It is widely recognized that a procurement policy, which considers the safety culture of a contractor can significantly impact on the occupational health and safety (OHS) level of a workplace.

National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Inail), the Italian Institute who runs the insurance against accidents at work, has supported the adoption of Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OSH MS) in Italian companies since 2001. In order to verify if support to OH&S MS and the relevant use of public funds brings social benefits, Inail regularly monitors the efficacy of its policies calculating the difference between the injury index in a certified company with the rest of Italian companies.

In 2014 the National Institute for Insurance against Accident at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – Inail) of Italy, was assigned new specific tasks regarding work reintegration of people with job related disabilities. The resulting regulatory framework allows it to finance up to a maximum of 150,000 euros (EUR) for each worker, aimed at supporting work reintegration projects in three areas:

Work-related stress risk constitutes one of the main challenges that companies face in protecting workers’ health and safety and increasing their competitiveness. Scientific evidence has highlighted that the impact of work-related stress risk affects some productive sectors more than others, including the health care sector.

Recent years have seen an exponential growth in the application of cutting-edge biotechnological techniques in a variety of research fields, such as human health, agriculture and industry. Such rapid success brings challenges related to the protection of human health and the environment. Therefore, it is important to provide up-to-date information on the national regulations, educate to laboratory practices with genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs), create awareness and motivate for biosafety.

Over the years, the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL) has expanded the protection of workers, guaranteeing economic and health benefits and social-health and supplementary services as forms of support aimed at recovery, psycho-physical rehabilitation and reintegration into social and working life.

During the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, in Italy as in other countries, the government has promoted work from home. The National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL) Technical Consultancy for risk assessment and prevention (CONTARP) wrote an information document on the risks workers could be exposed in different working scenarios (open air working, working on public transport or in closed public or private places) that provided recommendations and prevention measures.

Osseointegration for lower limb amputees represents an innovative approach that allows a direct bone-prosthesis connection, avoiding the use of traditional sockets. Thanks to its demonstrated improvement effects on patient prosthesis embodiment and quality of life, osseointegrated implants are a reliable alternative to the traditional solutions.

Lower-limb amputee (LLA) patients are required to prove their ability to use the artificial limb through functional evaluations. The results guide the prosthesis-rehabilitation treatment. Patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) allow getting information on the patient’s ability based on the patient’s perspective. The approach may have a huge impact on decision-making processes because it may help clinicians to develop patient-specific treatments.

Organizations with a positive safety culture have internal communication based on mutual trust, shared perceptions on the importance of safety and trust in prevention measures. As a consequence, organizations with a high level of safety culture are able to significantly reduce the occurrence of accidents and occupational diseases.

The adverse health effects of occupational exposure to crystalline silica have long been known. Silicosis can be considered a generalised systemic disease that originates in the lung and often affects other systems and organs.

Management systems for occupational health and safety are a fundamental element of prevention. Currently, these models of managing are designed for large, complex or articulated organizations.

Differently the first version of Inail-Cobis Operational Guide SGSL Sistema Casa – 2018, rewarded by ISSA Good Practice Awards – Europe 2019, showed the feasibility of occupational health and safety management system (OSH MS) models tailored for small building and utility companies.

Integration of the materials for information and training on occupational prevention and safety, already owned by the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL), with specific products coming from the territory and companies of South Tyrol.

“Studiare il Lavoro” is a specific e-learning training project realized by the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL) for students between 15 and 18 years old. It has been designed and implemented using an innovative teaching method using animated graphics and advanced techniques of communication to keep the right level of attention.

Support Incentives to Enterprises bids (Incentivi di Sostegno alle Imprese, ISI), annually published by the National Employment Accident Insurance Institute (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL), allow collecting large amounts of information on companies that access contributions for preventive purposes. Every year about 4,000 companies in the Italian territory start a bureaucratic path that allows them to get INAIL financial incentives.

Despite specific legislation and efforts of institutions and trade unions to improve health and safety conditions, construction is still one of the sectors where the frequency of injuries is the highest.

The National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro – INAIL) Regional Directorate for Campania has co-financed research that led to the creation of tools for the prevention of fire safety risks in the workplace, deriving from the energy retrofitting of buildings.

Because of the lack of standardisation of repetitive manual activities, it is very important to share criteria to make the risk assessment homogeneous, focusing on the following critical elements: use of tools, identification of technical actions, force, posture and cycle time.

The project SA.SI.A is based on the integration of technology into the current security procedures in the corporate sector industry. It starts from the experience of Si.S.Ca. "Active safety on construction sites.", validated as a good practice by the Ministry of Labour in 2013 and awarded a recognition in the ISSA Good Practice Award competition for Europe in 2013. The platform SA.SI.A allows real-time monitoring over all working areas with special attention to the following risks:
 

Therefore this tool will encourage the management of organizations, especially small and medium sized enterprises, to allocate resources in OHS prevention. The costs of the lack of safety in Italian enterprises are very high (some 47 billion euros), a big part of these costs are paid by firms. Therefore some organizations do not know the real costs behind accidents and ill-health that they have to bear in terms of loss of work time and money. This is especially true for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where the culture of safety is not so deeply understood.

