Meloni: 'Safety at work is a priority for the Government'

"Ensuring health and safety at work is a priority for this Government's action , as demonstrated by the many measures we have adopted since taking office." Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in a video message at the presentation of Inail's Annual Report. "Our aim," she said, "is to create, also thanks to fruitful dialogue with trade unions and those who deal with these issues every day, an extraordinary plan of interventions for health and safety at work that is able to strengthen our common action and make it more effective."

The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, was also present at the Inail Report and Meloni underlined that "with his presence the Head of State "reaffirms the absolute centrality that the institutions recognize to health and safety at work".

Meloni recalled the Government's interventions on safety, from the license to credits on construction sites to the hiring of new inspection personnel to increase controls. "We have allocated significant resources - she continued - to reward companies that invest in prevention. But we have also intervened on sanctions, both administrative and criminal, we have reintroduced the crime of illicit supply of labor. We are forcefully fighting against gangmastering because the exploitation of labor is a heinous crime that a civilized nation can never accept. We are aware that the path ahead of us is still long. Every life lost, every accident at work represents a defeat for each of us. Pope Francis was right when he said that safety at work is like the air we breathe, we realize its importance only when it is tragically missing and it is always too late". "This is why the Government together with Inail - he continued - has decided to take a step forward on this path, has found another 650 million euros to invest in concrete measures, in particular on the culture of prevention. Resources that are in addition to the 600 million already available for the Isi calls and that bring the total amount available for 2025 to over 1 billion and 200 million. Minister Calderone is coordinating the discussion with the social partners, is working with Inail to technically define the measures and to best use the resources that we have freed up. Some of these measures are already known, from the strengthening of the bonus malus system for virtuous companies, to the extension of insurance coverage in schools".

"We can count - concluded Meloni - on the decisive contribution of Inail. The Institute is a jewel in the crown of our welfare system, we are convinced that its contribution can be and is decisive in spreading the culture of prevention, innovating the regulatory framework, making it in step with changes in the world of work, improving social and health services, valorizing research. Safety at work is never a cost that can be cut, it is a right of every worker, a value, a duty that institutions must promote. The Government will always do its part on this challenge because it is on issues like these that the civilization of a nation is measured and how much a people cares about its present and its future".

Inail: 593 thousand accident reports in 2024, 1,202 deaths

In 2024, the accidents reported to Inail were 593 thousand with a growth of 0.4% on 2023 linked to the growth in student reports, which rose to 78 thousand (+10.5%), of which 2,100 for accidents that occurred in the Paths for transversal skills and orientation (Pcto).

This is what emerges from the Annual Report of Inail presented today according to which the reports of fatal cases were 1,202, one more than in 2023. For workers, there were four fewer deaths, from 1,193 to 1,189, while the 13 fatal cases detected among students are five more than the eight of the previous year. The reports of occupational diseases reached 88 thousand, the highest figure since the three-year period 1976-1978, up 21.8% compared to the almost 73 thousand of 2023.

Excluding injuries to students, in 2024 the contraction in injuries that occurred at work, i.e. while carrying out work activities, is confirmed (-1.9%, from 421,533 to 413,517), while those in itinere, i.e. those that occurred on the way to and from home to the workplace, increased and returned to pre-pandemic levels (to 101,000 with an increase of 3.1%). Fatal cases in itinere increased by 10.2% (from 275 to 303), while those at work decreased by 3.5% (from 918 to 886). Overall, 42.3% of deaths occurred "outside the company" i.e. while commuting or using a means of transport during work.

According to the latest Eurostat data for 2022, Italy has a fatal accident rate of 0.87 per 100,000 employed people, lower than the EU average (1.26). The rate is lower than that of France (3.35) and Spain (1.53), but higher than that of Germany (0.61).

"Also in 2024 - stated the president of Inail, Fabrizio D'Ascenzo - the contribution that Inail has provided to the country has materialized in interventions based on four fundamental guidelines: the provision of financing to companies that invest in safety, the reduction of insurance premiums for the benefit of companies that implement interventions to improve health and safety conditions, in addition to those required by law, initiatives aimed at raising the levels of information, training and prevention culture and the development of technological innovation in the field of health and safety in the workplace to be transferred to the production world, such as the implementation of control platforms based on artificial intelligence or the use of robots or drones to carry out dangerous work activities.".

In 2024, almost 30 thousand companies benefited from the reduction of the prevention premium rate, for a total of over 197 million euros, in exchange for interventions to improve health and safety conditions in the workplace, in addition to those required by law.

As of December 31, 2024, the value of properties listed in the balance sheet by Inail amounts to 4.3 billion euros (historical cost). Of these, approximately three billion concern income-generating properties, almost 1.2 billion properties for institutional use, while 47.3 million are related to other fixed assets and advances. A significant boost to income-generating investments came from the 2024 budget law, which made the possibility for the Institute to invest in this area, previously tied to exceptional measures, structural.