Providing health and safety protection for apprentices in Italy

Introduction
Since the definition of “worker” as laid down in Article 2 of Legislative decree 81/2008 includes also “the person who carries out a working activity even for the only purpose of learning a job, an art or a profession”, it grants health and safety protection to workers as well as apprentices. Considering the fact that this contract typology generally involves the 16-29 age range, it could also include minors. In such cases it is necessary to apply the specific legislation.

Methods
We analyzed official statistics (ISTAT, ISFOSL, INAIL, INPS ) to establish the extent of the apprenticeship in Italy. We also analyzed some specific studies and the Italian legislation on the subject.

Results
According to the Italian Institute for the Development of Vocational Training for Workers – ISFOL, in 2007, the number of employees under an apprenticeship contract reached, in Italy, an annual average of 638.807 units of which 57,9% men and 42,1% women. With regard to the presence of apprenticeships by sector, 42.3% of the trainees were concentrated in the services-producing sector , 36% of them worked in the craft sector and 21.7% in the industrial sector. As for the presence of the trainees in the economic sectors, 22.7% of them were construction workers, about 21.9% worked in the commerce field and about 17.2% of them were engineering workers.

Discussion
Particular attention must be paid to the analysis of the occupational injuries involving apprentices in order to verify the adequacy of training received in the field of occupational health and safety. Several difficulties emerge from the analysis of the protection laws, when we take into account the age of the apprentices. For example with regard to the risk assessment, the health surveillance and the issuance of the certificates of vocational aptitude, the information learning projects