Safety - what to do when you receive a h&s inspection

An inspection is always a delicate event in the life of a company.

The local authorities with competence in workplace safety are the Workplace Prevention and Safety Service (SPRESAL) of the Local Health Authorities (for all types of businesses) and the Territorial Labour Directorates (mainly for construction sites).

You will usually receive an inspection in the following cases:

  • checks following a report of serious injury or occupational disease;
  • you may be selected at random for a spot check from among the businesses in your sector;
  • an inspection may be requested by the workers' safety representative or the trade unions due to alleged serious breaches of H&S rules at your company.

The purpose of the visit is to detect any infringements or irregularities in implementation of workplace health and safety rules, in order to ensure the company meets the H&S standards required by law.

More info about this section:

  • find out more about the inspection bodies
  • the possible outcomes of an inspection.

THE SAFETY SURVEILLANCE BODIES

The key bodies in charge of monitoring compliance with workplace health and safety rules are:

  • the Local Health Authorities
  • the Provincial Labour Directorates (former Labour Inspectorates)
  • the Provincial Firefighters' Headquarters.

The Local Health Authorities cover all types of work activities and operate through a specific department, known as SPRESAL (Workplace Prevention and Safety Service), which is manned by a team of different professionals (doctors and technical experts).

The Provincial Labour Directorates, monitor construction sites and activities involving exposure to ionising radiations (e.g. radiology centres). They also monitor compliance with safety rules for specific worker categories (working mothers and minors) and specific equipment and machinery (e.g. goods and passenger lifts).

The Firefighters' Headquarters mainly monitor activities at high risk of fire or blast, to which they issue specific authorisations.

The inspectors sent by these surveillance bodies are qualified as UPG (judicial police officers), which means they have the following powers:

  • access to premises: they may visit workplaces without prior notice at any time of day or night;
  • issue requirements: they can impose the adoption of measures on aspects not regulated by law but concerning improvement of health and safety conditions;
  • notify non-compliances: they can demand that the employer remedy the non-compliance by a given deadline, setting monetary penalties for failure to act.

You may also receive document and technical inspections by INAIL and ARPAS (Environmental Protection Agency of Sardinia).

WHICH ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF AN INSPECTION?

If your company receives a workplace health and safety inspection and the inspectors find you have breached your obligations as an employer, the following procedure is launched:

  • the inspector prepares an infringement report describing the breaches found and setting a term for remedying them;
  • the report is sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which opens a file against the employer but suspends the procedure pending further developments;
  • the employer remedies the breach as required by the infringement report: he so informs the inspection authority which will then inform the employer that the penalty for the breach is ¼ of the maximum amount set in law;
  • the employer pays the penalty: the inspection authority informs of the payment the Public Prosecutor, who closes the procedure.

If the employer fails to remedy the breach as required in the infringement report, the inspection authority issues a second report and sends a copy to the Public Prosecutor, who then starts criminal proceedings.

Warning: for certain irregularities, listed in Annex I to Legislative Decree No 81/08, Consolidated Law on Safety, in the event of repeated breaches over a five-year period, the company may be ordered to suspend activity.

 

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