Italian Court of Cassation: failure by Health and Safety Officer (Responsabile Servizio Prevenzione e Protezione, ‘RSPP’) to carry out activities does not exempt employer from criminal liability

On 18 May 2023, the Italian Court of Cassation, criminal division, judgment no. 21153,ruled that ‘risk assessment is a specific function of the employer, which cannot be delegated even through delegating functions to another person and any failure by the RSPP to cooperate in the drafting of the Risk Assessment Document (Documento di Valutazione dei Rischi, “DVR” may, at most, give rise to concurrent but not exclusive liability of the latter’.

The facts of the case

The case stemmed from a work-related accident that occurred to an employee of a company who, while arranging a stack of pallets that had not been properly stacked, was struck – on the head and shoulder – by pallets falling to the ground, sustaining injuries that resulted in an illness lasting more than 40 days.

Both the Court of Vercelli and the Court of Appeal of Turin convicted the sole director and ‘employer for company safety purposes’ of the criminal office under Article 590 of the Italian Criminal Code (‘negligent personal injury’). The court considered that the director was guilty of negligence, carelessness, inexperience and failure to comply with the rules for the prevention of accidents at work and for not having assessed the risk inherent in the construction of the stack of pallets.

An appeal to the Italian Supreme Court was lodged against the Court of Appeal ruling, alleging a breach of the law in relation to the finding of criminal liability. Specifically, the appellant – i.e. the employer for company safety purposes – argued that the appointment of an RSPP exonerated him from any liability. The RSPP should have, among other things, (i) assessed the risks associated with the specific work activity based on the delegation responsibilities; (ii) trained employees; (ii) evaluated the risks associated with the specific activity and (iii) drafted the DVR.

The Italian Court of Cassation

The Italian Court of Cassation affirmed that the assessment of the risks to the health and safety of workers present within a company is one of the employer’s specific obligations. This obligation, established by Article 17 of Italian Legislative Decree no. 81/2008, is non-delegable. ‘Any failure by the RSPP to cooperate in the drafting of the DVR may, at most, give rise to concurrent but not exclusive liability of the latter’. The Court also clarified, on this point, that the RSPP will be liable where it is possible to trace an injurious event back to a dangerous circumstance that the RSPP should have known about and reported and, instead, failed to do so.

For all these reasons, the Court of Cassation held the appeal to be inadmissible as the ground of appeal was manifestly unfounded.

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In conclusion, it seems possible to be able to state that an employer for company safety purposes is criminally liable if it is ascertained that an injury at work is caused by a failure to carry out a preventive assessment of the risk as well as by a failure to adopt the relevant measures necessary to reduce or eliminate that risk.

Other related insights:

The definition of worker for safety purposes according to the Court of Cassation

The principal cannot ignore contractor’s employees safety obligations (Guida al Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore, 15 July – Alberto De Luca, Raffaele DI Vuolo)