OHS regulations in Chile are centred on Law 16.744, which establishes mandatory social insurance against workplace accidents and occupational diseases. It is not merely a coverage mechanism: it defines employer obligations in prevention, the responsibilities of administering bodies, and workers’ rights when a workplace injury occurs. Complying in substance — not just in form — is what separates organisations that genuinely manage their risk from those that simply insure it.
Prevent before insuring: what the law requires of companies
Law 16.744 requires companies to implement measures to prevent occupational accidents and diseases, inform workers about the risks of their role, train them and coordinate with the relevant administering body. Employers’ mutual institutions include Asociación Chilena de Seguridad (ACHS), IST and Mutual de Seguridad CChC. Instituto de Seguridad Laboral (ISL) is the public administrator of social insurance against occupational accidents and diseases under Law 16.744. As explained by SUSESO, it covers employees whose employers have not joined a mutual institution and its affiliated self-employed workers. Its public status does not mean that it covers only the public sector.
Effective accident prevention strategies are central to meeting these obligations.
A Joint Committee on Hygiene and Safety must operate in every company, worksite, branch or agency where more than 25 people work. Where an employer has separate worksites, branches or agencies, a committee must be established in each one that exceeds this threshold, without adding together workers at different establishments. It is a joint participation body for employers and workers to identify risks, propose improvements and monitor working conditions. Chile’s Labour Directorate confirms this approach under Article 23 of Supreme Decree 44.
Mining, industrial or commercial companies employing more than 100 workers must have a risk prevention department led by a qualified occupational risk prevention expert. SUSESO sets out this obligation under Article 66 of Law 16.744 and Article 50 of Supreme Decree 44.
Mutualidades: a resource many companies underuse
Mutualidades are not simply accident coverage providers. They are required to advise affiliated companies on implementing their prevention programmes, deliver training, conduct technical site visits, and support accident investigations.
Activating that support systematically — not only after an incident — is a genuine operational advantage. Yet many companies limit their relationship with the mutualidad to managing sick leave and benefits, leaving the full preventive advisory support they are entitled to completely unused.
Why reactive prevention remains the dominant pattern
A company can have all its formal obligations up to date: the joint committee constituted, training sessions completed, records in order. And still manage safety reactively, responding to problems after they have already occurred rather than anticipating them.
The difference between real preventive management and documentary management lies in whether there is visibility over active risks, whether corrective measures are executed with follow-through, and whether information flows across different sites and levels of the organisation. When that is managed in a fragmented way, blind spots accumulate.
This is where the digitalization of occupational risk prevention makes the difference.
For the full detail on OHS regulations in Chile and how they compare with other international regulatory frameworks, you can explore our OHS regulations by country guide.
Sabentis is an OHS platform that centralises preventive management: risk identification, planning, measure tracking, document management, and coordination with administering bodies — with full traceability and ISO 27001 and ENS certification.
It works as comprehensive occupational health and safety management software.