The project (Sistema di Sicurezza Cantiere edile (SISCA)) uses RTLS technologies to control and evaluate safety levels in construction sites. This approach is based on the use of particular indicators or control parameters, measured during work activities. This method uses a "hardware-software" platform implying the following four evaluation parameters:

The moments immediately after an accident represent a delicate step, as the worker needs to obtain urgently information on how to handle it.

Today, with the project "InailOnLine", this caring, advising and supporting service is carried out in a "proactive" way, with an outbound service, as the worker is directly contacted not later than 48 hours after the accident.

Through a Contact Centre, the injured worker first gets information by telephone and useful documentation by e-mail.

Biological risk assessment at workplaces is not easy because of the lack of a standard for biocontaminants measurement. INAIL's Technical Advisory Risk Assessment and Prevention (CONTARP) developed guidelines on microbiological monitoring in workplaces, in order to adopt homogeneous methodologies of airborne biocontaminants sampling and samples analysis. CONTARP and DCOD (Directorate for Digital Organization) developed a software programme, whose database contains data about environmental microbiological monitoring in companies.

While integration is desirable, flexible arrangements are required depending on the size and type of operation. It reflects ILO values such as tripartism and relevant international standards including the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.155) and the Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161).

The new system, now in its third edition with the notice published in December 2012, foresees the co-funding by INAIL, up to 50 per cent, of investments made by companies for structural interventions (e.g. factory renovations, buying machinery) or adoption of organizational models of safety management or social responsibility, aimed at improving health and safety levels, beyond the ones prescribed by law.

All companies must comply with health and safety regulations. However, the safety procedures and the spread of information about the subject are not sufficient to avoid accidents. It is really useful for companies to create a network and cooperate actively to improve safety.

ESAW (European Statistics on Accidents at Work) is the European coding system of injuries, adopted by Inail since 2001, allowing the comparison of accidents at work rates in different Member States. The knowledge of causes and circumstances of the occurrence of accidents at work is essential for planning policies for prevention and protection aimed at reducing their frequency and severity, as well as enabling the plan of measures to improve working conditions.

The National Employment Accident Insurance Institute (Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL)) - also to overcome the lack of financial and human resources - is committed to fighting contribution evasion and to improving inspection results in social security matters by computerizing the surveillance system and developing business intelligence activities.

bizSAFE is a five-step programme, developed by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Manpower, that assists companies to build up their WSH capabilities to achieve quantum improvements in safety and health standards at the workplace (for more information click here

INAIL, Campania Regional Directorate has funded a series of research which led to the delivery of the software suite ERA.

The Italian Silica Network (NIS), of which INAIL is a founding member, along with other public bodies and associations, has launched a research project to assess silica risk in the following sectors: construction, foundry, stone, construction of tunnels and the manufacture of ceramic tiles. The primary goal was to create a shared "repository" of the more effective technical and organizational choices to mitigate the silica risk.

More than 300 million euro (EUR) were allocated to financially support companies to invest in safety, in order to make their facilities and organization compliant with the law and implement training/information activities.

The incentives financed:

The keystone of the new approach is the creation of a unique Multi-Channel Virtual Front Office for both Institutions with a multi-level operational model that integrates Front End and Back Office. It includes the innovation of their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) into a single shared Contact Centre (CC).

Other institutions will probably be involved in the near future in the integrated Contact Centre. It will mean a further extension of the offered services and a merged front office of the social security institutions involved.

Since 2000, companies that carry out activities aimed at improving health and safety are rewarded with a premium reduction paid to the National Employment Accident Insurance Institute (Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL)).

The rate reduction is granted as follows:

To minimize manual labour and errors involved in the conventional labour-intensive method of transcribing data by data entry officers, Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) began actively promoting the use of e submissions in 2000, through various innovative methods catering to the different needs of different employer segments.

• various tools to use autonomously at a local level;
• a "taskforce" with high skills to provide support with the use of the methodology, and to intervene "on demand" on the basis of assessments by the National Social Insurance Institute (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) branches and/or survey outcomes; and
• a web 2.0 IT network which could link the various "process actors" allowing the realization of "the continuous improvement good practices database" and a virtual community targeted to innovation.

Standardized process flows were determined for every institutional product of the National Social Insurance Institute (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)). The work flows simplified and streamlined the sequence of necessary actions to produce every INPS product or service, by defining in a single layout and flow all the administrative information and management IT procedures necessary to support the production.