This course presents the content of the general training of workers in health and safety: what anyone working in Italy should know, whatever their trade. This first lesson clarifies an important point: what this course is and what it is not.
What the law provides
D.lgs. 81/2008 (the Consolidated Act on health and safety at work, in Italian Testo unico) says in Article 37 that the employer ensures that every worker receives sufficient and adequate training in health and safety. Article 36 also requires the worker to be informed about risks, prevention measures, first aid, fire fighting and evacuation.
Worker training has two parts:
- the general training: the concepts common to all jobs (Art. 37, paragraph 1, letter a);
- the specific training: the risks of your job and of your company's sector (Art. 37, paragraph 1, letter b, and paragraph 3).
Article 37, paragraph 2, refers to an agreement between the State and the Regions for duration, minimum content and methods.
The State–Regions Agreement of 17 April 2025
The agreement now in force is the one of 17 April 2025 (Accordo Stato-Regioni, Rep. Atti no. 59/CSR), published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale (Official Gazette) no. 119 of 24 May 2025. Among others, it replaced the agreement of 21 December 2011. For the general training of workers it provides:
- a duration of at least 4 hours;
- as minimum content: hazard, risk and harm; prevention and protection; how prevention is organised in the company and how workers take part; rights, duties and penalties of the various persons concerned; bodies of inspection, control and assistance;
- trainers who meet the requirements set for trainers (interministerial decree of 6 March 2013);
- attendance of at least 90 % of the hours, a final assessment (interview or test) and an attestation issued by the provider that delivers the course;
- delivery methods set course by course (in person, synchronous videoconference, e-learning or blended): the general training may also be delivered by e-learning, but on a platform that tracks each person's participation and with the final assessment.
The course may be organised by the employer itself, if it complies with the Agreement, or by a training provider. It must take place during working hours and at no cost to the worker (Art. 37, paragraph 12).
Training credit and transitional period
The Agreement says that general training is a permanent training credit: whoever has already completed it in a compliant way does not have to repeat it just because they change employer. Worker courses completed under the 2011 agreement also remain valid. The twelve-month transitional period, during which courses could still be started under the previous rules, ended in May 2026 (on 19 May according to the Ministry of Labour's FAQ, on 24 May if counted from publication in the Gazzetta). Courses started today follow the new rules.
What this course is
This Publicert course is a preparation and revision lesson. At the end, if you pass the test, you can obtain a paid certificate of completion. That certificate:
- is not the attestation required by the State–Regions Agreement;
- is not a regulated or accredited qualification;
- does not, on its own, satisfy the employer's training obligation;
- can count only if the employer decides to use it, within the rules of the Agreement, for example as revision.
The specific training is something else: it covers the risks of your own job and lasts 4, 8 or 12 hours depending on the company's risk level. This course does not replace it. The remaining lessons follow the content of the general training: risk and prevention, company organisation, roles, rights and duties, inspections.