Italy: greater safety at work on motorway construction sites

At a time when the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is intending for major infrastructure investments, the intention of protocol agreement signed on 07 October by the ASPI group (Italy’s primary motorway operator), the trade unions Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti, SLA-Cisal and UGL Trasporti, and the State workplace accident insurance body, INAIL, is to disseminate a culture of prevention and safety at these construction sites. In particular, the protocol intends for the identification of ‘model sites’ where new technologies will be tested, including sensors, ‘intelligent’ personal protective devices, and the use of 3D virtual reality for training, etc. This five-year protocol, which will set out clear precise objectives, will also make it possible to study risk factors for specific work-related illnesses as well as organizational models designed to prevent accidents. The agreement is also part of a strategy to enlarge the role of the INAIL, which is no longer looking to act as a purely insurance organization, but instead intends to be active in workplace safety policies.