COURSE DURATION, ROLES, UPDATES, TRAINING CREDITS AND DELIVERY METHODS: THE AGREEMENT OF 17 APRIL 2025 REDESIGNS THE FRAMEWORK FOR COMPULSORY TRAINING IN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY Training: what changes WITH THE NEW STATE-REGIONS AGREEMENT 33 WITH the State-Regions Agreement of 17 April 2025, published in the Official Gazette on 24 May 2025, training in occupational health and safety has been significantly reorganised. This is not a simple update, but a measure that clarifies roles, responsibilities, the duration of training courses and how they are delivered, introducing more uniform criteria throughout the country. At the same time, the recent Safety Decree (Decree Law 159/2025, converted into law) reinforces the issue of traceability and quality of prevention and training processes, completing the regulatory framework outlined by the Agreement (for further information, please refer to the dedicated article published in this magazine on page 40). The main new feature of the State-Regions Agreement is the introduction of a compulsory training course for all employers. At the same time, the role of the person in charge is strengthened, with more stringent updating requirements. The Agreement also addresses operational aspects with a significant impact: it defines the use of distance learning more precisely, introduces a structured system of training credits, reorganises the regulations governing work equipment subject to certification and links training more coherently to the level of risk and the operational context. The 2025 Agreement also establishes that courses already completed are valid, but the new deadlines (such as the two-year period for the person in charge) and the new specialist modules (such as the specific Construction Module for the RSPP - Head of the Prevention and Protection Service employer) represent obligations that cannot be fulfilled by previous training if it does not comply with the new programmes. WORKERS Worker training is divided into two distinct modules: • general training: minimum duration 4 hours, constitutes permanent training credit; specific training, with variable duration depending on the risk class of the activity identified in accordance with Annex IV: o low risk: 4 hours; o medium risk: 8 hours; o high risk: 12 hours. An important step is to identify the risk level of the company’s activity, which determines the duration of the specific training for workers. The regulatory reference is Annex IV of the Agreement, which assigns the risk level to economic activities based on macro-categories of production and ATECO 2007 codes. For the lift sector, in particular for activities falling under ATECO codes 28.22.01 and 43.24.01 (formerly 43.29.01), the risk level is considered high, therefore requiring 12 hours of specific training in addition to 4 hours of general training. Workers’ training is to be updated every five years, for a minimum duration of 6 hours, regardless of the level of risk. SUPERVISORS The State-Regions Agreement of 17 April 2025 significantly strengthens the role of supervisors, both in terms of initial training and periodic refresher courses. The course for supervisors is only accessible after completion of worker training (general and specific). The training of supervisors increases to 12 hours, while refresher training is required every two years, for a minimum duration of 6 hours. The Agreement also clarifies that refresher training for supervisors cannot be carried out via e-learning. It often happens that some clients, especially in the shipbuilding sector or in structured organisations, require all workers who work alone to be formally qualified as “supervisors of themselves”. This requirement has no direct basis in current legislation. The role of supervisor, as defined by Legislative Decree 81/2008 and reiterated by the State-Regions Agreement of 17 April 2025, is in fact a specific organisational role, identified by the employer, with tasks of supervision and oversight of the activities of other workers. The very premise of the role is therefore the
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