Workplace safety: 766 new labour inspectors coming

(see related stories on workplace safety) (ANSA) - ROME, FEB 26 - Italy is set to have 766 new labour inspectors as part of efforts to boost workplace safety following a spate of job-related accidents and deaths, according to the draft of a new decree on implementation of Italy's EU-funded post-Covid national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP).
    Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet is set to examine the decree on Monday.
    The measure will make it possible to press ahead with 466 labour-inspector hires that had been put on ice and also launch the procedure to recruit an additional 300.
    The draft of the decree also contains a chapter on labour that includes measures to prevent and combat irregular employment, a hot topic in Italy after a structural collapse at a building site in Florence on February 16 left five construction workers dead and three seriously injured.
    Specifically, the provisions are said to include the introduction of a compulsory points-based 'licence' for contractors and self-employed workers operating at temporary or mobile construction sites, issued by the National Labour Inspectorate following registration with the chamber of commerce on fulfilment of certain conditions including training obligations and possession of a valid certificate of social security contributions compliance (DURC), risk assessment document and tax compliance certificate.
    Licence holders would start with 30 points and be allowed to work with a minimum of 15 points. (ANSA).