What is Law 16.744
Before 1968, compensation for workplace accidents in Chile depended on private insurance and employer liability, with uneven coverage. Law 16.744 created a mandatory social insurance system, universal for salaried workers and progressively extended to other groups, such as the self-employed and students under certain circumstances. Its approach combines three functions: compensating for damages through benefits, preventing risks, and rehabilitating and reintegrating affected individuals.
The law defines a work-related accident as any injury suffered by a person as a result of or in connection with their work, causing disability or death, including commuting accidents between home and the workplace, and an occupational disease as one caused directly by the exercise of a profession or work, resulting in disability or death. Specific regulations establish the list of occupational diseases and risk factors.
The insurance is administered by various bodies: the public Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and non-profit employer mutual insurance companies (Chilean Safety Association, Mutual Insurance Company of the Chilean Chamber of Construction, and Institute of Occupational Safety), as well as companies with delegated administration. The Superintendency of Social Security (SUSESO) oversees the system and issues the applicable regulations through its compendium and circulars.
Main content
- Financing. General basic quote and additional differentiated quote according to the activity and risk of the company, both at the employer’s expense, with the possibility of discounts or surcharges according to the actual accident rate.
- Medical benefits. Medical, surgical and dental care, hospitalization, medications, prostheses, physical rehabilitation and vocational retraining, free of charge until complete recovery or while the symptoms of the aftereffects persist.
- Financial benefits. Temporary disability allowance, lump sum compensation or pension depending on the degree of disability, and survivor’s pensions in case of death.
- Prevention. Obligation of the managing bodies to carry out permanent prevention activities, and of the companies to implement the hygiene and safety measures that they prescribe.
- Joint committees. In every company, workplace, branch or agency with more than 25 workers, a joint health and safety committee must operate, with representatives of the employer and workers.
- Prevention Department. Companies with more than 100 employees must have an occupational risk prevention department headed by a prevention expert.
- Liability. When the accident or illness is due to the fault or intent of the employer or a third party, the victim may also claim the compensation that is due under common law (Article 69).
Complementary framework
- Labor Code. Article 184 obliges the employer to take all necessary measures to effectively protect the life and health of workers, informing them of possible risks and maintaining adequate hygiene and safety conditions.
- DS No. 44. Regulation on preventive management of occupational risks for a safe and healthy working environment, in force since February 2025, which updates the regulation of preventive management, the obligation to inform and joint committees.
- Supreme Decree 594. Regulation on basic sanitary and environmental conditions in workplaces, with limits of exposure to chemical and physical agents.
- Supreme Decree 101. Regulations for the application of Law 16.744: procedures, reporting of accidents and illnesses and qualification.
- Subcontracting. Law 20.123 and the Labor Code regulate the obligations of the main company in a subcontracting arrangement, including the health and safety management system in work involving several companies.
Organizational application: how to comply with Law 16.744
- Join an administering body (mutual insurance company or Occupational Safety Institute) and keep up to date with basic and additional contributions.
- Establish and maintain the joint health and safety committee when the company, work site or branch exceeds 25 workers, with minutes and work program.
- Create a risk prevention department with a prevention expert when the workforce exceeds 100 employees.
- Implement the preventive management system in accordance with Supreme Decree 44: hazard identification and risk assessment matrix, preventive work program, obligation to inform and training.
- Report accidents and occupational diseases to the managing body within the established deadlines and forms, and manage the internal investigation.
- Comply with the hygiene and safety measures prescribed by the administering body and the health authority.
- Review the claims experience to qualify for additional contribution reductions and use it as a management indicator.
Preventive management software allows you to maintain the risk matrix , the preventive program, the records of the joint committee, the training and the accident reports in a single system, with traceability to the SUSESO, the Labor Directorate and the managing body.
Limits and common mistakes
- To consider that joining a mutual insurance company exhausts the employer’s preventive obligations, when the duty of protection under Article 184 is inherent and non-delegable.
- Failure to establish the joint committee or maintaining it without real activity or minutes.
- Failing to report commuting accidents or suspected work-related illnesses.
- Failure to update the preventive management system to the requirements of Supreme Decree 44.
- Neglecting coordination with contractors and subcontractors on shared tasks.
- Not knowing that civil liability due to employer fault is compatible with insurance benefits.
The current text of the law and its regulations can be found in Ley Chile (National Congress Library) and the applicable regulations in the SUSESO; this sheet is for informational purposes.
Practical example
Situation: A Spanish engineering company opens a subsidiary in Antofagasta with 140 employees to provide services to the mining industry.
- Membership and contribution. The subsidiary joins a mutual insurance company, which assigns it an additional contribution based on its activity, and receives preventive advice and benefits coverage.
- Organization. It establishes the joint health and safety committee and creates a prevention department headed by a professional risk prevention expert.
- Preventive management. Develops the hazard and risk matrix and the preventive work program in accordance with Supreme Decree 44, fulfills the obligation to inform each worker and coordinates its system with that of the mining client company.
- Monitoring. It records accidents and complaints, analyzes claims with the mutual insurance company, and requests an review of its additional contribution rate after two years.
Regulatory and reference framework
- Law 16.744, of February 1, 1968. Establishes rules on work accidents and occupational diseases.
- Labor Code (DFL 1 of 2002), article 184. Employer ‘s duty to effectively protect the life and health of workers.
- Supreme Decree No. 44 of 2023 (published in 2024) . Regulation on preventive management of occupational risks for a safe and healthy working environment.
- Supreme Decree 594 of 1999. Regulations on basic sanitary and environmental conditions in workplaces.
- Supreme Decree 101 of 1968. Regulations for the application of Law 16.744.
- Superintendency of Social Security (SUSESO) . Supervisory body of insurance under Law 16.744; regulatory compendium and circulars.
Law 16.744 has been amended numerous times since 1968; the current text and the history of the law can be found in Ley Chile.
For an overview of how these duties fit into the wider safety management framework, see our guide to OSH regulations in Chile, with practical questions, documentation and official sources.
