Work, 23.3% of fatal accidents in construction sites
According to the latest report by the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work – Inail (updated January 2025), construction is confirmed as the most dangerous sector in Europe in terms of number of deaths at work , with a share of 23.3% of the total deaths recorded in the EU-27 in 2022. In Italy, provisional data for 2024 show an increase of +2.8% in reports of accidents at work in the sector , compared to 2023. An alarm signal that requires immediate responses.
Despite the slight overall decrease in accidents among workers (-0.7%), the construction sector remains the most exposed, and the most in need of innovative strategies and effective tools .
The Association of Sustainable Infrastructures – Ais is launching an appeal in this direction. In its new Position paper n.9 (prepared by the Ais Social Responsibility and Safety at Work working group and presented to the Chamber), entitled Safety at Work: from the construction site a virtuous model of participation, digital solutions and sustainability , it promotes an integrated vision of sustainable infrastructure , which brings together economic efficiency, reduction of environmental impact and valorization of human work.
We must aim for zero deaths at work not as a utopia, but as a shared objective, with tools, method and responsibility
Lorenzo Orsenigo – President of the Sustainable Infrastructure Association
«We need a new vision of security: no longer as a simple regulatory compliance or cost to manage, but as a strategic asset, as an integral part of the corporate identity», explains Lorenzo Orsenigo , president of AIS.
Active safety, he specifies, "is that which anticipates risks, which exploits the potential of technologies, which trains and involves people. Sustainable infrastructures are not only well-built works, but construction sites where working is dignified, healthy and safe. Considering safety an increase in costs is an error of perspective. It means not seeing that every euro invested in safety is a euro saved in inefficiencies, delays, suffering".
Active participation. The Position paper proposes an integrated strategy that starts from the strengthening of active participation : all the actors involved in the construction process (from clients to workers) must be made responsible and involved in the construction of a safe environment. Safety thus becomes a shared process, no longer just a set of obligations imposed from above.
This Position Paper represents an important step towards an integrated vision of safety on construction sites, based on participation, social responsibility and technological innovation.
Giuseppe Amaro – general coordinator of the Ais working group Social responsibility and safety at work
Construction site digitalization. Another pillar is the construction site digitalization . The adoption of intelligent technologies, real-time monitoring systems, sensors and BIM models allows the construction site to be transformed into an environment where risks are identifiable, manageable and preventable in a proactive way. It is not a matter of replacing human skills, but of enhancing them through tools that anticipate critical issues and improve efficiency.
Continuous training. Continuous training is also essential. Promoting a culture of prevention, strengthening effective communication and recognizing diversity – of language, gender, experience – as elements to be enhanced in training courses is the way to make every worker aware of their role in the safety chain.
Integrated safety and sustainability . Finally, the document focuses on the integration of safety and sustainability . For Ais, ensuring health and safety in the workplace is not only an ethical imperative, but a fundamental component of social sustainability. Preventing accidents means reducing waste, inefficiencies, delays and reputational damage, contributing directly to the overall quality of the works carried out.
Workplace safety must be placed at the center of political and economic discourse. This is done with a paradigm shift, in which safety solutions are collective and based on a shared culture that is accessible to all. A virtuous example of this is the AIS position paper, the result of collective and participatory work
Chiara Gribaudo – President of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Working Conditions in Italy
"Safety," explains Giuseppe Amaro , general coordinator of the Ais social responsibility and safety at work working group, "cannot be just a regulatory obligation: it must become a shared value, built together by all the actors involved in the construction process. Our goal is to provide concrete tools to rethink the construction site as a safe, inclusive and sustainable workplace, where the protection of people is an integral part of the quality of the work."
«In the construction of the Turin-Lyon railway link – in the opening photo – attention to safety is a structural component of the project», adds Manuela Rocca , deputy general director of Telt, who brought to the Chamber the experience of an international project that has made safety a priority.
For Rocca, "on a construction site, especially underground, risk management is the basis of the strategy to face this challenge. Managing risk means thinking about safety in all phases of the project, from its conception to the management of the work."
In the opening and in the text, photos by the Sustainable Infrastructure Association – Ais
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