Safety at work, fewer accidents on site but more on the road

There were 416,900 reports of accidents at work in 2025, 0.5 per cent more than in 2024. Fatal accidents, however, fell by 0.6 per cent to 792 in total. On the contrary, there was a significant increase in the number of reported commuting accidents, which totalled 99,939 last year, i.e. 3.2 per cent more than in 2024. The number of fatal accidents with fatal outcome rose even more sharply, however: 293, i.e. 4.6 per cent more than in 2024.

This was revealed in the 'Report on the state of safety in the workplace', presented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to the Chamber of Deputies. Overall, in 2025 INAIL received 516,839 accident complaints, but the data are provisional as they are derived from monthly reports and do not take into account the student population, to which a special focus is dedicated. The total number ofpupil complaints in 2025 came to 80,871 (+3.8 %). Complaints for occupational disease also soared, 98,463 in 2025, an increase of 11.3 per cent over the previous year.

Coming to the details of the incidents that occurred in the workplace, there was an increase in the Centre (+2.9%), the Islands (+2.5%) and the North East (+0.5%), while the performance of the North West (-1.4%) and the South (-0.03%) improved. Analysing the reports according to a gender perspective shows that, while there was a modest reduction in claims among men (-0.2%), there was an increase among women (+2%). Among Italians, accidents fell (-0.5%), while they rose by 3.7% among foreigners. The age brackets most affected by the phenomenon are the 20-39 age group (+1.3%), but especially the 55-69 age group (+3.6%). Adverse events, on the other hand, fell among those aged between 40 and 54 (-2.6%).

Slight improvement is shown on the front ofworkplace deaths compared to the total, which also includes deaths on the way: in 2025 they were 73 per cent compared to 74 per cent in the previous year. At the territorial level, the South and North East saw an increase in work-related deaths while the Islands, Centre and North West saw a decrease. Again, a decrease in deaths among Italian citizens corresponds to an increase among foreigners. Workplace deaths are increasing for those aged 40-49 and 55-64, but decreasing among those under 40, over 64 and in the 50-54 age group. For reports of fatal commuting accidents, 2025 shows an increase of 4.6 per cent and a leap from 26 per cent to 27 per cent of total fatal events.

Double-digit increases were also recorded among reports ofoccupational diseases, with the exception of the Islands (-2.7 per cent): +21.1 per cent in the South, +14.3 per cent in the North West, +8.9 per cent in the Centre and +7.6 per cent in the North East. The leap forward particularly concerned the male gender, among whom there was a 12 per cent increase compared to the 9.2 per cent reported in the female gender.