Post by Università Bocconi

Why do workplace deaths remain a recurring emergency? This is the question we want to answer today, on the occasion of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Italy continues to record over a thousand fatal workplace accidents each year, a recurring figure that risks normalizing what should never be accepted. Full Professor Maurizio Del Conte reflects on a persistent pattern: public attention tends to spike only after major incidents, then quickly fades, preventing the development of a true culture of prevention. This cycle reinforces the lack of a true culture of #WorkplaceSafety, turning risk into something almost expected rather than preventable. To reverse this trend, workplace safety must become a central and continuous priority rather than a reactive concern. Italy already has a strong legal framework. Legislative Decree 81/2008 consolidated decades of regulation and earlier provisions, such as the Workers’ Statute, established important safeguards. Yet the problem is not the absence of rules, but their uneven implementation. Structural factors matter: an economy dominated by small firms makes systematic inspection difficult. According to Del Conte, a more effective approach would rely on preventive strategies, using integrated public data and advanced technologies like AI to identify risks and intervene before accidents occur. This means using data from institutions such as the Ministry of Labor, INPS, and INAIL to identify risk patterns and intervene earlier. Technology can support this transition. AI systems already used in sectors like construction can detect hazardous situations in real time, offering new tools for #RiskPrevention. Undeclared work represents a critical hidden danger. Irregular workers are significantly more exposed to accidents because they often lack training, protection, and visibility within the system. Addressing informal employment is therefore not only a legal issue, but a crucial step in reducing workplace fatalities. At the same time, companies need to move beyond a compliance-based mindset. Safety should be seen as a strategic investment, not a bureaucratic obligation. Firms that prioritize safe working environments benefit from higher productivity, stronger reputations, and better talent retention. This requires rethinking training, moving beyond formal obligations toward continuous and high-quality #WorkforceTraining. Overall, the tools to improve workplace safety already exist, such as laws, data, and technology. What is missing is a shift in approach: from reacting to tragedies to proactively preventing them, with the goal of achieving zero tolerance for workplace accidents. The elements for change already exist; the challenge is to connect them into a coherent system.