The effectiveness of accredited certifications for occupational health and safety management systems

There is a positive relationship between accredited certification of occupational health and safety management systems and lower business risk: this is what emerges from the study by Accredia and INAIL, presented on 11 April 2024 during the conference “The effectiveness of accredited certifications for occupational health and safety management systems. Technical standards, regulations, support and assessment of results: from current status to prospects”. The research links the certification issued under accreditation according to the international standard UNI EN ISO 45001:2023 and the reduction of accidents at work. The report, based on data relating to the period 2017-2021 from the Accredia database and the INAIL database, shows a lower frequency of accident events at certified companies, equal, for the overall activities, to 22.6%, with highly differentiated results depending on the economic sector of reference: in the chemical sector it can reach up to a maximum of 40.9%. In general, the reductions in frequency, but also in severity of accidents, which in certified companies is on average less than 29.2%, are significant in important and high-risk sectors, such as, for example, that of building construction. Furthermore, accredited certification is recognized as a rewarding requirement for participation in public and private tenders, alongside the rewards and funding recognized to companies that invest in improving company structures in the direction of safer work.