PD: Businesses to receive reimbursement of up to 80 per cent of costs incurred to improve workplace safety

To establish a national fund of 500 million euros a year for the three-year period 2027–2029 to support businesses that invest in training, prevention, personal protective equipment, technological innovation and workplace safety. This is what the Democratic Party is proposing in a bill (Chamber Bill 2985) that has just been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies.

The aim, as Marco Simiani, a Member of Parliament, explains to Parlamento 24, the bill’s lead sponsor, is to ensure that workplace safety is not viewed as a cost or a mere bureaucratic formality, but as a strategic investment to protect the lives of workers and strengthen the production system. In practical terms, the Democratic Party’s draft bill aims to provide tangible support to businesses, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, by reimbursing up to 80 per cent of the costs incurred to improve safety.

The draft bill provides for eligibility for a grant – in the form of a tax credit – for all expenditure directly linked to improving health and safety in the workplace, including expenditure relating to compulsory and additional training for workers, the purchase of personal protective equipment, the introduction of innovative technologies, the digitisation of monitoring systems, structural adaptations to workplaces, and the prevention of risks arising from exposure to physical, chemical, biological and environmental agents.

The proposal also provides for the promotion of the direct involvement of workers and their representatives in processes aimed at improving workplace safety. Furthermore, funded training must take place during working hours and without any reduction in pay.