World Day

Safety at work, inspector gap: between 3,600 and 5,900 technicians missing

Faced with 97 deaths and 15 thousand new reports of occupational disease counted in the latest Inail bulletin, there are still just over two thousand prevention workers in Italy today

by Vincenzo Nucci *

28 April 2025

3' min read

Key points

Inspectors with eyedroppers
Investing in personnel is the key
Scientific Standards in Business
The need for firm and continuous resources

3' min read

The World Day for Health and Safety at Work reminds us that in Italy, people are still dying at work. We call them work accidents and occupational diseases and they occur on construction sites, in plants, workshops, farms and logistics halls, but year after year they claim more victims than natural disasters.

Inail tells us that in the first two months of this year alone, 97 people lost their lives at work. To these must be added the deaths in commuting accidents, cases of permanent disability, and the 15,000 new reports of occupational diseases.

Inspectors with droppers

Throughout Italy there are just over two thousand Prevention Technicians (Tpall) involved in the inspection function. To be precise, there are about 2,108 of them. Which means that there is only one for every 28,000 people. If, on the other hand, we look at companies, we are talking about one technician for every 1,500 companies. And in terms of workers, only one for almost 11,800 thousand.

It is estimated that it could take more than fifteen years to complete one visit to all companies in some regions of Italy. Figures that also show the gap with European standards, which provide for at least one technician for every 10,000 inhabitants. That is, about 3,600 professionals are missing, but according to our estimates, at least 5,900 would be needed.

Investing in personnel is the key

Unless we start investing, in a stable manner, in personnel, occupational safety risks remaining a fine promise, but only on paper. Yet the figures speak for themselves: according to the International Association of Social Security, every euro spent on prevention saves at least three in health and social costs. This is where we must start again. A serious, concrete change of pace is needed to try and stop deaths and accidents at work. And this can only come about by focusing on three strands: professionals, organisation and means.

Prevention technicians have a solid university education in the field of occupational safety: a degree with more than 4,500 hours of teaching and 1,500 hours of field training. Obviously, certified skills are needed to work in this sector, so we believe that inspection work is primarily entrusted to them.

Scientific Standards in Enterprise

On the business side, on the other hand, we propose that the quality of the training of prevention and protection service managers and trainers should be verified and traceable to scientific standards; the same applies to the training and refresher courses for workers' safety representatives (Rls), which should only take place at public facilities.

Today in Italy there are almost twenty bodies dealing with labour inspection. Often with overlapping competences. Our proposal: a single director is needed. A national coordination that puts all these bodies around the same table, to share data, inspection agendas, strategies.

The need for certain and continuous resources

Finally, it is necessary to invest definite and continuous resources in the full implementation of regional and national prevention plans and in the implementation of participatory and socially responsible audit programmes, involving the Tpall and the employers themselves. In short, supervision alone is not enough, a cultural change is needed.

Prevention, the real kind, cannot be improvised or imposed: it is built with scientific expertise, presence in the field, and human relations. It is to all intents and purposes a health activity, and must be recognised as such. If we really want to change course, we need a concrete plan to enhance and strengthen our profession.

* President of the National Commission of Prevention Technicians in the Environment and Workplace of the Fno Tsrm and Pstrp