Occupational health and safety management in municipal waste companies: A note on the Italian sector

• The analysis focused on the OHS management system in municipal waste companies in Italy.
• Companies have a sufficient level of maturity of their OHS management system.
• Training, involvement and operational activities are the most developed aspects.
• OHS policy and performance measurements need further improvement.
• Organisational factors influence the OHS management system maturity level.

The environmental hygiene sector is a high risk industry in terms of the public health and safety of employees. This study analyses the level of maturity of the occupational health and safety (OHS) management system in municipal waste companies in Italy. The results show that the training and involvement of employees and operational activities are the most developed aspects, while OHS policy and performance measurements need further improvement. Overall companies have a sufficiently developed level of maturity in terms of their OHS management system. An analysis of contextual factors reveals that organisational factors are more correlated with the OHS management system maturity level than external factors. Companies located in the south of Italy have a low level of maturity in terms of OHS management. Audits by public authorities exercise a punitive role and legislative pressure is not considered by all the companies as a key factor in OHS development.