Art. 2087 requires employers to take measures to prevent situations harmful to the worker’s physical health and personality based on experience, technology, and type of work.
This “open” rule obliges the entrepreneur to adopt legal measures for specific and generic work risks based on common experience or necessary to ensure work safety considering the type of work, background and technology.
The legislator provided for safety obligations in cases where contract work is performed within the principal’s company (or production unit). The principal must verify the technical and professional suitability of the contractors and provide them with detailed information on working environment risks and the associated work-related prevention and emergency measures. These obligations arise when the principal is legally in charge of the places where the contract is performed.
The principal and contractor (and any subcontractors) must cooperate in applying occupational risk prevention and protection measures when implementing the contract and coordinate these measures for workers exposed to risk. They shall inform each other to eliminate the risks due to interference between the works of the different companies involved.
The Court of Cassation stated that the principal’s work accident prevention obligations do not end with the contractual agreements stipulated with the contractor, given that regulations require employers to cooperate in applying the measures of prevention and protection from the risks impacting work under the contract.
The full version of the in-depth study was published in issue 29 of Guida al Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore.
