Managing occupational health and safety at a factory is not about filling in forms. It is about building a system that protects people and, at the same time, demonstrates to the Labour Inspectorate that your company is in control.
In 2026, with the reform of Law 31/1995 under way, requirements are tightening: preventive management will need to be effective and demonstrable. This guide explains how to organise it.
1. The prevention plan: the foundation of everything
The Occupational Risk Prevention Plan is the document that defines how your company integrates safety into its management. It is not optional: it has been legally required since 1995 for any company with employees.
At a factory, this plan must cover the organisational structure (who is responsible for what), production processes with their associated risks, and action procedures. Without an up-to-date document, any inspection will be a problem.
2. The risk assessment: the real diagnosis of your plant
The risk assessment is the heart of the system. It consists of identifying what can go wrong at each workstation, with what probability, and what the consequences would be.
In industrial environments, the most common risks are:
Mechanical risks: entrapment, cuts, impacts from machinery
Ergonomic risks: forced postures, manual handling of loads, repetitive movements
Physical risks: noise, extreme temperature, vibrations
Chemical risks: exposure to hazardous substances in production processes
Same-level and different-level falls: one of the most common accidents on the shop floor
The assessment is not a document you do once and file away. It must be reviewed every time a process changes, new machinery is introduced, or an accident occurs.
3. Choose the right prevention model
Every company must choose how to manage prevention. The options are:
In-house Prevention Service (IPS): mandatory for companies with more than 500 workers (or 250 in high-risk activities). From 2027, the threshold drops to 300 under the new law.
External Prevention Service (EPS): external contracting. The most common option for industrial SMEs, but it requires an internal point of contact to carry out real follow-up.
Joint Prevention Service: for company groups or companies in the same sector.
Designated worker: in small companies, a trained employee takes on preventive functions.
The most common mistake: delegating everything to the EPS and assuming the problem is solved. The EPS produces documents, but day-to-day safety management on the shop floor is your responsibility.
4. Planning preventive activity
Once risks are identified, you must plan the corrective and preventive measures with a responsible party, deadline, and cost. Without planning, the risk assessment is worthless.
The annual plan must include mandatory training, periodic equipment inspections, emergency drills, health checks, and PPE review — all with documentary records.
5. Health surveillance and continuous training
The health surveillance (medical check-ups) is mandatory and must be adapted to the specific risks of each role. It is not a generic annual formality: each worker must be assessed according to their actual exposure.
The OHS training is also mandatory. At a factory, this involves initial training on joining, role-specific training, and periodic refreshers. An incorrectly trained worker is both a legal and a human risk.
6. Records and traceability: what the Inspectorate requires
Effective OHS management requires documentary evidence. Labour inspectors do not just ask what you do — they ask you to prove it.
The minimum records you must always keep updated are:
Current, signed prevention plan
Risk assessments by workstation
Current-year preventive activity plan
Training records signed by each worker
Emergency drill records and equipment inspection reports
Accident reports and incident investigations
Health surveillance certificates
The typical factory problem: this documentation exists, but it is scattered across folders, emails, and spreadsheets. When an inspection arrives, finding it in time is a race against the clock.
7. From reactive management to real-time prevention
The traditional OHS model is reactive: you act after the accident, correct after the inspection, train after the incident. It is the model most factories still use.
The model gaining ground in industry is proactive and continuous: detecting risk before it materialises. This is what computer vision applied to industrial safety makes possible.
Platforms like Safe monitor PPE compliance in real time, detect risk behaviours, and generate automatic alerts before an accident occurs. Every detection is recorded with an image and timestamp — exactly what you need to demonstrate to the Inspectorate that your system works.
OHS management at a factory is not about having your paperwork in order. It is about making sure no one gets hurt. Technology now makes it possible for both to happen at once.