless their conduct was seriously negligent
- to have individual medical check-ups if there is a link that can be
documented between workplace risks and the request for such a check-up
Training and Information Provided for Workers
All workers have the right to receive appropriate information on prevention
and protection.
Under Article 21 of Legislative Decree No 626/94, this must be provided in a
form that can be easily understood and must relate to the safety and health
risks connected with a firm's activities in general, the protective and
preventive measures and actions taken, the specific risks to which workers are
exposed in relation to: the activity they carry out and the safety regulations
and the company rules on this subject; the dangers connected with the use of
dangerous substances and mixtures, the procedures and the names of the workers
responsible for first-aid, fire and evacuation of workers, and the name of the
person responsible for the prevention and protection department and the
competent doctor (where one has been appointed).
Apart from general information, workers must be provided with specific
information, the content of which derives from an evaluation of the risks
carried out for individual workplaces or similar workplaces. Failure to observe
the obligations specified for workers will result in fines, which will vary in
relation to the degree of violation of the specific law.
Industrial Accidents and Work-Related Illnesses
The Italian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to be
provided with healthy conditions in the workplace and adequate means for the
requirements of life in the case of an industrial accident or work-related
illness. The law lays down an obligation to insure against any physical or
economic damages which workers may suffer following accidents or illnesses
caused by work. It is the responsibility of INAIL (Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione
contro gli Infortuni sul lavoro e le Malattie Professionali) (Italian
Workers' Compensation Authority) to insure all persons who perform paid work,
using any machinery, equipment or industrial plants, or who work in organised
environments, in whatever sector or category of industry, and who are employed
by any natural or legal person, private company or public administration. I
NAIL also insures artisans, agricultural workers and parasubordinate
(quasi-subordinate) workers.
INAIL provides compensation for lost remuneration, for reduced working
capacity or loss of working capacity with resulting disability of between 11
percent and 100 percent for workers who are the victim of an accident at work or
who contract a work-related illness, in respect of events prior to 25 July 2000;
for physical and/or mental impairment and its financial consequences, for events
occurring after 25 July 2000; in addition, it grants an income to the survivors,
in the event of death through an accident at work or a work-related
illness.
To obtain an indemnity or pension, workers must apply to the Patronati
(local charitable institutions). Italian law entrusts to the latter the task of
providing assistance to workers (at no cost) for the bureaucratic procedures
required to obtain social security benefits from the national institutions which
provide them.
Useful References
Italian Constitution; Legislative Decree No 626/94; Legislative Decree No 242
of 19 March 1996; Legislative Decree No 38/2000
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.
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