Checks on compliance with labour standards are a critical moment for almost all companies. The reasons for supervisory bodies to carry out an inspection at work are:
- a request for action by the worker or trade union representing him
- or an autonomous initiative of the inspection office;
An anonymous request for inspection visits should not be considered.
Who are the supervisory bodies?
In the field of occupational safety, the most active control bodies in the area are the Service Prevention and Safety Working Environments (SPRESAL) of the ASL (for all activities) and the Territorial Employment Directorates (mainly construction sites).
The purpose of the visit is to ascertain the presence of violations and irregularities in the application of health and safety rules at work, in order to bring the company back to the level of protection provided by law. In summary it has as its object:
- monitoring the correct application of the rules on the protection and protection of workers' health;
- monitoring of worker awareness through information campaigns;
- requests for medical examinations of workers of legal age and minors;
- the request for medical examinations following the worker’s appeal.
The supervisory bodies in the field of health and safety at work are mainly: the Asls, the Provincial Labour Directorates and the Provincial Fire Brigade Commands. In these bodies operate the so-called J.P.O. (Judicial Police Officers) to which the law gives the powers of access, provision and prescription. Other bodies from which you may receive requests for documentation and technical verifications are: Inail and Arpas.
Should your company be inspected by J.P.O. (health and safety in the workplace) and there be a number of irregularities with respect to the statutory obligations of the employer, the following procedural steps would be taken:
- J.P.O. fills in the statute of limitations report in which the violations found are reported;
- the statute of limitations shall be transmitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office;
- the employer shall comply with the provisions of the prescription report;
- the employer makes the payment of the financial penalty to which it is admitted, the Agency communicates the result to the Prosecutor and the P.M. closes the procedure.
If, however, the employer does not comply with the provisions of the statute of limitations, the body that carried out the inspection communicates a second report that is also transmitted to the Prosecutor and the P.M. initiates criminal proceedings.
It should be noted that there are some cases of irregularities provided for in Annex I of Legislative Decree no.81/08, Consolidated Security Law, for which, in case of repeated violations within 5 years, a company could have its activity suspended.
For further information, please consult the following websites: